Steve Coogan

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Steve Coogan
Image:Replace this image male.svg
Birth name Stephen John Coogan
Born October 14 1965 (1965-10-14) (age 44)
Middleton, Lancashire, England
Spouse(s) Caroline Hickman (divorced)

Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, impressionist, and comedian. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge. Outside of the UK, Coogan is better known for his film roles.

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[edit] Background

Coogan is one of six children. He was born and raised in Middleton, Lancashire. One of his brothers, Brendan, is a former Top Gear presenter, and another, Martin, was the lead singer of the early 1990s band The Mock Turtles. All the brothers attended the Cardinal Langley RC High School.

[edit] Career

[edit] Early Life

Coogan started out as a stand-up comic and mimic, as well as doing voice-over work for adverts and impressions on Spitting Image. He also acted on the observation round on The Krypton Factor in 1989.

[edit] Alan Partridge

He teamed up with Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci, amongst others, on the Radio 4 comedy show On the Hour, where he helped give birth to his most famous creation Alan Partridge. Alan went on to have his own radio show and also appeared on TV in The Day Today and his own chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. In 1997 he bounced back with the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, which was followed by a second series in 2002.

[edit] Other TV roles

Paul and Pauline Calf began to be used by Coogan before his creation of Alan Partridge.

Paul Calf has appeared in two video diaries, an episode of Coogan's Run, and in various stand-up performances. He is an unemployed Mancunian wastrel with a particular hatred of students. Paul Calf is associated by a lot of people with his catchphrase "Bag of shite".

Paul lives in a council house in the fictional town of Ottle with his mother and his sister, Pauline Calf (also played by Coogan). his father having died some time before the first video diary was made. For a long time he was obsessed with getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Julie. Paul's best friend is "Fat" Bob (played by John Thomson), a car mechanic who eventually married Paul's sister. Paul supports Manchester City and is very partial to Wagon Wheels.

Paul is trapped in the Eighties: He wears Burton suits, sports a bleached mullet and drives a Ford Cortina.

Other Coogan creations include Tommy Saxondale, Duncan Thicket, and Tony Ferrino. Duncan Thicket has appeared on a tour of live shows. Other TV shows he has starred in include Coogan's Run, Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, Monkey Trousers and Saxondale. Coogan has provided voices for the animated series I Am Not an Animal, the one-off BBC2 comedy about sheep Combat Sheep, two Christmas specials staring Robbie the Reindeer, and an episode of the BBC Radio Four spoof sci-fi series Nebulous.

He has starred in BBC2's The Private Life of Samuel Pepys in 2003, and Cruise of the Gods in 2002. In 2006, he had a cameo in the Little Britain Christmas special as a Pilot taking Lou and Andy to Disneyland. In 2007, Coogan played a psychiatrist on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[edit] Film roles

Notable film roles include Tony Wilson, Factory Records boss in the film 24 Hour Party People, Mole in Terry Jones' The Wind in the Willows, Phileas Fogg in a remake of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan, Ambassador Mercy in Marie Antoinette, Bruce Tick in The Revengers' Comedies, and Octavius, the first Roman emperor and nephew to Julius Caesar, in Night at the Museum. He has also played himself twice on screen. First, in one of the vignettes of Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes, alongside Alfred Molina. Second, in 2006 Coogan starred with Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom's A Cock and Bull Story, a self-referential film of the "unfilmable" self-referential novel Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. In the film, Coogan plays a fictional, womanizing version of himself.

The first film he co-wrote with Henry Normal was The Parole Officer. He also acted in this alongside Ben Miller and Lena Headey. Coogan has an uncredited cameo in Hot Fuzz, scripted by Shaun of the Dead writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Coogan's inclusion may be construed as a show of gratitude from Pegg, because Coogan brought Pegg along on his comedy tour Steve Coogan: The Man Who Thinks He's It.

He is rumoured to partner with his Night at the Museum co-star Ben Stiller in a motion picture remake of The Persuaders! Furthermore, rumours persist that a 2009 big screen outing is planned for his signature character, Alan Partridge [1][2].

Coogan was to be working with pal Owen Wilson on the upcoming film Tropic Thunder, however Owen Wilson's attempted suicide has caused the film to come to a halt.

It was announced on 8 August 2007 that he is to star in a film adaptation of the life of Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards [3].

[edit] Personal life

A favourite of the British tabloids, Coogan's personal life has made headlines since the early 1990s. In August 2005, the News of the World stated that rock star Courtney Love had claimed to be pregnant with Coogan's child, following a two-week long fling the pair allegedly had while staying at the same hotel, although this claim has been dismissed by both parties [1]. The news came a month after Coogan had divorced his wife, Caroline Hickman, [2] (whom he married in 2002) on the grounds that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. He has a daughter Clare from a previous relationship with Anna Cole.

He lives in Brighton but still journeys north to watch Manchester United.

Some production staff working with Coogan are known to have objected to his "method" performance of Alan Partridge—maintaining the thoroughly unpleasant character from makeup to final call.[citation needed]

[edit] Achievements

He has won numerous awards for his work in TV including British Comedy Awards, BAFTAs, and The South Bank Show award for comedy. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005, a poll to find The Comedians' Comedian saw him being voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

[edit] Owen Wilson controversy

In August 2007, the New York Post wrote that Coogan was being "blamed" in a story following Owen Wilson's suicide attempts for allegedly supplying the actor with hard drugs. Courtney Love said after Wilson's failed attempts, "I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy." Steve Coogan responded through Access Hollywood, denying Love's accusations and offering support to Wilson. "My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time, but I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations . . . are completely and utterly false," he said.

[edit] Production company

Coogan, along with writing partner Henry Normal, founded Baby Cow Productions in 1999. Together they are the executive producers for such shows as The Mighty Boosh, starring Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, Nighty Night, starring Julia Davis, Marion and Geoff, starring Rob Brydon, and Human Remains, starring Davis and Brydon. Baby Cow Productions latest venture is Where Are the Joneses, the world's first daily online sitcom which uses Wiki technology to allow the audience to upload scripts, storyline ideas, etc.

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ Coogan plans Alan Partridge movie'. BBC News Online (2005-04-19). Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  2. ^ I Am Not Alan Partridge'. Channel 4. Retrieved on 2007-08-29.
  3. ^ Coogan to play Eddie 'The Eagle'. BBC News Online (2007-08-08). Retrieved on 2007-08-08.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Coogan, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coogan, Stephen
SHORT DESCRIPTION actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 14 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH Middleton, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
de:Steve Coogan

es:Steve Coogan fr:Steve Coogan ja:スティーヴ・クーガン fi:Steve Coogan sv:Steve Coogan

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/Steve_Coogan"
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