Paul Whitehouse

Paul Julian Whitehouse[1] (born 17 May 1958) is a British actor, writer and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series The Fast Show, and has also starred with Harry Enfield in the shows Harry & Paul and Harry Enfield & Chums. 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.

Paul Whitehouse
Born	17 May 1958 Stanleytown, Glamorgan, Wales
Alma mater	University of East Anglia
Occupation	Actor, comedian, screenwriter, television producer
Years active	1987–present
Children	4

Early life

Whitehouse was born on 17 May 1958, in Stanleytown, Glamorgan.[2] His father, Harry, worked for the National Coal Board and his mother, Anita, was a singer with the Welsh National Opera.[3] The family moved to Enfield, Middlesex, when he was four years old,[4] which led to his discovering his talent for mimicry:[2]

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.

Career

Whitehouse attended the University of East Anglia from autumn 1976, where he made friends with Charlie Higson.[5] The pair spent little of their first year studying, instead playing guitar and performing with their punk rock combo, the Right Hand Lovers.[6]

Whitehouse dropped out and squatted in a council flat in Hackney, east London and occasionally worked as a plasterer.[7] After Higson graduated in 1980, he moved in with Whitehouse, working by day as a decorator and performing at night and the weekends with his new punk-funk group The Higsons.[8]

The pair began working as tradesmen on a house shared by comedians Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, which inspired them to start writing comedy. They moved to an estate where in a pub they met Harry Enfield, a neighbour with a stage act,[8] and after he gained a place on Channel 4's Saturday Live, the pair were invited to write for him.[5] Whitehouse created Enfield's character Stavros (a London-based Greek kebab shop owner), and then Loadsamoney (an archetypal Essex boy made good in Margaret Thatcher's 1980s); he also appeared as Enfield's sidekick Lance on Saturday Live.

This success turned Whitehouse and Higson's career, and they began to appear on Vic Reeves' Big Night Out and extensively for the BBC, with Whitehouse appearing on A Bit of Fry and Laurie as a man with a clinical need to have his bottom fondled, and Paul Merton: The Series, then on Harry Enfield's Television Programme, where he developed numerous characters including DJ Mike Smash of Smashie and Nicey, alongside Enfield as Dave Nice.

TV career

While watching a preview tape of highlights from Enfield's programme, Whitehouse and Higson were inspired to create a rapid-fire delivery comedy series, which would evolve into The Fast Show (when shown in the United States on BBC America, the show was titled Brilliant). Whitehouse's characters included:

• Rowley Birkin QC
• The 13th Duke of Wymbourne
• Archie ("hardest game in the world")
• Chris Jackson
• Unlucky Alf
• Arthur Atkinson
• Brilliant Kid
• Ron Manager
• Ken, one of the "Suit You" tailors
• Lindsey, one of the Rubbish Offroaders
• Poutremos Poutra-Poutremos, anchor of the foreign TV station Chanel 9 sketch
• Ted

An online series of The Fast Show commissioned by Fosters led to six weekly episodes launched on 10 November 2011.[9]

In 2001 and 2002, Whitehouse wrote and performed in two series of the BBC comedy drama Happiness, in which he played a voice-over actor with a mid-life crisis.

Whitehouse wrote, produced and appeared with Chris Langham in the 2005 comedy drama Help, also for the BBC. In this series he took 25 roles, all patients of Langham's psychotherapist (except one, who is Langham's psychotherapist's psychotherapist). The pair's collaboration resulted in Whitehouse taking the witness stand on 24 July 2007 in the trial of Langham, in regard to the charge of holding explicit images and videos of minors. Langham claimed he downloaded this material as research for a character in the second series of Help, but Whitehouse's testimony only partially corroborated this explanation.[10]

Whitehouse appeared in the BBC sketch series Harry & Paul (formerly Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul), starring alongside Harry Enfield.[11]

Whitehouse starred alongside Charlie Higson in the BBC2 comedy series Bellamy's People, with the first episode broadcast on 21 January 2010. The comedy evolved from the BBC Radio 4 program Down the Line.[12] The show originally had the working title of Bellamy's Kingdom.

In October 2014, Harry Enfield and Whitehouse returned to the characters of Frank and George in a sketch for Channel 4's testicular cancer awareness comedy series The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night.

In 2015, his sitcom Nurse, based on his Radio 4 series of the same name (see below), debuted on BBC2 on 10 March.[13]

In August 2015, Whitehouse, alongside Enfield, in celebration of their 25-year partnership, presented An Evening With Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse.[14]

In June and July 2018 Whitehouse appeared with his long time friend and fellow comedian Bob Mortimer in a BBC2 six part comedy series, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. The two friends, who both suffer from heart conditions, share their thoughts and experiences while fishing at a variety of locations around the UK.[15]

Radio

Whitehouse and Charlie Higson produced and appeared in a spoof phone-in show Down the Line on BBC Radio 4. The first series was broadcast May–June 2006. A second series was broadcast 16 January–20 February 2007, during which they won a Sony Radio Academy Award.[16] A third series was broadcast in January 2008, a fourth in January 2011 and a fifth in May 2013. In February 2014, Radio 4 broadcast Nurse, written by Whitehouse and David Cummings and starring Esther Coles in the title role, with Whitehouse playing a variety of characters, including Graham Downs who had previously appeared in Down the Line.

Other

He also starred alongside Eddie Large and Russ Abbot in episode 4 of Horne & Corden. Comic Relief 2011 contained a new parody video of Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind) directed by MJ Delaney featuring Whitehouse and other Welsh celebrities lip-syncing to the song.[17] It is available to download via iTunes.

Johnny Depp described Whitehouse as "the greatest actor of all time".[18]

Whitehouse and John Sullivan's son, Jim Sullivan, have written Only Fools and Horses The Musical, which launched on 9 February 2019 at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. Whitehouse stars as Grandad.[19]

Influences

Whitehouse's main early influences were the sketches of Les Dennis and Dustin Gee and The Goodies. Tommy Cooper made him laugh, as did Morecambe and Wise and the television show Dad's Army. He cites his modern influences as Harry Enfield, of whom he says without meeting he would not have been doing what he does now, and the approach of Reeves and Mortimer who he thinks are "far and away the best comedians that we have had in this country for a long while."[20]

Personal life

Whitehouse has four daughters, and is a fan of Tottenham Hotspur F.C..[4]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2000	Kevin & Perry Go Large	bouncer
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Sir Cadogan	Deleted scenes
	Finding Neverland	Stage Manager
2005	Corpse Bride	William Van Dort Mayhew Paul the Head Waiter	Voice only
2009	Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva	Otis	English version
2010	Alice in Wonderland	Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare	Voice only
	Burke & Hare	Drunk Gentleman
2015	Mortdecai	Spinoza
2016	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Thackery Earwicket, the March Hare	Voice only
2017	The Death of Stalin	Anastas Mikoyan
	Ghost Stories	Tony Matthews
2018	King of Thieves	Carl Wood
2019	The Personal History of David Copperfield	Mr. Peggotty

Television

Year	Television	Role	Notes
1990	A Bit of Fry and Laurie	Man at the Bottom Fondled in Audience	Episode: "Episode #2.3"
	Vic Reeves Big Night Out	David Rowells Jean-Paul Gaultier Mr. Popkins	Episodes: "Episode #1.1" "Episode #1.5" "Episode #1.6"
1991	Comic Relief	Mike "Smashie" Smash	TV film
	Paul Merton: The Series	Carver	Episode: "Episode #1.6"
1990–1992	Harry Enfield's Television Programme	Fred Git Lance Mike Smash Vincent	Also screenwriter
1994–2000	The Fast Show	"Unlucky" Alf Archie Arthur Atkinson Brilliant Kid Poutremos Poutra-Poutremos Chris the Crafty Cockney The 13th Duke of Wymbourne Lindsey Ron Manager Rowley Birkin QC Ted Various roles	Also co-creator and screenwriter
1992	Bunch of Five	Spencer Pendel	Episode: "The Weekenders"
1993–1995	The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer	Jimmy Lea from Slade Heinrich Himmler
1994	Smashie and Nicey, the End of an Era	Mike Smash	TV film
1994–1997	Harry Enfield & Chums	Mister Dead George Doberman Julio Geordio Fred Git Lance Michael Paine	Also screenwriter
1998	Ted & Ralph	Ted Rowley Birkin Kevin Brown	TV film
1999	You Ain't Seen All These, Right?	Various roles
	David Copperfield	Pawnbroker
	Hooves of Fire	Prancer (voice)
2000	Randall & Hopkirk	Sidney Crabbe	Episode: "A Blast from the Past"
2001–2002	Fun at the Funeral Parlour	Harrison Ford The News Agent	Episodes: "Death in the Valleys" "The Heron Incident" "Dead Aid"
2001	Jumpers for Goalposts	Ron Manager
	Comic Relief: Say Pants to Poverty	Ted	TV film
	We Know Where You Live	Smashie George
2001–2003	Happiness	Danny Spencer	Also screenwriter
2002	I Love the 100 Best Top Ten Lists of the Fast Show Ever!	Various characters
	Legend of the Lost Tribe	Prancer (voice)
2004	The Ultimate Pop Star	Mike Smash	TV film
	Swiss Toni	Brickabrack Lennard	Episode: "Fothergill 2000"
2005	Help	Various characters
	The Catherine Tate Show	Dad	Episode: "Episode #2.5"
2007	Close Encounters of the Herd Kind	Prancer (voice)
2007–2012	Harry and Paul	Various characters	Also co-creator and screenwriter
2009	Comic Relief 2009	Evan Davis Theo Profiterole Duncan Guillotine	TV film
	Horne & Corden		Episode: "Episode #1.4"
2010	Bellamy's People	Various characters	Also director and screenwriter
2014	The Life of Rock with Brian Pern	Pat Quid Mike Smash
2015	Nurse	Billy	Also screenwriter
2018–2020	Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing	Himself
2020	Smashie’s Christmastastic Playlist	Mike Smash

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film/series	Result[21]
1995	Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award	TV – Light Entertainment Shared with Harry Enfield, Simon Greenall, Ian Hislop, Geoffrey Perkins, Nick Newman, Harry Thompson & Kay Stonham	Harry Enfield & Chums	Won
1996	British Comedy Award	Top Male Comedy Performer	The Fast Show	Won
1997	BAFTA TV Award	Best Light Entertainment (Programme or Series) Shared with Charlie Higson, Sid Roberson & Mark Mylod		Nominated
	Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award	TV – Light Entertainment Shared with Dave Cummings, Harry Enfield, Ian Hislop, Gary Howe, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, Nick Newman, Geoffrey Perkins & Richard Preddy	Harry Enfield & Chums	Won
1998	BAFTA TV Award	Best Light Entertainment (Programme or Series) Shared with Charlie Higson & Mark Mylod	The Fast Show	Won
		Best Light Entertainment Performance		Won
1999	British Comedy Award	Best TV Comedy Actor	Ted & Ralph	Nominated
2002	BAFTA TV Award	Situation Comedy Award Shared with David Cummings, Declan Lowney & Rosemary McGowan	Happiness	Nominated
2006		Best Comedy Programme or Series Shared with Jane Berthoud, Chris Langham & Declan Lowney	Help	Won
2008	Banff World Media Festival Award	Best Comedy Program Shared with Harry Enfield	Harry & Paul	Nominated
2009	British Comedy Award	Best Sketch Show Shared with Harry Enfield		Won
2010				Nominated
2011	BAFTA TV Award	Best Comedy Program Shared with Harry Enfield, Sandy Johnson & Izzy Mant		Won

References

1. "Paul Julian Whitehouse". Checksure.biz. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
2. Comic Paul tells of talent change Wales on Sunday – 28 October 2007
3. "South East Wales Showbiz – Paul Whitehouse". BBC. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
4. "My team. Paul Whitehouse on Tottenham Hotspur". London: Guardian media. 4 March 2001. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
5. "Comedy – Paul Whitehouse Profile". BBC. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
6. "How We Met". The Independent. 22 December 1996. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
7. Charlie Higson. "Charlie Higson: my days squatting with Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse".
8. On the move: Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson The Times – 2 December 2007
9. "Foster's Gold – The Fast Show – Vic & Bob – Mid Morning Matters and Good Call by Brad & Dan". 5 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2011.
10. "England | Kent | Co-star 'did not know about porn'". BBC News. 24 July 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
11. "Comedy – Harry and Paul – Homepage". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2009.
12. Sanghera, Mandeep (15 January 2010). "Ray to star in Bellamy's People". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
13. Hogan, Michael (10 March 2015). "Nurse, review: 'a beautiful bedside manner'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
14. "BBC Two – An Evening with Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse". BBC.
15. "Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing". BBC.
16. "The Independent | 404". News.independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
17. Archived 15 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
18. Mitchison, Amanda (27 September 2002). "That was a joke I made". The Daily Telegraph. London.
19. "A message from Jim Sullivan". 16 July 2018.
20. "FORUM | Comedian Paul Whitehouse quizzed". BBC News. 19 March 2001. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
21. "Paul Whitehouse (I) – Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 18 June 2013.

External links

• BBC – South East Wales – Hall of Fame – Paul Whitehouse
• BBC Comedy Guide
• Paul Whitehouse at IMDb