Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield (born 30 May 1961 in Horsham, West Sussex, England) is a BAFTA winning English comedian, actor and writer and director.
Early life
Enfield is the oldest of three children, the son of English television, radio and newspaper journalist and presenter
Edward Enfield. He has two sisters, Elizabeth (born 1966) and Lucy Katherine (born 1969). He was educated at the independent Arundale School in
Pulborough,
Dorset House School,
Worth School,
Collyer's Sixth Form College and the
University of York, where he was a member of
Derwent College and read politics. He worked for a while as a milkman.
Career
Enfield first came to public attention when appearing on
Channel 4's ''
Saturday Live'' as a number of different characters created with
Paul Whitehouse. These quickly entered the national consciousness. Among these characters were Stavros, a Greek restaurant owner with markedly fractured English; and Loadsamoney, an obnoxious character who constantly boasted about how much money he earned. Loadsamoney spawned a hit single in 1988 and a sell-out live tour. As a foil to Loadsamoney Enfield and Whitehouse created the
Geordie "Bugger-All-Money" and in 1988 Enfield appeared as both characters during the Nelson Mandela Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium. In time Whitehouse and Enfield became disturbed that Loadsamoney was being seen in a positive light, rather than as a satirical figure, and they had him run over during a
Comic Relief Red Nose Day show while leaving the studio after presenting host
Lenny Henry with "the biggest cheque of the night"—a physically huge cheque for ten pence.
In 1989 Enfield realised a personal project, ''Norbert Smith - a Life'', a spoof on British theatrical knights slumming in the film industry. He also provided voices for the British satirical puppet show ''Spitting Image''.
TV series
In 1990 Enfield developed his
BBC sketch show, ''
Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', later called ''
Harry Enfield and Chums'', with Whitehouse and
Kathy Burke. Eschewing the
alternative comedy style prevalent at the time, both versions of the show were indebted to early '70s comedians such as
Dick Emery and
Morecambe and Wise. Enfield and his co-performers created another group of nationally recognised characters for these shows, such as ''Stan and Pam Herbert'', who use the catchphrase "We are considerably richer than you" (in an exaggerated West-Midlands accent), ''Tim Nice-But-Dim'', ''
The Scousers'', ''
Smashie and Nicey, Wayne and Waynetta Slob, Annoying Kid Brother'', who grew into ''
Kevin the Teenager'', and two old-fashioned BBC presenters, ''Mr Cholmondley-Warner and Grayson''.
In 1991, Enfield played Dermot in the sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' along with Martin Clunes, Caroline Quentin and Leslie Ash, originally on Thames Television. Enfield left after the first series, and was replaced in the second series by Neil Morrissey as Tony. Enfield is a professed fan of opera and fronted a Channel 4 documentary series on the subject.
After a short break from television Enfield signed a new contract with BSkyB, but produced only one series, ''Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show''. In 2002 Enfield returned to the BBC with ''Celeb'', a new series based on the comic strip of the same title in ''Private Eye'', as the ageing rockstar Gary Bloke.
In 2002 Enfield was the first guest on the revamped version of BBC's ''Top Gear'' and also appeared on the show on 23 November 2008. Enfield has also narrated various TV documentaries such as the Discovery Wings channel "Classic British Aircraft".
In 2007, he played Jim Stonem in the Channel 4 series ''Skins''. He reprised this role in the second series in 2008, and the third series in 2009.
He appears often on mainstream television shows. His current comedy series ''Harry & Paul'' (originally titled ''Ruddy Hell! It's Harry & Paul'') started in 2008.
Films
In 2000 Enfield appeared in his first leading
film role playing Kevin alongside
Kathy Burke, who played the character's (male) friend Perry—roles originally created for Enfield's television series—in ''
Kevin & Perry Go Large''. The film charted the pair's attempt to become professional
DJs by travelling to the nightclubs of
Ibiza and pestering their idol, the DJ Eyeball Paul, played by
Rhys Ifans, while gaining love and losing their virginity. Enfield also appeared as King
George VI in ''
Churchill: The Hollywood Years'' (2004), a satire on Hollywood's tendency to change elements of history.
Commercials
Enfield appeared in some television commercials before becoming famous, including one made in 1987 for
Heineken. Enfield's most memorable commercials include a series made in 1996 for
Dime Bar. One commercial in this series had Enfield as a yokel refusing a Dime bar—smooth on the outside, crunchy on the inside—because he preferred
armadillos—smooth on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Later Enfield, with Paul Whitehouse, starred in a series of commercials for
Hula Hoops as The Self-Righteous Brothers, characters from Enfield's television show . In 2004 Enfield starred in a series of commercials for
Burger King in the U.S. as Dr. Angus, a character intended to promote the company's newest hamburger. Two more characters from Enfield's TV series, Mr Cholmondley-Warner and Grayson, also appeared in commercials, for
Mercury Communications. Also in 2004 Enfield provided the voice of "The Roaming Gnome" character used in
Travelocity's U.S. advertising campaign.
Personal life
For several years, Enfield was in a relationship with
Alison Owen, the mother of
Alfie and
Lily Allen. They lived together for three years and he helped look after the children. They intended to get married but separated in 1995. He previously dated producer Debbie Vertue (daughter of
Beryl Vertue and sister of
Sue Vertue).
In 1997 Enfield married Lucy Lyster and they have one son, Archie Edward Enfield (born 1997) and two daughters, Poppy Sophia (born 1999) and Nell Florence Enfield (born 2003).
Enfield went to school with Simon Nye, who later wrote ''Men Behaving Badly''.
References
External links
Category:1961 births
Category:Living people
Category:English comedians
Category:English television actors
Category:English television writers
Category:People from Horsham
Category:Alumni of the University of York
Category:Old Collyerians
Category:People educated at Worth School
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