}} | show-medals = yes }}

Kriss Kezie Uche Chukwu Duru Akabusi MBE (born 28 November 1958) is a former sprint and hurdling athlete from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1990 European Championships, a gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal in the 4 x 400 m relay at the 1984 Olympic Games. Since retiring from athletics, he has worked as a television presenter and motivational speaker.

Military career

Akabusi joined the British Army in 1975, having a successful career in the Royal Corps of Signals before switching to the Army Physical Training Corps (as it was then called) in 1981. When he was discharged into the reserves at the end of his army career he held the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2.

Athletics career

In 1983, Akabusi embarked upon an athletics career, initially specialising in the 400 metres, before switching to the 400 metres hurdles in 1987.

As a member of the British 4 x 400 m relay team, Akabusi won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

In 1990, Akabusi broke David Hemery's longstanding British 400 m hurdles record on his way to a gold medal at the European Championships. He also won the 400 m hurdles gold medal at that year's Commonwealth Games.

At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Akabusi won the bronze medal in the 400 m hurdles. He then ran the anchor leg for the British 4 x 400 m relay team. At the start of the final lap, Akabusi took the baton in second place behind the United States team, and he dramatically overtook the American runner Antonio Pettigrew (who had won the 400 m individual event) on the final bend and crossed the line in first place to win the gold medal for Britain.

Akabusi won bronze medals in both the 400 m hurdles and the 4 x 400 m relay at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Television work

Akabusi has presented the television shows ''Gladiators'', ''Record Breakers'' (joining after the death of long-serving presenter Roy Castle in 1994) and ''The Big Breakfast'', and has regularly appeared as a panelist on many quiz shows such as ''A Question of Sport'', ''They Think It's All Over'' and ''Through the Keyhole''. Through these appearances he became well known for having an over-the-top laugh, which was spoofed in an episode of the Vicar of Dibley when Owen Newitt proposes to the vicar saying, "If you accept, I'll be the happiest man in the world apart from Kriss Akabusi." He appeared as a milkman in the 1997 ''Last of the Summer Wine'' episode "There Goes the Groom". Kriss Akabusi's first marriage was to Monika Akabusi who got Akabusi into athletics

Honours

In 1992, Akabusi was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his services to the country through athletics. Also that year, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Southampton along with fellow relay team member Roger Black.

In 2008 University College London Union renamed their student sports bar to the 'Kriss Akabusi Pleasure Lounge', in honour of one of the university's most famous sporting alumni. In 2010, on the back of popular demand, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, also renamed their bar the 'Kriss Akabusi Entertainment Saloon'.

Achievements

1984

*Summer Olympics - Los Angeles, United States.

**4 x 400 m. relay silver medal

1987

*World Championships - Rome, Italy.

**4 x 400 m. relay silver medal

1989

*IAAF World Cup - Barcelona, Spain.

**400 m. hurdles bronze medal

*European Cup - Gateshead, England.

**400 m. hurdles gold medal

1990

*Commonwealth Games - Auckland, New Zealand.

**400 m. hurdles gold medal

*European Championships- Split, Yugoslavia.

**400 m. hurdles gold medal

1991

*World Championships - Tokyo, Japan.

**400 m. hurdles bronze medal

**4 x 400 m. relay gold medal

*European Cup - Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

**400 m. hurdles gold medal

1992

*Summer Olympics: Barcelona, Spain.

**400 m. hurdles bronze medal

**4 x 400 m. relay bronze medal

References

External links

United Kingdom Athletics profile for Kriss Akabusi

Guardian interview, 12 August 2008

London Student Newspaper coverage of the UCLU bar re-naming

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:English athletes Category:Black English sportspeople Category:English people of Nigerian descent Category:English people of Igbo descent Category:Igbo athletes Category:People from London Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Category:Army Physical Training Corps soldiers Category:Olympic athletes of Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic silver medalists for Great Britain Category:Olympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Category:English television presenters Category:Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)

de:Kriss Akabusi fr:Kriss Akabusi ja:クリス・アカブシ pt:Kriss Akabusi fi:Kriss Akabusi sv:Kriss Akabusi

:''For the Continuity Announcer of the same name see: Paul Kaye (broadcaster)''

Coordinates	33°51′35.9″N151°12′40″N
name	Paul Kaye
birth date	15 December 1964
birth place	Clapham, England
nationality	English
notable work	Dennis PennisMike Strutter }}

Paul Kaye (born 15 December 1964, Clapton, London) is an English comedian and actor. He achieved notoriety in 1995 portraying the character of Dennis Pennis, a shock interviewer on ''The Sunday Show''. Recently he has been known as rude New Jersey lawyer Mike Strutter with his own show ''Strutter'' on MTV.

Biography

Early life

Born in Clapton, east London to Jewish parents. Paul was adopted with his twin sister Lisa and was brought up in Wembley where their father and mother ran a nearby schoolwear shop called 'Jackie's', first in Kingsbury and then in Kenton. Kaye was a promising schoolboy athlete who achieved an impressive time in the 100 metres and he became a fan of punk rock, particularly Sid Vicious. At 16 he entered Harrow school of Art on a two year foundation course and achieved a distinction. Paul got a First Class BA Hons degree in Theatre Design at Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University).

Pre-Pennis Career

Paul took a year out of college in 1984 and worked on a kibbutz in Israel. He met his future wife Orly whom he married in 1989.

Paul designed theatre posters for the Kings Head, the Bush Theatre and the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill. He was a scene painter at the Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo and illustrated regularly for the ''NME'', ''i-D'', ''Literary Review'', ''Time Out'' and ''International Musician'' magazines between 1987-89. Kaye had two exhibitions of his illustration and poster work between 89-90, firstly at the Soho House Theatre, W1 and then at the Drill Hall, WC1.

He formed and sang in many bands - notably the dark psychadelic outfit We Are Pleb who played extensively on the Camden scene of 88/89 (which spawned Blur and Suede) and had a penchant for setting the stage on fire.

Paul was signed to Go Discs in 1992 with a group called TV Eye (formed with ex-members of the band Eat) and released two singles, Killer Fly and Eradicator.

In 1993, Kaye filmed a prototype Dennis Pennis, interviewing his own band on a late night indie music show on Granada called Transmission. After the interview, Kaye then went out with the crew, got very drunk and offended as many people as possible up and down Oxford Street. This tape somehow arrived on the desk of producers at Planet 24 six months later and they offered Kaye the job of knocking on peoples doors at 6 am on The Big Breakfast. Kaye turned them down, preferring to stay on the dole and stick with We Are Pleb. Mark Lamarr eventually took the job.

Paul was the in-house graphic designer for Tottenham Hotspur, he had an office in White Hart Lane and designed merchandise for Spurs, Derby County, Southampton FC and Aston Villa for the company Hmmel (doing caricatures of Paul Gascoigne for school lunchboxes etc.). Being a die hard Arsenal FC fan, Paul has claimed that there are subliminal cannons contained within his work for Spurs, most notably a pen and ink drawing of Tottenham's new stand on a catalogue cover which feature a minute cannon in the crowd. 70,000 were printed up.

Paul became the in-house theatre designer of the Bet Zvi Drama Academy in Tel Aviv for 12 months in 1994, designing all the in house productions in their studio theatre.

His TV debut was on ''The Word'' being secretly filmed in Oliver Reeds dressing room. Kaye recalls "Reid had drunk two bottles of vodka, taken all his clothes off and I honestly thought he was going to kill me on live television. I swore in bed that I'd never do a celebrity interview again. Typically, 6 months later I'd come up with Dennis Pennis."

In 1994, Kaye convinced an old friend Ant Hines (a car mechanic and some time roadie for TV Eye) to help him write Dennis Pennis when he was offered the job on ''The Sunday Show''. (Hines was later poached by Sacha Baron Cohen to write for Ali G on The Eleven O'Clock Show and went on to receive an Oscar nomination for co-writing Borat in 2006).

Dennis Pennis

Celebrity interviewer Dennis Pennis – created by Kaye and his friend Anthony Hines – was one of Kaye's best-known characters. A cross between Johnny Rotten and Woody Allen, with a shock of red hair, gaudy jackets adorned with punk-style badges, and thick glasses (worn, ostensibly, to reduce the likelihood of getting assaulted), Pennis stood out from the crowd and asked celebrities atypical questions, ranging from playful to cruel.

After brief stints presenting two episodes of ''Transmission'' (ITV's indie music magazine program circa 1990) as Pennis, the character next appeared in 1995 on BBC2's ''The Sunday Show''. The basic premise was that Kaye and a camera crew would visit movie premieres, press functions and other assorted celebrity gatherings to attempt to get an "interview" with the stars, in between short skits and sketches featuring the character.

Originally, the celebrities would be mainly British stars harassed at assorted London-based events, such as actor Hugh Grant, TV host Ulrika Jonsson and sports pundit Des Lynam. A 1995 video release of these early clips, ''Anyone For Pennis'', assured success for the controversial comedian, who sought to broaden Pennis's scope.

When the Pennis character took off, Kaye was afforded a budget large enough to travel to Cannes, Hollywood and Venice to record footage for his video ''VIP – Very Important Pennis'', released in 1996.

His victims from this point on were much more renowned, the most famous of whom were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis, amidst a raft of other Hollywood A-list stars. It was apparent that these victims, in the absolute upper echelons of fame, were unsettled and unhappy with Pennis's unique line of questioning. Some stars, such as Costner, insulted him back, while others, such as Moore, simply declined to comment and left. Pennis was visibly amused at the look of disgust on some of the stars' faces. There was some controversy when Pennis asked of Steve Martin: "How come you're not funny anymore?" Martin subsequently cancelled all scheduled press interviews. Kaye later said that he regretted this interview for a while, but that "anyone who thinks they can improve on Bilko and Inspector Clouseau needs a slap don’t they?".

The final video release, ''Dennis Pennis RIP: Too Rude to Live'', released in 1997, saw the character killed off. In the video's plotline, certain members of the public take such offence at Pennis that they form a protest group against him, and the leader of the group deliberately provokes lawyer Mike Strutter (another Kaye character, see below) into strangling and finally bludgeoning Pennis to death. Kaye gave his reasons for axing Pennis as expense, the effort required to get a single usable interview, the notoriety of the character, and Kaye's own boredom and unhappiness with Pennis. Although the video consists partially of more celebrity interviews in the familiar format, Kaye also used this release to portray several new characters he had created. One example was Labian Quest, an eccentric upper-class composer who turns out to have written many of the best-known English football chants, such as "In your Everton slums" and "Who the fucking hell are you?" (in Quest's words, "a generic piece concerning identity and belonging").

The reasoning for killing off the character was stated as such by Kaye, "Dennis Pennis had become too expensive. Taking a film crew out every night with no guarantee of getting even a minute's worth of footage of me harassing celebs was just stupid. And then the programme would take months to compile, and it was just boring, man..... hanging out in the rain, twiddling your thumbs, playing with your hip flask...... he had to go......"

Pennis remains unrevived, although Kaye in 2002 stated his intentions to bring him back in some form or other .

Post Pennis career

Kaye also appeared as the singer of a fictional punk band called ''Spunk'' in a 1999 mock-documentary of the same name, which appeared as the 'wrath' part of a Channel 4 series on the seven deadly sins.

In 2000 Kaye starred in the comedy series ''Perfect World'', a sitcom about a down-on-his-luck marketing manager. Although somewhat coolly received, the show did manage two series, although a third has not been commissioned by the BBC. He also briefly presented a BBC2 quiz show, Liar , in which six contestants would all have a supposed claim to fame and the studio audience voted on which one they believed was telling the truth. In the same year Kaye took a dramatic role alongside Michelle Collins in ''Two Thousand Acres of Sky''.

In 2004, he played the leading role in the film ''Blackball'', which was well received, though by a discerning minority. His role as deaf DJ Frankie Wilde in the 2005 mockumentary ''It's All Gone Pete Tong'' won him the Film Discovery Jury Award at the 2005 US Comedy Arts Festival. Television appearances in 2006 and 2007 include episodes of ''Hustle'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Kingdom''. Kaye is now the chief interviewer on rockworld.tv, in which he interviews up and coming punk/indie bands.

Kaye appeared in ''Hotel Babylon'' (11 March 2008, BBC One), ''Pulling'' (Series 2, March 2008, BBC Three) and as Uncle Gorwel in ''A Child's Christmases in Wales'' by Dylan Thomas (17 December 2009, BBC Four and 24 December 2009, BBC One Wales).

Paul appeared in an episode of Channel 4's Skins drama as Cook's lawyer, Duncan.

In 2010, Paul provided the voice of Vince the fox in the BBC3 comedy Mongrels.

2010 saw him also play a supporting actor role as the caterpillar in the film ''Malice in Wonderland'', which saw him as a dope smoking yardie gangster type who only speaks in rhymes.

He appeared in an episode of BBC's ''Inspector George Gently'' in September 2010 as a character called Max Osgood.

As well as portraying Mike Strutter in the MTV show ''Strutter'', Kaye plays occasional live covers gigs in the guise of his character, where he fronts a live backing band. Kaye's other musical projects have included a duet with London-based singer Kiria, who also appears on occasion as a member of the Mike Strutter Group.

From November 2010 to January 2011, Kaye played Matilda’s father, Mr Wormwood, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's musical Matilda, based on the classic Roald Dahl novel ''Matilda''. He will reprise the role when the musical transfers to London's West End in October 2011.

In 2011 Kaye appeared in "Shameless" as seedy night club owner Kermit.

Personal life

Kaye married Orly, a kindergarten teacher in 1989.

Kaye is an Arsenal fan, and writes a regular column for their official magazine. He is fond of punk music, particularly The Clash, and The Sex Pistols. He has two sons, the younger of which bears the middle name of Strummer, as in The Clash's Joe Strummer.

Kaye was angered watching an interview on BBC News 24 in which comedian Alexei Sayle referred to Hamas only firing 'toy rockets' at Israel. Kaye rang the BBC to complain and was invited to come on the show half an hour later with Peter Sissons to talk about his experiences. Two weeks prior to the interview, Kaye's wife had been in a supermarket in Ashkelon which had also been hit by a rocket but was unhurt.. Kaye later wrote an article for the Guardian calling for peace.

Filmography

''Candy Cabs (TV series)'', 2011

''Short Order'', 2005

''Malice in Wonderland'' 2009

''Pulling'' Hour Long Special, May 2009

''Massive'' September 2008

''Pulling'' Series 2, (March 2008)

''Hotel Babylon'' Series 3, Episode 4 (March 2008)

''Fight the English way'' (Mobile and internet video)

''Hustle'' - Series 3, Episode 5 - as Tim Millen

''Waking the Dead'' - Series 4, Episode 6 "Shadowplay"

''Match Point''

''Blackball''

''Spaced'' Series 1, Episode 3 - as "Hoover"

''Perfect World''

''Two Thousand Acres of Sky''

''EastEnders'' 9 April 2007

''It's All Gone Pete Tong'' 28 September 2004

''WΔZ''

''Cass''

''Kingdom Season 1 Episode 3'' as Alan the Artist, (May 2007)

''The Big I Am'' (2010) - as "Keys"

''Skins series 4 episode 3 "cook"'' playing Duncan Cook's lawyer February 2010

''Mongrels'' - as Vince

''Shameless''

''Being Human''

''Midsomer Murders - The Great and the Good - as Lawrence Mann

Awards

Kaye has been nominated for, and won , a number of film awards:

Best Actor – US Comedy Arts Festival (''It's All Gone Pete Tong'')

Best Actor – Method Fest (Nominated) (''It's All Gone Pete Tong'')

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role – Genie Awards (Nominated) (''It's All Gone Pete Tong'')

References

External links

BBC comedy guide to Paul Kaye

4 Nov 2006 Guardian Inverview of Paul Kaye & Mike Strutter

Strutter @ MTV UK (adult content)

Struttergear (adult content)

Struttergear Official Francophone Forum (adult content)

LocoTv : El Mundo Es Loco !! (adult content)

BBC Interview with Paul Kaye about Two Thousand Acres of Sky

Official site for ''It's all gone Pete Tong''

Paul Kaye's airport parking viral At Holiday Extras

Paul Kaye Exclusive Interview

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Category:British people of Polish descent Category:English comedians Category:English Jews Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English voice actors Category:Actors from London Category:People from Clapham

fr:Paul Kaye ro:Paul Kaye