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Dan Savage
Dan Savage in 2005
Born	Daniel Keenan Savage (1964-10-07) October 7, 1964 (age 47) Chicago, Illinois
Other names	Keenan Hollahan
Education	B.A., Theater, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign[1]
Occupation	Author, media pundit, journalist, newspaper editor and sex advice columnist
Spouse	Terry Miller
Children	D.J.

Daniel Keenan "Dan" Savage (born October 7, 1964)^[2] is an American author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor.^[3][4] Savage writes the internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column Savage Love. Its tone is frank in its discussion of sexuality, often humorous, and hostile to social conservatives and Rick Santorum's views on homosexuality. Savage has clashed with cultural conservatives on the right, and the gay establishment, on the left. He has also worked as a theater director, both under his real name and under the name Keenan Hollahan, using his middle name and his grandmother's maiden name.^[5] In 2010, Savage and his husband Terry Miller began the It Gets Better Project to help prevent suicide among LGBT youth.

Personal life[link]

Dan Savage was born to William and Judy Savage in Chicago, Illinois.^[6] He is of Irish ancestry.^[7] The third of four children,^[6] Savage was raised as a Roman Catholic and attended Quigley Preparatory Seminary North, which he has described as "a Catholic high school in Chicago for boys thinking of becoming priests."^[8] Though Savage has stated that he is now "a wishy-washy agnostic" and an atheist,^[9] he has said that he still considers himself "culturally Catholic."^[8][10]

Savage attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he studied theater and history.^[6] As a theater director, Savage (working under the name "Keenan Hollahan") was a founder of Seattle's Greek Active Theater.^[10] Much of the group's work has been queer recontextualizations of classic works, such as a tragicomic Macbeth with both the title character and Lady Macbeth played by performers of the opposite sex. In March 2001, he directed his own Egguus at Consolidated Works, a parody of Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus which exchanged a fixation on horses for a fixation on chickens. Savage has not directed, produced, or performed in any productions since a 2003 production of Letters from the Earth, also at Consolidated Works, his trimmed version of Mark Twain's The Diary of Adam and Eve, which received scathing reviews, including one from his own paper, "My Boss's Show Stinks".^[11]

Savage and his husband, Terry, have one adopted son, D.J.,^[12] and were married in Vancouver, BC in 2005.^[13][14]

Savage Love[link]

In 1991, Savage was living in Madison, Wisconsin, and working as a manager at a local video store that specialized in independent film titles.^[6] There, Savage befriended Tim Keck, co-founder of The Onion, who announced that he was moving to Seattle to help start an alternative weekly newspaper titled The Stranger.^[6] Savage "made the offhand comment that forever altered [his] life: 'Make sure your paper has an advice column—everybody claims to hate 'em, but everybody seems to read 'em'."^[15] Savage typed up a sample column, and to Savage's surprise Keck offered him the job.^[16][17]

Savage stated in a February 2006 interview in The Onion's A.V. Club (which publishes his column) that he began the column with the express purpose of providing mocking advice to heterosexuals, since most straight advice columnists were "clueless" when responding to letters from gay people.^[16] Savage wanted to call the column "Hey Faggot!" in an effort to reclaim a hate word. His editors at the time refused his choice of column name, but for the first several years of the column, he attached "Hey Faggot!" at the beginning of each printed letter as a salutation."^[18] In his February 25, 1999 column, Savage announced that he was retiring the phrase, claiming that the reclamation was successful.^[18]

He has written in a number of columns about "straight rights" concerns, such as the HPV vaccine and the morning-after pill, stating in his November 9, 2005, column that "[t]he right-wingers and the fundies and the sex-phobes don't just have it in for the queers. They're coming for your asses too."

Media appearances[link]

Dan Savage speaking at Illinois Wesleyan University, 2007

In addition to maintaining his weekly column and authoring four books, Savage has been involved in several other projects.

From 1994 until 1997, he had a weekly three-hour call-in show called Savage Love Live on Seattle's KCMU (now KEXP). From 1998 to 2000, he ran the biweekly advice column Dear Dan on the news website abcnews.com.

He is now the editorial director of the weekly Seattle newspaper The Stranger, a promotion from his former position as The Stranger's editor-in-chief.^[19] Savage currently stars in Savage U on MTV, contributes frequently to This American Life and Out magazine, and acts as a "Real Time Real Reporter" on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. He has also made multiple appearances on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann and CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 discussing LGBT political issues such as same-sex marriage and Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Podcast[link]

The Savage Lovecast is a weekly audio podcast based on Savage's column Savage Love, available via iTunes and at the Stranger's website for free download. It features Savage doing a call-in version of his sex advice column. It is routinely rated as the top podcast in the iTunes "Health" category.^[20]

Opinions and points of view[link]

It Gets Better Project[link]

Dan Savage speaking at Google about the It Gets Better Project

On September 21, 2010, Savage started the It Gets Better Project in light of the suicide of 15-year-old Billy Lucas, who was bullied for his perceived sexual orientation. The project encourages adults, both LGBT and otherwise, to submit videos assuring gay teenagers that life can improve after bullying in early life.^[21] As of January 3, 2011, the project had over 5,000 user created testimonials.^[22]

Political advocacy[link]

Dan Savage at the 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, 2006

Savage has written about his interest in political matters. His political leanings are primarily liberal, with pronounced contrarian and libertarian streaks.^[23] For example, he wrote that in 2000, suffering from the flu while on an assignment for salon.com to cover the Iowa caucuses,^[24] he was so angered by televised remarks in opposition to same-sex marriage by conservative Republican presidential hopeful Gary Bauer that he abandoned his original plan "to follow one of the loopy conservative Christian candidates around — Bauer or Alan Keyes — and write something insightful and humanizing about him, his campaign, and his supporters."^[25] Instead, he volunteered for the Bauer campaign with the intent to infect the candidate with his flu. He wrote that he licked doorknobs and other objects in the campaign office, and handed Bauer a saliva-coated pen, hoping to pass the virus on to Bauer and his supporters (though he later said that much of the article had been fictitious). He also registered and participated in the caucus, which was illegal, as Savage was not an Iowa resident. He was charged and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fraudulent voting in a caucus, and was sentenced to a year's probation, 50 hours of community service, and a $750 fine.^{[26][27][28][29]}

Savage frequently mentions political issues in his column, particularly issues that affect family planning, birth control, and sexuality. He often encourages readers to get involved and/or voice a positive or negative opinion about a politician or public official.

After Rick Santorum, then a United States senator from Pennsylvania, made comments to a reporter comparing homosexual sex to bestiality and incest in 2003, Savage assailed Santorum in his column. Later, he sponsored a contest that led to the term santorum being used to refer to "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes a byproduct of anal sex".^[30] Savage set up a website to spread the definition.^[31] In 2010, Savage offered to remove his website if Rick Santorum would agree to donate US$5 million to a gay rights group.^[32][33] The organization, Freedom to Marry, advocates on behalf of same-sex marriage in the United States.^[33][34] Savage told Mother Jones in 2010, "If Rick Santorum wants to make a $5 million donation to [the gay marriage group] Freedom to Marry, I will take it down. Interest starts accruing now."^[35] Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, responded in a statement to Metro Weekly: "Support for Freedom to Marry's national campaign would be welcome—and a good way for Rick Santorum to start cleaning up the discriminatory mess he and his companions have made."^[36]

Savage continued the tradition in 2009 by having his readers vote to define saddlebacking as "the phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities",^[37] as a protest against the vocal support given to California Proposition 8 by Rick Warren (pastor of Saddleback Church), and President Barack Obama's invitation to Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. When Savage vowed to boycott Utah due to strong Mormon support for Proposition 8 ("Fuck you, Utah – we’re going to big, blue Colorado"), the Salt Lake City Weekly dropped Savage's column: "all Utahns aren’t to blame."^[38]

Savage strongly supported the war in Iraq in the pages of The Stranger in October 2002.^[39] By the time of the U.S. invasion in March 2003, however, he had somewhat softened his argument.^[40]

Savage has also been a vocal opponent of state legislation proscribing the sale of sex toys. After an exposé by Kandiss Crone from WLBT (Jackson, Mississippi) precipitated the arrest and fining of an adult video store owner, Savage suggested that readers send any sex toys that they needed to dispose of to Crone.^[41][42]

Personal opinions[link]

Dan Savage discussing sex education with his brother, Northwestern University Senior Lecturer in English, Bill Savage (2010)

• Savage initially supported the Iraq war and advocated military action against other Middle Eastern states, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, saying, "Islamo-fascism is a regional problem, like European fascism – and the Middle East [has] to be remade just as Europe was remade." One week before the war began, Savage spoke against it, citing the inability of President George W. Bush to form a convincing case and sway the UN and NATO allies.^[40] By 2005 he deemed the situation "hopeless" and advocated an immediate troop withdrawal.^[43]
• He describes his view toward family as "conservative", and his husband, Terry Miller, is a "stay-at-home dad" for the couple's adopted son. He has, however, expressed skepticism of "simplistic" views of monogamy.^[44]
• In response to a letter asking "Is the AIDS crisis over?" Savage, in his October 22, 1997 column, answered simply, "Yes." Several weeks of columns were devoted in whole or in part to discussion of the issue.^[45][46]
• He opposes the tactics of the War on Drugs, and opposes the prohibition of certain controlled substances.^[47]

Views on outing[link]

Savage stated in a column that he favors outing in some cases, specifically mentioning anti-gay activist Tyler Whitney. However, in the same column he noted that "I recently talked someone out of outing a public figure. A Savage Love reader was contemplating outing an innocuous celebrity back in April. I advised him against it because, as I wrote to him privately, outing is brutal and it should be reserved for brutes."^[48]

Local issues[link]

Savage's editorship of The Stranger has established him as a voice in local Seattle politics. His most high-profile commentary has been as an outspoken critic of the Teen Dance Ordinance and other crackdowns on all-ages events.

Savage argues that closing down supervised all-ages dance venues drives teens to boredom and reckless activities: "Places like Ground Zero and the Kirkland Teen Center are invaluable from a law enforcement point of view. They keep kids out of, say, 7-Eleven parking lots or the homes of friends whose parents are away."^[49]

Controversies[link]

In a 2006 interview with the Daily Pennsylvanian, Savage stated that then-Green Party Senate candidate Carl Romanelli, whom Savage claimed was partially funded by state Republicans for a spoiler effect against Democrat Bob Casey, "should be dragged behind a pickup truck until there's nothing left but the rope". In the same interview, he stated, "Mr. Romanelli should go fuck himself."^[50] Immediately after the interview, Savage wrote, "I regret using that truck metaphor, and didn't mean it literally, and it was in poor taste, and I regret it."^[51]

On HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher July 15, 2011, during a panel discussion of the debt limit increase negotiations between the U.S. Congress and President Barack Obama, Savage said in a stand-alone remark, "I wish the Republicans were all fucking dead."^[52] He apologized for his remarks on his blog later the same night saying in part, "I don't feel that way. My dad is a Republican. (Well, he says he's an independent, but he hasn't voted for a Democrat since JFK. My dad is a Republican.)"^[53]

Savage has been glitter bombed three times, twice in 2011 and once in 2012, by protesters who alleged that Savage is transphobic, among other accusations.^{[54][55][56][57]} A 2012 Feminist Wire piece argued that the "... the popularity of the [It Gets Better] campaign and its legitimacy depend on the very subtle exclusion of non-white and non-bourgeois bodies".^[58]

Savage came under scrutiny for an April 13, 2012 speech encouraging high school students to, "learn to ignore the bullshit in the Bible about gay people", prompting some students to leave the auditorium. Savage apologized on April 29 for calling the walkout "a pansy-assed move", saying, "I wasn't calling the handful of students who left pansies (2,800+ students, most of them Christian, stayed and listened), just the walkout itself." Savage stood by the central point of his speech.^[59][60][61]

Works[link]

In addition to his advice column, Savage has written four books, edited one book, and authored various op-ed pieces in The New York Times.

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dan Savage

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dan Savage

• Savage U – Savage's MTV show
• Savage Love – Savage's weekly sex advice column
  • Savage's podcasts
• It Gets Better Project
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Dan Savage at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Dan Savage in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Interview with Kittenpants.org

Eddie Izzard
Izzard performing at the Garrick Theatre, 2 December 2008
Birth name	Edward John Izzard[1]
Born	(1962-02-07) 7 February 1962 (age 50) Colony of Aden, Aden Protectorate (now Aden, Yemen)[2]
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Nationality	British
Years active	1982–present
Genres	Surreal humour, Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy.
Subject(s)	History, Celebrities, Religion, Culture, Sex
Influences	Monty Python,[3][4] Billy Connolly,[5] Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks,[5] Steve Martin,[4] Spike Milligan, Jerry Sadowitz.[4]
Influenced	Hal Sparks, Harry Hill, Rhod Gilbert[6]
Notable works and roles	Live at the Ambassadors Unrepeatable Definite Article Dress to Kill Glorious Circle Lenny Bruce in Lenny Wayne Malloy/Doug Rich in The Riches Roman Nagel in Ocean's Thirteen Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie Mr. Kite in Across the Universe
Website	eddieizzard.com
Emmy Awards
Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program 2000 Dress to Kill Writing In A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program 2000 Dress to Kill
British Comedy Awards
Top Stand-up 1993 Live at the Ambassadors Best Stand-up 1996 Definite Article

Edward John "Eddie" Izzard^[1] (born 7 February 1962) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. His comedy style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. He had a starring role in the television series The Riches as Wayne Malloy and has appeared in many motion pictures such as Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, The Cat's Meow, Across the Universe, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Valkyrie. He is also the voice of Nigel in the 2006 animated film The Wild and Miles Axlerod in the 2011 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars 2.

He has cited his main comedy role model as Monty Python, and John Cleese once referred to him as the "Lost Python".^[3] In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long distance running.^[7] He is also known for his transvestism. He has won numerous awards including a Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his comedy special Dress to Kill, in 2000. Izzard's web site won the Yahoo People's Choice Award^[8] and earned the Webby Award.^[9]

Early life[link]

Izzard was born in Aden, Yemen, then the Colony of Aden in the Aden Protectorate.^[2] He was the younger son of British parents Dorothy Ella, a midwife and nurse, and Harold John Izzard, an accountant who was working in Aden with British Petroleum.^[10][11] A year after his birth, the family moved to Bangor in Northern Ireland and lived there until he was five.^{[1][2][3][10]} The family then moved to Skewen in south west Wales (near Swansea) where his mother died of cancer when Eddie was six and his brother Mark was eight.^[1][11][12] Following his mother's death, Izzard attended boarding schools:^[1][11] St John's School in Porthcawl,^[4] St. Bede's Preparatory School, Eastbourne,^{[citation needed]} and Eastbourne College^{[citation needed]}.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Izzard began to toy with comedy at the University of Sheffield with student friend Rob Ballard.^[5][13] After leaving his accountancy degree course, he and Ballard took their act to the streets,^[5][13] often in Covent Garden.^[4][14][15] After his split with Ballard, Izzard spent a great deal of the early 1980s working as a street performer in Europe and the United States. He then moved his act into the stand-up comedy venues of Britain. His first gig was at the Banana Cabaret in Balham, London.^[1][16] In 1987, he made his first stage appearance at The Comedy Store, London.^[3] In 1989, he met actress Sarah Townsend who was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival.^[17] He refined his material throughout the 1980s, and in the early 1990s he finally began earning some measure of recognition through his improvisation, in part at his own club "Raging Bull" in Soho.^[15]

Success as a comedian[link]

In 1991, Izzard got a spot on the Fry and Laurie produced AIDS benefit Hysteria 3, where he did his "Wolves" sketch, which broke him into the mainstream comedy circuit and television. His resultant stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for Live at the Ambassadors), a part in "Filth" which was a stand up presentation by left-wing sympathetic comedians in aid of raising money for the Terrence Higgins Trust in 1994, and 1996 (for Definite Article).

In 1996, he got a part in his first United States-produced film, The Secret Agent, where he met and befriended Robin Williams. Williams already knew of Izzard's act, and discussed bringing his act to the United States. As a result, Izzard took Definite Article on a successful stint in New York City in the same year, and as a support act to Williams took Dress to Kill to San Francisco in 1998 (the footage from which forms the performance on the Dress To Kill DVD). His US breakthrough came in 1999, when Dress to Kill was shown on the American television channel HBO, about a year or so after he performed the show on tour in the US, UK and France. Suddenly, America was aware of Izzard, and the show went on to earn him two Emmy Awards in 2000 (for performance and writing).

In 1999, after complaints that his act recycled jokes appearing on his DVDs, the BBC's consumer programme Watchdog investigated Izzard's live act. Izzard explained that like most comedy performers, he used some of his most successful routines in each show. Nonetheless, Izzard was issued a warning by the Department of Trade and Industry. Much of the problem was caused by the recording and selling of the American leg of his tour on DVD in the UK for the Christmas market before the UK leg of the tour took place. Izzard was greatly upset by early reactions to his UK shows, and the investigation, as he was initially unaware of the show's core material having already been seen. He commented on this debacle in later performances and furiously started to write new tangential material hoping to satisfy audiences. This also led to DVD releases of first the US tour show and later the altered UK version with new and evolved material. Since then, Izzard has rarely performed his stand-up act on television, saying that it uses up material at too high a rate, whereas stage material can be continually re-used in front of different audiences for several months.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Izzard used his rambling style to provide the voice-over for the British government's television advertisements promoting recycling. The tagline of the ads was "Recycle. The possibilities are endless!" Izzard also performed on stage with Scottish musician Midge Ure at Live8 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He played the piano on the song "Vienna".

In January 2006, the US television network FX announced the production of a new drama series called The Riches (formerly Low Life). Izzard and British actress Minnie Driver star as a married couple, Wayne and Dahlia Malloy, who have been part of a caravan of con-artist Irish travellers swindling their way across the US with their children. After finding another family killed in a car accident, the Malloys assume their identities and start a new life as law-abiding suburbanites in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The youngest son has shown a preference for wearing girls' clothing, leading to some speculation that the role was based upon Izzard's experiences. Izzard has stated in several interviews that the character of Sam had been given transvestite tendencies long before he was cast as Wayne Malloy, but he has contributed his perspective to keep the character believable.

Theatrical, TV and film appearances[link]

In 1994, Izzard made his West End drama debut as the lead in the world premiere of David Mamet's The Cryptogram with Lindsay Duncan, in the production at London's Comedy Theatre. The success of that role led to his second starring role in David Beaird's black comedy 900 Oneonta. In 1995, he portrayed the title character in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II.

In 1998 Izzard appeared briefly on stage with the Monty Python team in The American Film Institute's Tribute to Monty Python (also referred to as Monty Python Live at Aspen). He walked on stage with the five surviving Pythons and he was summarily escorted off by Eric Idle and Michael Palin as he attempted to participate in a discussion about how the group got together.

Izzard portrayed comedian Lenny Bruce in the 1999 production of Julian Barry's 1971 play Lenny. In 2001, he replaced Clive Owen in Peter Nichols' 1967 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at the Comedy Theatre. Izzard and Victoria Hamilton then repeated their lead roles when the show was brought to Broadway in 2003, with The Roundabout Theatre Company production. The revival received four Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play, Best Leading Actor and Actress for its stars Izzard and Hamilton in their Broadway debuts, and Best Direction for Laurence Boswell. In June 2010, Izzard replaced James Spader in the role of Jack Lawson in David Mamet's play Race on Broadway.^[18]

Izzard has appeared in numerous films, starting with 1996's The Secret Agent. He has appeared as several real-life individuals, including Charlie Chaplin in The Cat's Meow, actor Gustav von Wangenheim in Shadow of the Vampire and General Erich Fellgiebel in Valkyrie. Other roles have included Mr. Kite in Across the Universe, Lussurioso in Revengers Tragedy and criminal expert Roman Nagel in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. Voice work has included the titular It in Five Children and It, Nigel in The Wild and the mouse warrior Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. He said in 2009 that he would not be reprising his role as Reepicheep and the role was ultimately played by Simon Pegg in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He also had a brief appearance in James Cameron's oscar winning film, Titanic. He appeared as a cabin boy on the ship.

Izzard appeared in the BBC science fiction miniseries The Day of the Triffids based on the 1951 novel, alongside Jason Priestley, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Dougray Scott and Brian Cox.^[19] He played Dr. Hatteras, a sceptical psychology professor, in the Showtime series United States of Tara.^[20]

In December 2011, he appeared in the British drama Lost Christmas as Anthony. The film was written by David Logan and John Hay. In January 2012, he appeared as Long John Silver in Sky1's adaptation of Treasure Island alongside Elijah Wood and Philip Glenister among others.

Comic style[link]

Elliott Gould and Eddie Izzard

Izzard's style is heavily influenced by Monty Python, or rather Spike Milligan, especially in his use of a stream-of-consciousness delivery that jumps between topics as he free associates on stage. He does not generally work from a script, owing to his dyslexia. Instead, he interrupts himself with new joke ideas, the characters he portrays turn into other characters, and he nonchalantly leaps from topic to topic. This often results in brief pauses in the routine which he fills with 'so, yeah', and other verbal tics that have become his trademarks. Thinking aloud is also part of Izzard's ongoing attempt to make the process of writing the show itself part of the humour. As he put it in a 2004 interview with The Guardian, "It's the oral tradition. Human beings have been doing it for thousands of years".^[21] He frequently notes the reaction to a joke midstream by pretending to write on his hand ("Should be funnier"; "Lost them there"; "They didn't believe me"; "They didn't follow, never do that again"; "Never link those two [references] together ever again.") He asks the audience questions and verbally engages with hecklers.

Among Izzard's comic talents are mimicry and mime. He portrays God as an authority figure using the voice of James Mason and casts Sean Connery as Noah; these impersonations appear in many of his performances. Izzard also imitates activities such as sawing wood, vacuum cleaning, and mowing the lawn, anthropomorphising the machines with accents and personalities. Successful impressions, such as his Scottish clarinet teacher, Mrs. Badcrumble, become running gags which recur in different shows. He tackles topics both contemporary and historic, including frequent re-imaginings of historical events which result in scenes like 'Cake or Death: Church of England runs the Inquisition', or 'Jesus Ministers to the Dinosaurs'.

When asked about his comedy style by George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC Television's talk show, The Hour, Izzard described his use of history by saying,

"I just talk complete bullshit. The history, the politics, I noticed that no one was using history, so there's a lot of history lying about the place, and it's all free, and it's on Wikipedia! You know, I use Wikipedia like a crazy idiot, now. Then I take all this stuff, and I regurgitate it into a weird angle".^[22]

In 2008, in his Stripped tour, Izzard began using Wikipedia itself as part of his stand-up act, reading from a live copy of an article and mocking Wikipedia's self-referential editorial style.

Traditionally, Izzard has focused on the creative possibilities of thinking through absurd situations in real time. He also turns much of the attention on himself and his personality, including his cross-dressing ("It is my manifest destiny to wear a dress on all seven continents"). Contemporary popular culture (Harry Potter, Star Wars, etc.) is also a frequent subject, brought up both to critique its weaknesses and to enhance his anecdotes.

His bent towards the surreal even went so far as to produce a sitcom called Cows in 1997 for Channel 4, a live action comedy with actors dressed in cowsuits.^[23]

Transvestism[link]

Izzard started to freely talk about his transvestism in venues like Edinburgh Festival as early as 1992.^[24][25] In his show, Dress to Kill, Izzard describes himself as an "executive", "action" and "professional" transvestite, as "a male tomboy" rather than a drag queen or a "weirdo" transvestite (he cites J. Edgar Hoover and Hermann Göring as examples of the latter). In the past he regularly cross-dressed on stage but, since gaining success as a television and film actor, has decided to stay in "boy-mode" for the last several years. While there are those who suspect Izzard's cross-dressing was simply a comedic hook, he says that cross-dressing is, for him, neither a part of his performance nor a sexual fetish.^{[citation needed]} He remarks in his show Unrepeatable, "Women wear what they want and so do I". According to Izzard, "Most transvestites fancy women".^[26] He dismisses claims that he is a male homosexual, saying he is "a straight transvestite or a male lesbian".^[27] He has also described himself as "a lesbian trapped in a man's body",^[28] transgender,^[24] and "a complete boy plus half girl".^[27]

Activism[link]

Izzard has engaged in campaigning work. He is especially well known as a pro-European Union campaigner supporting the further integration of the UK into the EU. In May 2005, he appeared on the BBC's political debate show Question Time, describing himself as a 'British-European', comparing this with other cultural identities such as 'African-American'. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a euro in London. This pan-European approach has influenced his work: he regularly performs in French,^[15][20] in which he is fluent,^[14] and occasionally in German,^[15] in addition to English. In July 2003, Izzard received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for "pro-Europe campaigning", "his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles" and for having "transcended national barriers" with his humour.^[29]

He has also campaigned unsuccessfully against the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia, although the department of Drama was later reprieved. In 1998, Izzard was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party.^[30] He appeared in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2005 general election. He donated nearly £10,000 to the party in 2008,^[31] appeared again in a party political broadcast for the 2009 European election and again in a 2010 election video entitled 'Brilliant Britain'. Izzard appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.^[32] In 2011, Eddie Izzard revealed that he had political ambitions and wanted to become an MP, Mayor or MEP by 2020.^[33]

On 20 July 2006, he received an honorary doctorate in Letters from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sheffield,^[34] where he spent one year on an Accounting and Financial Management course in the early 80s. During his time at the University he established the now-defunct Alternative Productions Society in the Union of Students with the aim of promoting fringe-based arts. On 4 March 2010, he was elected as the Honorary President of the University of Sheffield Students' Union.^[35]

On 7 July 2007, Izzard was one of the presenters from the London leg of Live Earth. During an interview for the 2008 Stripped tour, Izzard spoke about becoming more active in European politics as well as running for political office in Europe within the next decade. Izzard added a stop in New Orleans during his 2008 Stripped tour. All proceeds from the performance of 23 June 2008 were donated to Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans.^[36]

Marathons[link]

On 27 July 2009, with only 5 weeks' training and no significant prior history of running, Izzard began seven weeks of back-to-back marathon runs (with Sundays off) across the UK to raise money for Sport Relief. He ran from London to Cardiff, to Belfast, to Edinburgh, and back to London carrying flags of England, Scotland or Wales depending on which country he was in, and carried a self-designed green flag bearing a white dove when in Northern Ireland. The blog Eddie Iz Running was a document of his road running marathon, in which he ran 43 marathons in 51 days. He completed the run on 15 September 2009, after having run at least 27 miles each day, 6 days a week for 7 weeks straight, covering more than 1,100 miles across the UK.^[37] Izzard received a special award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2009 for his achievements.^[38]

Izzard ran his final marathon in five hours and 30 seconds, narrowly outside his projected time. However, had he not stopped and waited 20 minutes for his film crew to catch up with him he could have finished well under his target time. In March 2010, Izzard took part in the Sport Relief Mile event.^[39]

Following the completion of the marathon runs, Izzard has started training to take part in an Ironman Triathlon, saying he has become fascinated with fitness "because there's no point in throwing away all that training".^[40]

Personal life[link]

During his Stripped tour, Izzard said he realised he was an atheist. "I was warming the material up in New York, where one night, literally on stage, I realised I didn’t believe in God at all. I just didn’t think there was anyone upstairs."^[41]

He keeps his romantic life private, saying one of the reasons is due to the wishes of his companions not wanting to become content for his show.^[41] Izzard dated Sarah Townsend, the director of the documentary Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story,^[14] whom he first met while she was running a Fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.^[17]

Izzard speaks French and has performed stand up in French during his shows.^[14] He also speaks German and used it in the 2001 film All the Queen's Men.

He supports Crystal Palace FC.^[42]

Izzard is an outspoken supporter of the Labour Party, and in September 2011 declared his ambition to stand for the party in the future as an MP, MEP or as Mayor of London.^[43]

Critical reception[link]

On 18 March 2007, Izzard was listed as number 3 of the 100 Greatest British National Comedians (just behind Peter Kay at number 2 and Billy Connolly at number 1) as part of British television station Channel 4's ongoing 100 Greatest..., series. However in the 2010 updated version of the list he was ranked 5th^[44] In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. He was number 75 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.

During the 1999 television special It's... the Monty Python Story,^[45] which Izzard hosted, John Cleese said Izzard was the "Lost Python"; Izzard furthered that idea via his substitution for Graham Chapman in public performance of Python material with the rest of the original members of the troupe. He also made a cameo appearance in the Python reunion interview Monty Python Live at Aspen.

In 2008, Izzard received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society of UCD, Dublin, Ireland. In March 2010, Sheffield Students' Union of the University of Sheffield overwhelmingly elected him their honorary President.

Discography and appearances[link]

Stand-up[link]

• Live at the Ambassadors (15 November 1993)
• Unrepeatable (1994)
• Definite Article (21 October 1996)
• Glorious (17 November 1997)
• Dress to Kill (9 November 1998)
• Circle (18 November 2002)
• Sexie (26 November 2003)
• Stripped (23 November 2009)
• Force Majeure (2013)

Stage[link]

• 900 Oneonta (1994)
• The Cryptogram (1994)
• Edward II (1995)
• Lenny (1999)
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2001–2002, 2003)
• Trumbo (2003)
• Race (2010)

Filmography[link]

• The Oncoming Storm (1995) as Luthor Keeton
• The Secret Agent (1996) as Vladimir
• Velvet Goldmine (1998) as Jerry Devine
• The Avengers (1998) as Bailey
• Mystery Men (1999) as Tony P
• The Criminal (1999) as Peter Hume
• Circus (2000) as Troy
• Shadow of the Vampire (2000) as Gustav von Wangenheim
• The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin
• All the Queen's Men (2001) as Tony Parker
• Revengers Tragedy (2002) as Lussurioso
• Alien Invasion (2003) as Brik
• Blueberry aka Renegade (2004) as Prosit
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
• Five Children and It (2004) as It (voice)
• Romance & Cigarettes (2004) as Gene Vincent
• Ocean's Twelve (2004) as Roman Nagel
• The Aristocrats (2005) as Himself
• The Wild (2006) as Nigel (voice)
• My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006) as Professor Bedlam
• Ocean's Thirteen (2007) as Roman Nagel
• Across the Universe (2007) as Mr. Kite
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) as Reepicheep (voice)
• Igor (2008) as Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)
• Valkyrie (2008) as Erich Fellgiebel
• Rage (2009) as Tiny Diamonds
• The Other Side (2009) as Dean Bellamy
• Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story (2009) as Himself
• Every Day (2010) as Garrett
• Cars 2 (2011) as Miles Axelrod
• Lost Christmas (2011) as Anthony

TV appearances[link]

• Barf Bites Back (Amnesty International Gala) (1991) – ITV
• Open Fire (1994)
• Have I Got News for You (1994, 1995 and 1996) – BBC Two
• Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)
• Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1995)
• Tales from the Crypt (1996) – HBO
• Clive Anderson Talks Back (1996)
• Inspector Derrick (1997)
• Channel Izzard (1997)
• The Roseanne Show (1998)
• Rex the Runt (1998) – BBC
• Shooting Stars (1998) – BBC
• Parkinson (3 times)
• Dennis Miller Live (1999) – HBO
• Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python (1999) – BBC
• Good News Week (2000) – Network 10
• Mongrel Nation (2002) – Discovery Channel
• The Caroline Rhea Show (2002)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2002, 2004 and 2007)
• The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (2009)
• 40 (2003) – Channel 4
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien (2003, 2008) NBC
• QI (Unaired pilot- 2002 or 2003, and 2010)
• Top Gear (2004) – BBC Two
• Last Call with Carson Daly (2005)
• The Sharon Osbourne Show (2006)
• Late Show with David Letterman (6 times)
• Late Late show with Craig Kilborn (4 times)
• The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)
• The Henry Rollins Show (2006)
• The Paul O'Grady Show (2009)
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
• Kitchen (2007) – five
• Comedy Cuts (interview) (2007)
• The Hour (2007)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2007 and 2009)
• The Daily Show (2000, 2003 and 2007)
• The Riches (2007–2008)
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2008)
• The Graham Norton Show (2008 and 2011)
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
• Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (2009)
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2009 award winner)
• The Day of the Triffids (2009)
• Marathon Man (2010)
• The Simpsons episode To Surveil with Love (2010)
• Chelsea Lately (2010)
• United States of Tara (2011)
• Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2011)
• The Green Room with Paul Provenza (2011)
• The Good Wife (2011) Season 3 – Episode 2, James Thrush ^[46]
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2011)
• Treasure Island (2012) as Long John Silver
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2012)

Video game[link]

• 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue – Sgt. Tibbs the Cat (voice)

See also[link]

• Cross-dressing in film and television

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eddie Izzard

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Eddie Izzard

• Official web site
• BBC America – Eddie Izzard
• Eddie Izzard at the Internet Movie Database
• Eddie Izzard at AllRovi
• Interview with Izzard – The Observer, 3 October 2004
• It's stupid and I love it – the Goon Show and me – The Guardian, 14 February 2005.
• Izzard interviewed by Bono – The Independent, 16 May 2006
• Venus Zine Staff Picks: Eddie Izzard, Dress to Kill