Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry is without doubt one of our greatest and most versatile talents.
Being an actor, comedian, novelist, columnist, noted wit, and all round good egg.
Since beginning his creative partnership with Hugh Laurie in 1981, Fry has become a fixture on British television with programs such as A Bit of Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. In addition, he has made a number of films and established himself as a TV presenter and chat show regular.

Born in London on August 24, 1957, Fry was the second of three children. The family moved to Norfolk when Fry was young and he began his public school education at the age of eight. During the course of his education, first at Uppingham and then at Stout's Hill, Fry had a less than smooth ride with a self confessed tendency to lie, cheat, and steal. Things got worse until finally, at the age of 18, he received a 3 month jail sentence.

After serving time at Pucklechurch prison for credit card fraud, Fry began to turn his life around, beginning with an acceptance to Queens College, Cambridge. It was at Cambridge that he began doing comedy, performing with the legendary Cambridge University Footlights Club. Fry and Laurie began their collaboration in 1981. Performing at Footlights revues at various venues around Great Britain, including the Edinburgh Festival,.

In 1984, after making occasional television appearances for a couple of years , Fry found great critical and financial success when he was asked to rewrite Noel Gay's Me and My Girl. The stage production, which starred Fry's Cambridge friend Emma Thompson. His work was was well received and resulted in a 1987 Tony nomination.
Throughout the remainder of the decade, Fry concentrated television and radio shows, and in supporting roles in a number of films. Some of which television work included A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987) and Rowan Atkinson's Black Adder series. He also made appearances in films such as A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and A Handful of Dust (1988). Meanwhile, Fry was also gaining recognition for his journalistic work for The Daily Telegraph, as well as being a reliable commentator and provider of great sound bites. Of particular interest to us was Fry's superb article on P.G. Wodehouse one of Fry's favourite and most respected authors.

The 1990s brought more film and television work for Fry, as well as the publication of three best-selling novels The Liar, The Hippopotamus, and Making History, as well as Paperweight, a collection of his columns, and Moab Is My Washpot, his autobiography.

For those interested in PGW then Fry's finest moment came when he co-starred with Hugh Laurie in the highly successful Jeeves & Wooster for Granada television. His performance was superb, and with echoes of Wilde later on, a part he seemed born to play.

This TV series was seen worldwide, which when combined with the recognition he received for his books and the films he appeared in brought him international fame and acclaim. Some of his highlight film appearances were: Peter's Friends (1992), in which Fry co-starred with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh - John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm (1995) - Wilde (1997); Spice World (1998) - and A Civil Action (1998). Fry's performance in Wilde clearly demonstrated his skill as an actor, it was without doubt the definitive film characterisation of Oscar Wilde.
2003 saw Fry's directorial debut , Bright Young Things, an adaption of Evelyn Waugh's Vile Bodies. Fry seems to go from strength to strength, so we wait with baited breath to see where he takes us next.

Stephen's official website can be found at stephenfry.com

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