Reece Shearsmith

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Reece Shearsmith bigraphy, stories - british comedian

Reece Shearsmith : biography

27 August 1969 –

Reeson "Reece" Wayne Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969 in Hull) is an English actor, writer, comedian, television producer and magician. He created, wrote and acted in one of the UK’s top 10 most popular sitcom/sketch shows, The League of Gentlemen, along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson. Shearsmith played over 30 characters. He also created, wrote and acted in another award-winning series, Psychoville, along with Pemberton.

Early life

Shearsmith studied drama at Bretton Hall College which was merged with the University of Leeds before being sold in 2007. It was at Bretton Hall that Shearsmith met Pemberton, Gatiss and Dyson.

Personal life

He lives in North London with his wife Jane, whom he married on 14 February 2001 in Islington, and their two children Holly and Danny. Holly appeared in the first episode of the first series of Psychoville as the little princess whom Mr. Jelly terrorises at her birthday party. Shearsmith lives close to Pemberton. He is an occasional smoker.

Career

The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, transferred to BBC Radio 4 as On the Town with The League of Gentlemen in 1997 and then arrived on television on BBC Two in 1999. The latter saw Shearsmith and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award and the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux.

He has appeared in other comedy projects including Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere as well as playing the insane villain Tony in the Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer comedy Catterick. He also appeared in two episodes of the award-winning pop-culture comedy Spaced as robot-wars obsessed TA soldier Dexter, and played neurotic doctor Flynn in the BBC Two sitcom TLC which was written by The Weakest Link creator Fintan Coyle. His ability for talking ‘gibberish’ lends itself to playing his more macabre characters like Papa Lazarou.

From March 2006 to January 2007, he appeared in the West End as Leo Bloom in The Producers.

In the 2008 English language DVD release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy, Shearsmith voiced the character of "Ante", a heavy-set, bizarrely-dressed biker member of the "Lappish Mafia". In this his voice is used along with the other actors of League of Gentlemen such as Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss. The dialogue was written by Simon Pegg and other actors.

Psychoville aired June 2009 and marked his return to BBC2. It was co-written by Shearsmith and his League of Gentlemen cohort Steve Pemberton. Both Shearsmith and Pemberton star in the series and play numerous characters. In 2010 Shearsmith appeared in John Landis’ black comedy Burke and Hare.

In 2010 Shearsmith played the lead character in Ghost Stories, written and directed by Jeremy Dyson and magician Andy Nyman.

In April 2011, Cameron Mackintosh’s new musical Betty Blue Eyes opened in the west end, in which he plays downtrodden husband Gilbert Chilvers (a chiropodist) alongside Sarah Lancashire.

In May 2011 Psychoville returned to TV with a second series, where once again he starred beside Pemberton and numerous other names including Imelda Staunton.

In 2012 he starred in Bad Sugar, a comedy series written by Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong, along with Olivia Colman and Julia Davis.

He is set to play Patrick Troughton in a docu-drama about the conception and making of Doctor Who, later this year, which is written by Mark Gatiss.

Work

  • 2013 The World’s End (2013) – Actor
  • 2013 An Adventure in Space and Time – Actor, as Patrick Troughton
  • 2013 Inside No. 9 – Actor
  • 2013 Bad Sugar – Actor
  • 2012 A Field in England – Actor
  • 2012 Comedy Showcase – The Function Room – Actor
  • 2012 Comedy Showcase – Bad Sugar – Actor
  • 2012 Silent Night of the Living Dead – Actor
  • 2012 Him Indoors – Actor
  • 2012 Henry IV – Actor
  • 2012 Absent Friends – Performer
  • 2012 Swiftcover SwiftBrothers| Advertising Campaign- Voice Actor
  • 2012 Bad Sugar – Actor
  • 2012 The Function Room: Comedy Showcase – Actor
  • 2012 Squeamish – Narrator/Actor
  • 2011 Betty Blue Eyes (The Novello Theatre) – Performer
  • 2011 Psychoville – Actor/Writer
  • 2011 Eric and Ernie – Actor
  • 2010 Psychoville Halloween Special – Actor/Writer
  • 2010 Burke and Hare – Actor
  • 2009 Would I Lie to You? – Performer
  • 2009 Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith – Performer
  • 2009 Psychoville – Actor/Writer
  • 2008 Free Jimmy – Ante (voice)
  • 2008 The Common Pursuit at the Menier Chocolate Factory – Performer
  • 2008 The Cottage – Actor
  • 2008 Coming Up – Lickle Bill Um  – Actor
  • 2007 Christmas at the Riviera – Actor
  • 2007 Ladies and Gentlemen: Comedy Showcase – Actor
  • 2007 Modern Men – Performer
  • 2007 The Abbey (TV series) – Actor
  • 2007 Miss Marple: Ordeal by Innocence – Actor
  • 2006 The Producers (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) – Performer
  • 2005 The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You (various venues) – Writer/Performer
  • 2005 Wyndham’s Theatre Presents Shakespeare’s As You Like It – Performer
  • 2005 The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse – Writer/Actor
  • 2005 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Voice Actor
  • 2004 Max & Paddy’s Road to Nowhere – Actor
  • 2004 The All Star Comedy Show – Monkey Trousers – Performer
  • 2004 Shaun of the Dead – Actor
  • 2004 Catterick – Actor
  • 2003 Mash and Peas – Actor
  • 2002 Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe – Voice Actor
  • 2002 ‘Art’ (Whitehall Theatre) Performer
  • 2002 The League of Gentlemen – The Making Of Series 3 – Presenter
  • 2002 TLC – Actor
  • 2002 The League of Gentlemen, Series 3, Writer/Actor
  • 2001 A Local Show for Local People (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) – Writer/Performer
  • 2001 Coming Up – Birthday Girl – Actor
  • 2001 Spaced – Actor
  • 2000 The League of Gentlemen – A Local Book For Local People – Writer
  • 2000 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) – Actor
  • 2000 The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special – Writer/Actor
  • 2000 The League of Gentlemen, Series 2 – Writer/Actor
  • 2000 A Local Show For Local People – Writer/Performer
  • 1999 This Year’s Love – Actor
  • 1999 The League of Gentlemen, Series 1 – Writer/Actor
  • 1998 Auton2: Sentinel – Actor
  • 1998 In The Red – Actor
  • 1998 Lenny Henry Goes to Town – Actor
  • 1997 On The Town With The League Of Gentlemen – Writer/Actor
  • 1997 Auton – Actor
  • 1997 Mash and Peas do U.S. – Actor
  • 1997 In the Red – Performer
  • 1996 P.R.O.B.E. – The Ghosts of Winterborne – Actor
  • 1996 Friday Night Armistice – Performer
  • 1995 P.R.O.B.E. – The Devil of Winterborne – Actor
  • 1995 The League of Gentlemen Stage Show – Writer/Actor
  • 1995 Alas Smith and Jones – Actor