Favourite Comedians and Comedy Actors
by Lady-Stardust22 | created - 16 Jul 2011 | updated - 17 Jul 2011 | PublicDoes what it says on the tin really, I've tried to order it into those I love best, but I change my mind alot so this is probably only my true order of favourites at the moment I created the list, and might not correspond to how I'd order it at a later date. Anyways, enjoy!
1. John Cleese
Actor | A Fish Called Wanda
John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England, to Muriel Evelyn (Cross) and Reginald Francis Cleese. He was born into a family of modest means, his father being an insurance salesman; but he was nonetheless sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he ...
This top spot is actually given to all the Pythons- I could never decide between them.
2. Michael Palin
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Michael Palin is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python.
After the Monty Python television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on Ripping Yarns, an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over ...
3. Graham Chapman
Writer | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Graham Chapman was born on January 8, 1941 in Leicester, England while a German air raid was in progress. Graham's father was a chief police inspector and probably inspired the constables Graham often portrayed later in comedy sketches. Graham studied medicine in college and earned an M.D., but he ...
4. Terry Jones
Writer | The Meaning of Life
Terry Jones was born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, the son of Dilys Louisa (Newnes), a homemaker, and Alick George Parry Jones, a bank clerk. His older brother is production designer Nigel Jones. His grandparents were involved in the entertainment business, having managed the local Amateur Operatic ...
5. Eric Idle
Actor | Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, playwright, director, and songwriter. co-creator of Monty Python on TV, stage, and five films, including The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail, which he later adapted for the stage with John Du Prez as Monty Python's Spamalot, winning the Tony...
6. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
7. Peter Cook
Actor | The Princess Bride
One of four stars of the London and New York revues Beyond the Fringe and Beyond the Fringe (with Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, and Dudley Moore). Later created scatological comedy routine "Derek & Clive" with Moore.
Probably also deserves the top spot.
8. Stan Laurel
Actor | Saps at Sea
Stan Laurel came from a theatrical family, his father was an actor and theatre manager, and he made his stage debut at the age of 16 at Pickard's Museum, Glasgow. He traveled with Fred Karno's vaudeville company to the United States in 1910 and again in 1913. While with that company he was Charles ...
9. Oliver Hardy
Actor | Saps at Sea
Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In 1910 he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In 1913 he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began ...
10. Dudley Moore
Actor | Arthur
Dudley Moore, the gifted comedian who had at least three distinct career phases that brought him great acclaim and success, actually started out as a musical prodigy as a child. Moore -- born in Dagenham, Essex, England to working class parents in 1935 -- won a music scholarship to Magdalen College...
11. Groucho Marx
Actor | A Night at the Opera
The bushy-browed, cigar-smoking wise-cracker with the painted-on moustache and stooped walk was the leader of The Marx Brothers. With one-liners that were often double entendres, Groucho never cursed in any of his performances and said he never wanted to be known as a dirty comic. With a great love...
12. Harpo Marx
Actor | A Night at the Opera
With poofy, curly red hair, a top hat and a horn, the lovable mute was the favorite of the Marx Brothers. Though chasing women was a favorite routine of his in the movies, Harpo was a devoted father and husband. He adopted the mute routine in vaudeville and carried it over to the films. Harpo was ...
13. Chico Marx
Actor | Duck Soup
As a kid trying to negotiate his way through various gang territories to a floating crap game or a new pool hall where he was not yet known as a hustler, Leonard (Chico) Marx learned to fake several accents. Because he later employed an Italian accent in the Marx Brothers' act, people assumed his ...
14. Richard Pryor
Actor | Superman III
Highly influential, and always controversial, African-American actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by many modern comic artist's as ...
15. Eric Morecambe
Soundtrack | The Morecambe & Wise Show
Eric Morecambe was born on May 14, 1926 in Buxton Street, Morecambe, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968), Night Train to Murder (1984) and The Intelligence Men (1965). He was married to Joan Morecambe. He died on May 28, 1984 in ...
16. Ernie Wise
Soundtrack | The Morecambe & Wise Show
Ernie Wise was born on November 27, 1925 in Bramley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968), Night Train to Murder (1984) and Two of a Kind (1961). He was married to Doreen Blythe. He died on March 21, 1999 in Wexham, ...
17. Rowan Atkinson
Actor | Johnny English
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees ...
18. Stephen Fry
Actor | Gosford Park
Writer, actor, comedian, doer of good works, excellent good friend to the famous and not, Fry lives in his London SW1 flat and his Norfolk house when not traveling. Famous for his public declaration of celibacy in the "Tatler" back in the 1980s, Emma Thompson has characterised her friend as "90 ...
19. Hugh Laurie
Actor | House M.D.
Hugh was born in Oxford, England on June 11, 1959, to Patricia (Laidlaw) and William George Ranald Mundell "Ran" Laurie, a doctor, both of Scottish descent. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge. Son of an Olympic gold medalist in the sport, he rowed for the England youth team (1977) and for ...
20. Adrian Edmondson
Actor | Bancroft
Adrian Edmondson was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. He went to Manchester University to study drama. Whilst he was there he met Rik Mayall, and the pair began performing as 20th Century Coyote. The act continued after university when Adrian & Rik moved to London, and they became two of ...
21. Rik Mayall
Actor | The Young Ones
Rik Mayall, one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, was born in Matching Tye, a village just outside Harlow in Essex. His parents, John and Gillian, were both drama teachers. His acting debut was at the age of seven when he appeared in one of his father's stage plays. He met ...
22. Dawn French
Actress | French and Saunders
Dawn was educated at a weekly boarding school in Plymouth and spent the weekends with her grandparents who lived nearby She never felt at home at the school as it was too posh. She met Jennifer Saunders while training to be a teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama and became flat mates ...
23. Jennifer Saunders
Actress | Absolutely Fabulous
Jennifer Saunders was born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, to Jane, a biology teacher, and Robert Thomas Saunders, an RAF pilot. She attended Central School of Speech and Drama where she met her comedy partner Dawn French. Like many of the early 80s groundbreaking "alternative" comedians ...
24. Bill Hicks
Producer | Ninja Bachelor Party
Born in Georgia but raised in Houston since the age of 7, this self-described "Prince of Darkness" was compelled to use the comedy stage as his philosophic soapbox. At 13, he would sneak out of his suburban house to hustle his way onto open-mike night rosters. In two brief decades, Hicks worked his...
25. Ross Noble
Actor | Stitches
Ross Noble was born on June 6, 1976 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Stitches (2012), Ross Noble: Freewheeling (2013) and Ross Noble's Australian Trip (2009). He is married to Fran Noble. They have two children.
26. Billy Connolly
Actor | Brave
Billy Connolly was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He left school to work in the shipyards, becoming a welder, and joined the Territorial Army (in the parachute regiment) at around the same time. He developed an interest in folk music, eventually being an accomplished banjo player and a ...
27. Woody Allen
Writer | Annie Hall
Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.
Allen ...
28. George Carlin
Actor | Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, to Mary (Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick John Carlin, an advertising manager for The Sun; they had met while working in marketing. His father was from Donegal, Ireland, and his mother was Irish-American. His parents ...
29. Frankie Boyle
Art_department | Hangar 10
Frankie Boyle was born on August 16, 1972 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Hangar 10 (2014), Revolver (2001) and Gasping (2014).
30. Eddie Izzard
Actor | Ocean's Thirteen
Best-known for her surreal and digressive stand-up, British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was born on February 7, 1962, in Aden, Yemen, where her English parents -- Dorothy Ella, a nurse and midwife, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant -- worked for British Petroleum.
Izzard worked as a street ...
31. Bill Bailey
Actor | Hot Fuzz
Bill Bailey is known for his sharp wit and classic sense of humor. he is most famous for being in Never Mind The Buzzcocks, celebrity game-show in which he is a team captain. Bill is a stand up comedian, and has also starred in cult comedies such as Spaced and of course Black Books. He was given ...
32. Peter Sellers
Actor | Being There
Often credited as the greatest comedian of all time, Peter Sellers was born Richard Henry Sellers to a well-off acting family in 1925 in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth. He was the son of Agnes Doreen "Peg" (Marks) and William "Bill" Sellers. His parents worked in an acting company run by his ...
33. Frankie Howerd
Actor | Up Pompeii
Francis Alick Howerd, who grew up to become popular British comedian Frankie Howerd, was born in 1917 and first stepped onstage at age 4. As a teen he taught Sunday school; not long after his Army-man father died in 1934, 17-year-old Frankie was invited to audition for RADA. After a poor audition, ...
34. Spike Milligan
Actor | The Bed Sitting Room
Spike was born an 'Army Brat', the son of an Irish Captain in the British Raj in India. Educated in a series of Roman Catholic schools in India and at Lewisham Polytechnic in England, he spent his formative years playing the fool and playing the trumpet in local jazz bands.
He joined the British ...
35. Kathy Burke
Actress | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Ms. Burke was born in Camden, London in 1964 at the Royal Free Hospital. Kathy's mother died when she was a baby and she was in foster homes for a short time until her father, who was a heavy drinker, could regain custody of Kathy and live with her two brothers. Kathy attended the Maria Fidelis ...
36. Simon Pegg
Actor | The World's End
English actor, writer, and comedian Simon Pegg was born Simon John Beckingham in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, to Gillian Rosemary (Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician. His parents divorced when he was seven. He later took his stepfather's surname "Pegg." He was ...
37. Nick Frost
Actor | The World's End
Nick Frost is an English actor, screenwriter and comedian. He is known for his work in the series of British comedic genre films The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy: Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013). He also co-starred in Paul (2011), with frequent collaborator ...
38. Steve Coogan
Actor | Philomena
Steve Coogan was born on October 14, 1965 in Middleton, Manchester, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for Philomena (2013), Alan Partridge (2013) and 24 Hour Party People (2002). He was previously married to Caroline Hickman.
39. Robin Williams
Actor | Mrs. Doubtfire
Robin McLaurin Williams was born on Saturday, July 21st, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois, a great-great-grandson of Mississippi Governor and Senator, Anselm J. McLaurin. His mother, Laurie McLaurin (née Janin), was a former model from Mississippi, and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, was a Ford ...
40. Paul Whitehouse
Actor | The Fast Show
Paul Whitehouse was born on May 17, 1958 in Stanleytown, Rhondda, Wales, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Fast Show (1994), The Death of Stalin (2017) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).
41. Harry Enfield
Actor | Kevin & Perry Go Large
Harry Enfield was born on May 30, 1961 in Horsham, Sussex [now West Sussex], England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000), Harry & Paul's Story of the 2s (2014) and Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul (2007). He has been married to Lucy Lyster since February ...
42. Charlie Higson
Actor | The Fast Show
Charlie Higson was born on July 3, 1958 in Frome, Somerset, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Fast Show (1994), Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000) and Jekyll and Hyde (2015). He is married to Vicky. They have three children.
43. David Mitchell
Writer | That Mitchell and Webb Look
David Mitchell was born on 14th July 1974 in Salisbury, England. His parents, Ian and Kathy Mitchell, worked as hotel managers in Salisbury. David also has a brother. In 1977 the family moved to Oxford, where his parents taught a course in hotel management at Oxford Brookes University. David was ...
44. Robert Webb
Actor | That Mitchell and Webb Look
Robert Webb was born on September 29, 1972 in Lincolnshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006), Peep Show (2003) and Back (2017). He has been married to Abigail Burdess since 2006. They have two children.
45. Charlie Brooker
Writer | Black Mirror
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English humourist, critic, author, screenwriter, producer, and television presenter. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the anthology series Black Mirror and has written for programmes such as Brass Eye, The 11 O'Clock Show, and Nathan Barley...
46. Dylan Moran
Actor | Black Books
Irish comedian Dylan Moran was born in Navan, County Meath in 1971. Leaving school without any qualifications at age 16, Moran quickly became attracted to stand-up comedy and debuted, in 1992, at a comedy club in Dublin, The Comedy Cellar. A year later, he won the Channel Four comedy newcomer's "So...
47. Noel Fielding
Actor | The Mighty Boosh
Noel Fielding was born to Dianne Fielding and Ray Fielding, on May 21 1973. He has once revealed on The Russell Brand Show, on Radio 2, that he has a French grandmother. Fielding once stated that he was never baptised, he hasn't got a middle name and he does not follow any religion. He was once ...
48. Julian Barratt
Actor | The Mighty Boosh
Julian Barratt was born on May 4, 1968 in Leeds, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Mighty Boosh (2003), Mindhorn (2016) and Nathan Barley (2005).
49. Mel Brooks
Actor | Spaceballs
Mel Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky on June 28, 1926 in Brooklyn, New York. He served in WWII, and afterwards got a job playing the drums at nightclubs in the Catskills. Brooks eventually started a comedy act and also worked in radio and as Master Entertainer at Grossinger's Resort before going to ...
50. John Belushi
Actor | Saturday Night Live
John Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on January 24, 1949, to Agnes Demetri (Samaras) and Adam Anastos Belushi, a restaurant owner. His father was an Albanian immigrant, from Qytezë, and his mother was also of Albanian descent. He grew up in Wheaton, where the family moved when he was ...
51. Gene Wilder
Actor | Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
When he was 11, he wanted to be a comedian like Sid Caesar. Then, when he was 15 and saw Lee J. Cobb in 'Death of a Salesman,' he decided he would be a comedy actor and found that Mel Brooks was a great influence on his screen writing. He combined both talents with directing in The World's Greatest...
52. Vic Reeves
Actor | Catterick
Vic Reeves was born on January 24, 1959 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Catterick (2004), Vic Reeves Big Night Out (1990) and House of Fools (2014). He has been married to Nancy Sorrell since January 25, 2003. They have two children. He was previously ...
53. Bob Mortimer
Actor | House of Fools
Bob Mortimer was born on May 23, 1959 in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for House of Fools (2014), Catterick (2004) and Shooting Stars (1993). He has been married to Lisa Matthews since October 2015. They have two children.
54. Jack Dee
Actor | Lead Balloon
Jack Dee was born on September 24, 1961 in Petts Wood, Kent, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Lead Balloon (2006), Bad Move (2017) and The Grimleys (1997). He has been married to Jane Dee since 1989. They have four children.
55. Lee Evans
Actor | Le Cinquième Élément
In 2014 Whilst being interviewed by Jonathon Ross on his show, he announced his immediate retirement from Stand Up and Touring after the premature death of his manager from a heart attack. He is now determined to spend more time with his wife Heather and daughter Molly, or Little Mo as he calls her.
56. Steven Wright
Actor | Natural Born Killers
Steven Wright was born on December 6, 1955 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Natural Born Killers (1994), So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) and Reservoir Dogs (1992).
57. Les Dawson
Actor | Demob
Les Dawson was born on February 2, 1931 in Manchester, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for Demob (1993), The Loner (1975) and Sounds Like Les Dawson (1974). He was married to Tracy Dawson and Meg Dawson. He died on June 10, 1993 in Manchester, England, UK.
58. Dara O Briain
Self | Mock the Week
Dara O Briain was born on February 4, 1972 in Wicklow, Ireland. He is a producer and writer, known for Mock the Week (2005), The Panel (2003) and Dara O Briain: Crowd Tickler (2015). He has been married to Susan since 2006. They have two children.
59. Chris O'Dowd
Actor | Bridesmaids
Christopher "Chris" O'Dowd (born 9 October, 1979) is an Irish actor and comedian best known for his role as Roy Trenneman in the Channel 4 comedy The IT Crowd (2006). O'Dowd created and is starring in the Sky 1 television series Moone Boy (2012). He had a recurring role on the drama series Girls (...
60. Richard Ayoade
Writer | Submarine
Richard Ellef Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, and grew up in Suffolk, in England, the son of a Norwegian mother, Dagny Amalie (Baassuik), and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. He studied Law at Cambridge university, and followed in the footsteps of British Comedy legends like Monty ...
61. Katherine Parkinson
Actress | Pirate Radio
Katherine Jane Parkinson is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's The IT Crowd comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice for the BAFTA Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance, winning in...
62. Lenny Bruce
Writer | Dance Hall Racket
Lenny Bruce was born Leonard Alfred Schneider on October 13, 1925, in Mineola, Long Island, New York. His British-born father, Myron, was a shoe clerk, his mother, Sadie, was a dancer. Lenny's parents were divorced when he was a child. To support herself and her son, Sadie Schneider pursued a ...
63. Russell Howard
Writer | Russell Howard: Live
Russell Howard was born on March 23, 1980 in Bristol, England, UK. He is a writer and actor, known for Russell Howard: Live (2008), Russell Howard Live: Dingledodies (2009) and Russell Howard's Good News (2009).
64. Chris Barrie
Actor | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Chris Barrie was born Christopher Jonathan Brown on March 28, 1960, in a British military hospital in Hanover, Germany. He was brought up in Northern Ireland and was a boarder at Methodist College Belfast. He was Head Boy in his final year and played the lead in a "Dial M for Murder" production. He ...
65. Sacha Baron Cohen
Actor | Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
British actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of Daniella (Weiser), a movement instructor, and Gerald Baron Cohen, a clothing store owner. His father, born in England and raised in Wales, was of Eastern European Jewish descent, while his mother was born...
66. Tommy Cooper
Actor | The Cool Mikado
After leaving the army Tommy Cooper took up show business in 1947 and so started his long career of comedy derived around visual humour, magic tricks that didn't work and his trademark red fez, a prop that started from his days in the army. The BBC described him as an "Unattractive young man with ...
67. Ed Byrne
Actor | Are You Ready for Love?
Ed Byrne was born on April 10, 1972 in Swords, Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor and writer, known for Are You Ready for Love? (2006), Sam's Game (2001) and Doctors (2000). He has been married to Claire Walker since June 5, 2008. They have two children.
68. Jimmy Carr
Self | 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Jimmy Carr is an award-winning comedian, writer and television host.
Among the most-respected and best-loved comedians working in Britain today, Jimmy is one of the biggest selling live acts in UK comedy, consistently performing to sell-out crowds across the country and around the world.
His ...
69. Sean Lock
Writer | 15 Storeys High
He was one of the funniest guys in British television, much acclaimed for his dry wit and deadpan delivery, both on and off the set. Sean Lock was a genuine comedic original. His screen persona has been described as "studiedly obtuse". Either as host or panellist, he knew how to have audiences in ...
70. Steve Martin
Writer | Roxanne
Steve Martin was born on August 14, 1945 in Waco, Texas, USA as Stephen Glenn Martin to Mary Lee (née Stewart; 1913-2002) and Glenn Vernon Martin (1914-1997), a real estate salesman and aspiring actor. He was raised in Inglewood and Garden Grove in California. In 1960, he got a job at the Magic ...
71. John Candy
Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.
Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...
72. Stewart Lee
Writer | Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
Stewart Lee was born on April 5, 1968 in Wellington, Shropshire, England, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (2009), This Morning with Richard Not Judy (1998) and Kombat Opera Presents (2007). He has been married to Bridget Christie since 2006. They have two ...
73. Ronnie Barker
Actor | The Two Ronnies
Ronnie Barker's remarkable versatility as a performer can be traced back to his time in repertory theatre, where he was able to play a wide range of roles and develop his talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity. It was during this time that he met Glenn Melvyn, who taught him how to stammer ...
74. Ronnie Corbett
Actor | Casino Royale
Ronnie Corbett began his successful show business career in the early 1950s. Amongst many other things he performed on stage with Danny La Rue in a cacophony of well received variety and cabaret shows.
It was whilst performing in these shows that Corbett attracted the attention of several top TV ...
75. Victoria Wood
Actress | Housewife, 49
From the mid-1980s right up until her premature death in April 2016, Victoria Wood's appearances on stage and television were always eagerly anticipated, whether it was laugh-a-minute stand-up, a beautifully judged dramatic performance in the TV film Housewife, 49 (2005) or the canteen sitcom ...
76. Dermot Morgan
Actor | Father Ted
Dermot went to University College Dublin, where he studied English and Philosopy. In 1974 he took up a teaching post, but left 2 years later to persue the comedy career that he had started at university. In 1979 his first introduction to TV came with an appearance on "Live Mike" on RTE television ...
77. Jim Carrey
Actor | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
Jim Carrey, Canadian-born and a U.S. citizen since 2004, is an actor and producer famous for his rubbery body movements and flexible facial expressions. The two-time Golden Globe-winner rose to fame as a cast member of the Fox sketch comedy In Living Color (1990) but leading roles in Ace Ventura: ...
78. Jason Manford
Actor | Ordinary Lies
Jason Manford was born on May 26, 1981 in Salford, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Ordinary Lies (2015), Ideal (2005) and Little Crackers (2010). He has been married to Lucy Dyke since December 23, 2017. They have one child. He was previously married to Catherine.
79. Russell Brand
Producer | Arthur
Russell Brand was born on June 4, 1975, in Grays, Essex, England, the son of Barbara Elizabeth (Nichols) and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer. An only child, his parents divorced when he was only six months old, and he was subsequently raised by his mother. Enduring a difficult childhood that saw...
More for his stand-up than films.
80. Tim Minchin
Actor | Upright
Tim Minchin was born on October, 1975, as Timothy David Minchin, and was brought up in Perth, Western Australia. He is an actor, comedian, musician, writer, and director known for Californication (2007), Larrikins (2018), and Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra (2011). He is the composer ...
81. Steve Pemberton
Actor | Inside No. 9
Steve Pemberton is a BAFTA winning actor and writer born in Blackburn, UK. He graduated from Bretton Hall in Yorkshire with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Arts in 1989. After leaving college Steve spent time producing and starring in small-scale theatre productions in London and working part-time for ...
82. Mark Gatiss
Actor | The League of Gentlemen
Mark Gatiss is an accomplished author, actor and playwright. Originally from Sedgefield, County Durham, he graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA (honors) in Theatre Arts.
He was one-quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen (1999), and became heavily involved in ...
83. Reece Shearsmith
Actor | The League of Gentlemen
Reece Shearsmith originates from Hull and is a talented writer and performer. Having graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA(hons) in Theatre Arts, he is a quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen and has appeared in a variety of television shows and films. He ...
84. Jo Brand
Writer | Getting On
Jo Brand was born on July 23, 1957 in London, England, UK. She is a writer and actress, known for Getting On (2009), The More You Ignore Me (2018) and Human Traffic (1999). She has been married to Bernie Bourke since December 19, 1997. They have two children.
85. Jack Black
Actor | School of Rock
Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black was born on August 28, 1969 in Santa Monica, California and raised in Hermosa Beach, California to Judith Love Cohen & Thomas William Black, both satellite engineers. He is of Russian Jewish & British-German ancestry. Black attended the University of California at Los ...
86. Tracey Ullman
Actress | The Tracey Ullman Show
Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman) is a multiple award-winning television, stage and film actress who performs as a comedian, singer, dancer, as well as works as a screenwriter, producer, director, author, and businesswoman. She holds dual British and American citizenship.
Ullman's early appearances ...
87. Reginald D. Hunter
Actor | Have I Got News for You
Reginald D. Hunter was born in 1969 in Albany, Georgia, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Have I Got News for You (1990), The Sandman (2020) and Tales from the Crypt (1989).
88. Alan Davies
Actor | Jonathan Creek
Alan lived in Loughton, Essex for most of his life, until he left to pursue a career in comedy. He now lives in Islington in north London. He is the second of three children, born in Essex, and has an older brother and a younger sister. He was raised by his father, an accountant when his mother ...
89. Rob Brydon
Actor | The Huntsman: Winter's War
Rob Brydon was born on May 3, 1965 in Swansea, Wales, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Marion & Geoff (2000) and Barbie (2023). He has been married to Claire Holland since October 6, 2006. They have two children. He was previously married to Martina ?.
90. Alan Tudyk
Actor | Rogue One
Alan Tudyk was born in El Paso, Texas, but grew up in Plano, where he attended Plano Sr. High. In 1990, he went on to study drama at Lon Morris Jr. College. While there, he was awarded the Academic Excellence Award for Drama. He was also named Most Likely to Succeed and Sophomore Beau. During this ...
91. Mike Myers
Actor | Austin Powers in Goldmember
Michael John Myers was born in 1963 in Scarborough, Ontario, to Alice E. (Hind), an officer supervisor, and Eric Myers, an insurance agent. His parents were both English, and had served in the Royal Air Force and British Army, respectively.
Myers' television career really started in 1988, when he ...
92. Chris Rock
Actor | Top Five
Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.
...
93. Chris Farley
Actor | Tommy Boy
Christopher Crosby Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Mary Anne (Crosby) and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil company. Among his siblings are actors Kevin P. Farley and John Farley. He was of Irish heritage. Farley studied theatre and communications on Marquette ...
94. Ken Jeong
Actor | The Hangover
Ken Jeong is an American actor, comedian, and physician. He is known for his roles as Ben Chang on the critically acclaimed NBC/Yahoo! sitcom Community (2009) and gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover (2009) Trilogy. He appeared in Michael Bay's Pain & Gain (2013), as Johnny Wu, a motivational ...
95. Steve Carell
Actor | The Office
Steve Carell, one of America's most versatile comics, was born Steven John Carell on August 16, 1962, in Concord, Massachusetts. He is the son of Harriet Theresa (Koch), a psychiatric nurse, and Edwin A. Carell, an electrical engineer. His mother was of Polish descent and his father of Italian and ...
96. Whoopi Goldberg
Actress | Ghost
Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson in the Chelsea section of Manhattan on November 13, 1955. Her mother, Emma (Harris), was a teacher and a nurse, and her father, Robert James Johnson, Jr., was a clergyman. Whoopi's recent ancestors were from Georgia, Florida, and Virginia. She worked in...
97. Will Ferrell
Producer | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
John William Ferrell was born in Irvine, California, to Betty Kay (Overman), a teacher, and Roy Lee Ferrell, Jr., a musician. His parents were originally from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Ferrell became interested in performing while a student ...
98. Adam Sandler
Actor | The Waterboy
Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith (Levine), a teacher at a nursery school, and Stanley Alan Sandler, an electrical engineer. He is of Russian Jewish descent. At 17, he took his first step towards becoming a stand-up comedian when he spontaneously took ...
99. John C. Reilly
Actor | Chicago
Character actor, dramatic leading man, or hilarious comic foil? With an astonishing range of roles already under his belt, John C. Reilly has played an eclectic host of rich characters to great effect over the years, from seedy ne'er-do-wells, to lovable, good-natured schlepps.
The fifth of six ...
100. Zach Galifianakis
Actor | The Hangover
Zach Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, to Mary Frances (Cashion), who owned a community arts center, and Harry Galifianakis, a heating oil vendor. His father is of Greek descent and his mother is of mostly English and Scottish ancestry. Zach moved to New York City after failing ...
Tell Your Friends