- published: 26 Apr 2009
- views: 29653
Paul Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders. Johnny Depp described Paul Whitehouse as "the greatest actor of all time".
Whitehouse was born in Stanleytown in the Rhondda Valley, Glamorgan, Wales. His father worked for the National Coal Board and his mother was a singer with the Welsh National Opera. The family moved to Enfield when he was four years old, which led to him discovering his talent for mimicry:
"At school I didn’t say a word for the first four weeks - I called it my Silent Month. I think it was because everyone was speaking so differently from how it had been in Wales. Then, after four weeks, I came home one day and said, ‘Muumm, I wanna go to Sarfend!’ For her that was the end because I had lost my lovely Welsh lilt. So I became very conscious of speech and the effects it can have. But when I went back to Wales I would start talking all Welsh, ‘lyke that you see’ before going all Alf Garnett while coming back the other way.”
Actors: William Rushton (actor), Alun Armstrong (actor), Patrick Troughton (actor), Julie Walters (actress), Rebecca Eaton (producer), William Rushton (actor), Hugh Bonneville (actor), Frazer Hines (actor), Ron Cook (actor), George Pastell (actor), Barbara Kidd (costume designer), Martin Trenaman (actor), Nicholas Woodeson (actor), Nicholas Le Prevost (actor), Stephen O'Connell (editor),
Plot: In the early 1960s, Mrs. Mary Whitehouse, a middle-aged school teacher, begins a campaign against what she sees as filth and smut on BBC television and radio. She and a friend start knocking on doors, circulating petitions and organizing rallies. Her nemesis during this time is Sir Hugh Carleton Greene, Director General of the BBC. He thinks she is just an old busybody who has no artistic taste and doesn't represent the mainstream of British society. Throughout his tenure, which lasted several years, he refused to see her or respond to her correspondence. She continued to campaign at what she viewed as unacceptable programming until her death in 2001.
Keywords: 1960s, art-teacher, campaign, campaigning, censorship, character-name-in-title, christian, christian-fundamentalism, conservatism, husband-wife-relationship