Rory Bremner

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Rory Bremner bigraphy, stories - Comedians

Rory Bremner : biography

06 April 1961 –

Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner,"Rory Bremner". Who Do You Think You Are?. Wall to Wall for BBC One. 2 February 2009. No. 1, series 6. FKC (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire and impressions of prominent British politicians. He is also known for his work on Mock the Week as a panellist (for Series 1 and 2), award-winning show Rory Bremner…Who Else? and sketch comedy series Bremner, Bird and Fortune, which features veteran comedians John Bird and John Fortune.

Personal life

Bremner’s first marriage was to Susan Shackleton, a teacher, in 1987, the couple divorcing in 1995. On 11 September 1999, Bremner married Tessa Campbell Fraser, and has two daughters, Ava and Lila Bremner. They live in the Scottish Borders near Melrose.http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/4207996/Rory-Bremner-Alex-Salmond-has-made-a-big-impression-on-me.html

Bremner supported Reg Keys in the 2005 election when he stood against Tony Blair as an anti-war candidate.

He was awarded Honorary Life Membership of King’s College London Students’ Union in the early 2000s. In 2005 he was made a Fellow of his alma mater King’s College London. Additionally, he was awarded an honorary fellowship by Queen Mary, University of London in 2008.

He was placed at 49 on ITV’s list of TV’s 50 Greatest Stars, and in 2008 received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society.

Bremner speaks French, German and Spanish. He is also studying Russian in order to read Russian poetry better in the original.

Bremner has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has openly addressed it in interviews. In May 2011, he presented a short programme "ADHD and Me" on Radio 4 about living and coping with the condition.

In 2009, Bremner was the subject of the series Who Do You Think You Are? in a quest to research about his father, whom he barely knew. His father had served in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment during the war and was often away from home. Bremner travelled to ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Dutch city liberated by the East Lancs, amongst other places to retrace his father’s footsteps. Together with his brother, they traced their father’s ancestry and discovered that their great-grandfather John Ogilvy had served as a surgeon general during the Crimean War and was later posted to various British colonies.

Prank call to Margaret Beckett

In February 2007, he entered the news after it emerged that he had managed to get through to Margaret Beckett whilst impersonating Gordon Brown, with her revealing "embarrassing indiscretions".

On 3 May 2005, Bremner dressed up as Michael Howard and walked along the campaign trail in the marginal seat of Wellingborough. He eventually caught up with Howard himself.

The Big Brecht Fest

In April 2007, he was also involved in The Big Brecht Fest at the Young Vic Theatre in London celebrating the work of German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, where a series of newly-translated versions of some of his short plays were performed. One of the plays that was staged, the short comedy of manners A Respectable Wedding, was retranslated by Bremner, who also penned the title to the series. His translation had a positive reception from critics, although it did draw the ire of some for the removal of any class-conflict edge to the play, directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins as a squirming farce that relies heavily on the comic value of embarrassment.

Early life

Born in Edinburgh, Rory Bremner was born to Major Donald Stuart Ogilvy Bremner (December 1907–1979) (who was 53 years old at Rory’s birth) and his second wife Ann Simpson (1922–2001). He has an older brother and an older half-sister (from his father’s first marriage). Bremner was educated at Clifton Hall School and Wellington College and then studied Modern Languages at King’s College London, graduating with a degree in French and German in 1984.