Matt Berry
Berry in 2008
Born	(1974-05-02) 2 May 1974 (age 38) Bromham, Bedfordshire, England
Occupation	Actor, writer, comedian and musician

Matthew Charles "Matt" Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, writer, comedian and musician. Berry is perhaps best known for his appearances in The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and The Mighty Boosh; he also had his own series, Snuff Box. He is renowned for his deep, rich voice. He has voiced several advertisements, most notably Volvic and The Natural Confectionery Company, as well as Absolute Radio and Australian employment website Career One.

Life and career[link]

Berry was born in Bromham, Bedfordshire to Pauline (née Acreman) and Charles Berry. Matt has one older sister, Johanna. He attended Nottingham Trent University where he received a BA in Contemporary Arts in 1997. He began his career as a runner before appearing in the videogame magazine show Game Over on BSkyB's computer & technology channel .tv, between 1998 and 1999.^[1] Though commissioned as an editorial show on the subject matter, episodes contained a large number of comedy sketches, with Berry as the main performer. These showcased a wide range of characters, one of which was a sketch about The Exorcist entitled "Fear Pushed Through the Ring". It was this sketch and others like it that resulted in Berry, and producers Rik Henderson and Richard Pitt, being fired from the show.^{[citation needed]}

Berry's first prominent TV role was playing Todd Rivers/Dr Lucien Sanchez in the cult 2004 comedy series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace and the 2006 spin-off Man to Man with Dean Learner.^[2]

He later appeared as the eccentric and sinister tycoon/explorer Dixon Bainbridge in The Mighty Boosh.^[3][4] Berry first met The Mighty Boosh duo while performing at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, where they were resident in 2000.^[5] He can be seen in a small cameo performance in the The Mighty Boosh Live DVD.^[6]

Berry wrote and starred in the comedy show Snuff Box on BBC Three with Rich Fulcher, whom he met during the filming of the first series of The Mighty Boosh.^[7][8] Fulcher co-starred as Bainbridge's lackey, Bob Fossil.^[9]

Berry has starred as Douglas Reynholm since the second series of The IT Crowd.^[10] He was nominated as Best Male Comedy Newcomer in the 2007 British Comedy Awards for this role, but lost out to James Corden for Gavin and Stacey.

In November 2007, Berry starred alongside Simon Farnaby and Boosh regular Rich Fulcher in The Golf War on E4.^[11] Film appearances include The Devil's Chair (2006)^[12] and Moon (2009).

In 2008 he became the face of Adult Swim's spoof charity appeal "Save the Workers".^[13] Berry featured in Season 3, episode 9 of the Sarah Silverman Program, filmed in Los Angeles for Comedy Central. Berry stars in the video (directed by Richard Ayoade) for the 2007 Super Furry Animals song "Run-Away".^[14] He also appeared as an antiques expert in the ITV sketch show Monkey Trousers with Vic and Bob and Steve Coogan.^[15]

Berry has provided many voiceovers for both radio and television advertising, including Absolute Radio, Volvic mineral water, Müller Corner adverts and characters on several adverts for The Natural Confectionery Company.

He has also been in the sketch show The Wrong Door as a recurring bit-part character who runs into a snooker hall and shouts "Stop playing snooker!" before whispering an implied impossible wager to one of the players and completing an unfeasible trick shot.

In 2010 Berry played journalist Michael Duffy in the BBC production Five Daughters, which portrayed events surrounding the Ipswich murders of 2006.

Berry starred in a short film called The Search, about "a lonely man's search for the existence of life outside our universe takes a remarkable turn when he connects with a recently bereaved family".

In 2011, he played the voice of Allen in Aqua Unit Patrol Squad's "Allen Part 2". He appeared as a contestant in the British comedy panel game Shooting Stars, acting the part of Vangelis.

Matt Berry appeared in the film adaptation of the David Nicholls novel One Day, playing the role of Aaron, Dexter's agent.

Music[link]

As a musician, Berry composed all the music for Snuff Box^[16] as well the music for AD/BC: A Rock Opera, which he co-wrote with Richard Ayoade.^[17] AD/BC was a half-hour parody of overblown musicals in general and Jesus Christ Superstar in particular, telling the story of the innkeeper who allowed Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus to sleep in his manger. AD/BC was broadcast in December 2004 and featured Fulcher and Mighty Boosh stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. He also performed a song for an episode of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace entitled "One Track Lover", a spoof of cheesy romantic 80s songs.

Berry also composed music for the BBC 2 Steve Coogan comedy Saxondale and appeared in the first and third episodes of the second series of the show.^[18] He composed the theme song for the Channel 4 sketch show Blunder.^[19] He is also credited on The Peter Serafinowicz Show.

He has released three albums: Jackpot in 1995, Opium which was a limited edition self-released record in 2008 and Witchazel in 2009 as a download, later released on CD and vinyl by Acid Jazz Records in 2011.^[20] He toured with Jonas 3 several times in 2006 and 2007.^[21] He stated in the first issue of Bearded Magazine that he was producing and collaborating on new material with 1960s soul singer Geno Washington and was to record a new album.^[22] This album turned out to be 'Witchazel', which Berry released online as a free download for one day only in March 2009.^[23] The album was later officially released as a CD and paid-for digital download.^[24]

His touring band is composed of members of Brighton-based experimental rock group 'Jonas 3'.^[25] They are George Baldwin (bass), his brother Charlie (drums) and Andy Vickery (guitar). Fulcher has joined Berry on stage for several appearances. Geno Washington has also joined Berry onstage at London gigs for encores of the Snuff Box theme.

In October 2007, he provided a brand new track "Cream Pie" to Bearded Magazine for readers to download for free,^[26] followed by a cover of the Blur song "Sing" in November 2007. 'Cream Pie' is still available to supporters of Beardaid.

Berry voiced his appreciation of the television themes of Ronnie Hazlehurst in an episode of Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and his band played out the Screenwipe Christmas special with a rendition of Hazlehurst's theme tune for 1980s British sitcom Sorry!.

Berry has a new^[when?] touring band called The Maypoles.

Berry presents a show on Absolute Radio where he also performs various voiceovers and is described as "the voice of Absolute Radio".^[27] His podcasts can be downloaded from the Absolute radio website or from iTunes.^[28] The Matt Berry Podcast regularly features in the Top Ten of the iTunes podcast chart and its producer Vince Lynch has been nominated for Best Online Producer at the Radio Academy Production Awards.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Matt Berry at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC biography
• Matt Berry Fanzone
• Interview on Liberation Frequency (now with updated audio interview 2011)

Paul Rudd
Rudd at Hollywood Life magazine's 8th Annual Breakthrough Awards, December 2007
Born	Paul Stephen Rudd (1969-04-06) April 6, 1969 (age 43) Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1992–present
Spouse	Julie Yaeger (m. 2003) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Julie Yaeger to Paul Rudd" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Paul_Rudd)

Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My Affection, Role Models, I Love You, Man, and Our Idiot Brother. In television, he appeared on the NBC sitcom Friends, playing Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay's boyfriend and later husband, and is commonly featured on the Tim and Eric show.

Early life[link]

Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey.^[1] His parents, both natives of London (England), were Jewish, and were descended from immigrants from Russia and Poland;^[2][3] the family's original surname, "Rudnitzky", was changed by his grandfather to "Rudd".^[4][5] Rudd had a bar mitzvah.^[6] His father, Michael, was a historical tour guide who was formerly the vice president of World Airways, while his mother, Gloria, was a sales manager at the television station KSMO-TV.^[7][8] When he was ten, Rudd's family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he was raised; his family also spent three years living in Anaheim, California, because of his father's occupation.^[9][10][11] He attended high school at Shawnee Mission West and college at the University of Kansas,^[12] where he was a member of the Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu.^[13] He spent three months studying Jacobean drama at the British American Drama Academy based in Oxford, U.K.^[14][15]

Career[link]

Rudd made his breakout performance in the 1995 film Clueless, which turned him into a minor teen idol. Additional early-career credits include Wet Hot American Summer, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The Cider House Rules, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, and The Object of My Affection. He also garnered recognition with a recurring role on the television sitcom Friends as Mike Hannigan, who married Phoebe Buffay. Rudd's Broadway acting credits include The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997), Twelfth Night (1998), and Three Days of Rain (2006). He guest-starred as a has-been 1990s rock star, Desmond Fellows, on the television series, Veronica Mars, in an episode titled "Debasement Tapes". He voiced the audiobook recordings of John Hodgman's books The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require. In 2006, he appeared in several episodes of Reno 911! as "Guy Gerricault" (pronounced "jericho"), the coach of a lamaze class, and portrayed a drug lord in the film Reno 911!: Miami. In 2012 he signed to appear on three episodes of NBC's Parks and Recreation as Bobby Newport, a candidate for City Council and a rival of Amy Poehler's character Leslie Knope.

Rudd became a full-fledged comedy star with his roles in Judd Apatow pictures The 40-Year-Old Virgin (directed by Apatow) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (produced by Apatow). In 2007, he starred as frustrated husband Pete in Knocked Up, his third collaboration with Apatow and Seth Rogen. That year he also starred in both The Oh in Ohio and The Ten, which reunited him with David Wain and Michael Showalter. The former film was a box-office and critical disappointment as was his next starring vehicle, Over Her Dead Body with Eva Longoria. He bounced back with a memorable supporting role as Kunu (Hawaiian for "Chuck"), the drug-addled surf instructor in Nicholas Stoller's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film was a hit, as was his next comedy Role Models, where he and co-star Seann William Scott portrayed energy-drink salesmen forced to perform community service in a child mentoring program. Rudd also made cameo appearances in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Year One and Night at the Museum.

Rudd (right) with I Love You, Man co-stars Jason Segel and Rashida Jones at the premiere in March 2009

In 2009, Rudd again appeared with Jason Segel in I Love You Man. He lent his voice to the Dreamworks computer-animated hit movie Monsters Vs. Aliens. In 2010, he reunited with Steve Carell for the first time since Knocked Up for the Jay Roach-directed comedy Dinner for Schmucks.

Rudd has become one of the most popular and marketable stars of Apatow films and the like, often starring with other regulars like Seth Rogen (four films), Jonah Hill (three films), Leslie Mann (three films), Kristen Wiig (three films), Jason Segel (three films), Steve Carell (four films), Elizabeth Banks (five films), and Joe Lo Truglio (seven films).

Running gags on television[link]

As part of a running gag during his appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien and Conan, Rudd has brought a clip from the film Mac and Me, where the wheelchair-using Eric (Jade Calegory) flies off a cliff while Mac watches on, instead of showing clips from the actual film he is there to promote.^[16][17] He also has appeared on stage for Conan O'Brien's live tour.

Rudd also has a running gag on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in which Rudd and Jimmy Fallon appear to be setting up a clip from a film Rudd is appearing in. The clip that follows, however, is a clip from Late Show with David Letterman in which Rudd, in an earlier appearance, and David Letterman set up the clip verbatim to how Rudd and Fallon appeared to set up the clip.

Personal life[link]

In 2003, Rudd married his girlfriend of five^{[citation needed]} years, Julie Yaeger; they have a son, Jack Sullivan (b. 2006), and a daughter, Darby. Rudd frequently travels to Overland Park, Kansas, where he attended high school.^[18] He is a fan of Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals and National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, for whom he narrated the 2007 HBO special Hard Knocks. He also frequents University of Kansas basketball games and is a big fan of the Jayhawks.

Filmography[link]

Rudd at the SUNDANCE 2011: Inside The Cosmopolitan Lounge at The Sundance Channel HQ House

Film[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Rudd

• Paul Rudd at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Rudd at the Internet Broadway Database
• Paul Rudd on National Public Radio