Biography for
Ricky Gervais More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 June 1961, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK

Birth Name

Ricky Dene Gervais

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Trade Mark

Humor from awkward social situations

Trivia

Worked as a DJ on London's XFM radio station and managed bands before going into TV comedy.

Won the 2003 O.K. Comedy Award.

Can play the guitar

Was in a music group in the early 1980s called Seona Dancing. They released two singles, "Bitter Heart" and "More To Lose" but didn't have any success.

Former manager of the UK indie band Suede.

He grew up in relative poverty but he has always admired his mother for the way in which she did not allow it to get in the way of a happy upbringing. She got herself into debt in order to make sure he had plenty of Christmas presents and it took her the whole of the following year to work her way out of it until Christmas beckoned again.

In 2004 Gervais released a children's book called "Flanimals." The sequel, "More Flanimals," was released in 2005.

Is the youngest of four siblings.

Very good friends with comedian Jon Stewart.

His favorite film is This Is Spinal Tap (1984).

He has been with long-term partner, producer Jane Fallon, since 1982.

Ranked #83 on the 2008 Telegraph's "100 most powerful people in British culture" list.

Has stated in interviews that he turned down several film roles before he accepted his lead role in Ghost Town (2008). These included Mission: Impossible III (2006), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Ocean's Thirteen (2007) and "The Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy.

Revealed in an online interview that he does not like using his fame to just make money, including an example when he was offered nearly $4,000,000 for just one day's work on an advert for an unnamed company.

In the early '80s was in a singing group called Seona Dancing. He was the main singer while Bill McCrae wrote music. They were not successful in the UK however were very popular in the Phillipines.

Animal rights group PETA Europe have decided to name a bullock (a cow) they rescued in India, in honor of his love of all creatures [June 24, 2009].

Has a degree in Philosophy.

Personal Quotes

I did Jonathon Ross last year and he said 'do people do impressions of David Brent?' and I went 'well, they can't really because he's such a normal bloke'. Then, after the show, me and Ross are walking through the car park and this bloke jumps out and goes 'der-ner-ner-ner-ner', does the David Brent dance and runs away. Jonathon Ross was in hysterics: 'all that shit you came out with and then some bloke jumps out and runs away'. But on the whole it doesn't really happen

[on turning down a role in Pirates of the Caribbean]: I didn't really fancy sitting in a hotel room in Los Angeles for nine weeks for two minutes on screen, to be honest. I don't really want to be an actor. I want to write and direct. I've been offered about ten British films. Obviously all shit. I was offered one with Johnny Depp, but again, it was a small character part, and I thought, "What's the point?" No one's ever watched someone in seven films for one minute and said, "Yeah, give him his own film." . . . It doesn't happen.

I hate lateness. I hate people who are late. There is no excuse for turning up late for anything. I've never been late for anything in my life. I was actually born a week premature, because I wanted to be early for my own birth. Being late is an insult to me.

I've been offered a part in "Alias" (2001)_ and I'm going to do it. I love Alias, it's great and J.J. Abrams is writing me a part especially. It's just whether I can do it or not-it's got to be the right time, the right project, it's got to be fun, it's got to be worth it and it mustn't be bad for my career. Most people go, "It'll do, it's work and it'll make me a bit more famous" or "the money's good," but I just think I've never regretted saying no. But a lot of people have regretted saying yes.

Accepting his Golden Globe: I'm not from these parts. I'm from a little place called England - we used to run the world before you lot.

About the show-biz lifestyle: It's all too much trouble for me. It's probably because I'm fat and lazy and old.

[On Lord of the Rings]: I don't like all this stupid Gollum begat Wobblo and the Oompa Loompas and. . . . Oh Jesus Christ! There was too much "Oh, God, here come the gloodloys." Christ Almighty, what are they talking about!?

on turning down the chance to appear in Ocean's Twelve (2004)]: Why say a couple of lines opposite Brad Pitt when I could be playing lead back home?

Apparently, I don't know if this is true but I hope it is, I've heard it from a few reports: When we went up to get our awards, apparently Clint Eastwood turned to someone that he was with and went [Clint impression], "Who the fuck are they?"

I remember when we were talking to one of the executives at the BBC. And he said, "Now hold on, this man [David Brent] is so incompetent, why wouldn't he be fired?' and I said, "Go and take a look around this building. Just go and knock on a few doors."

Money gives me the creeps and mildly embarrasses me. I get paid too much anyway.

[about animals]: When I see a toreador in a bullfight getting gored, I think, "Good, you shouldn't be in there." What is the pleasure in seeing an animal speared to death? It's the same with fox hunting. They're just psychopaths. I think I'll end up doing something with animals-running a sanctuary or something.

I have plenty of pet hates. I can't stand people scraping their plate or slurping their soup. I can't stand waiting in lines. I hate people talking inanely about The Lord of the Rings. I hate people whistling. But I'm not like this because I'm famous. I've always been a grumpy bastard.

I'm a lot taller than I look on television and younger, and for the role of David Brent, I wore a fat suit under my shirt and trousers. Really I'm about 25 and about 6' 1" tall. So that's probably why you don't recognize me in the street.

We're still trying to break records on the twentieth anniversary of Live Aid (1985) (TV). I've just heard Bob Geldof has put Phil Collins on a jet to Philadelphia. There's nothing going on there, we just don't want him around this year. No I'm joking, of course we didn't put him on a jet. We stuck him in a catapult. To be fair, he didn't get very far. Although it worked in rehearsals when we used it on Chris De Burgh. I could do a whole routine about injuring Phil fucking Collins.

I grew up watching fantastic mainstream comedies like "Porridge" (1974) and "Rising Damp" (1974). There are some mainstream things I love.

There's nothing wrong with getting 20 million viewers, but I think there's something wrong with aiming at getting 20 million viewers, because then you have to take away all the things that will offend, and you'll end up with something so anodyne that it just washes over you for half an hour. I imagine "The Office" (2001) was also one of the most hated shows on television, that some people passionately hated it. But that's better, for me. David Bowie said that after Let's Dance, which is his biggest album ever and obviously not his best, he was doing these stadium gigs and looked out at the audience and suddenly realized that he had Phil Collins fans instead of Iggy Pop fans. And that's how I feel about everything I do: I want Iggy Pop fans.

He's eight foot tall, has stupid glasses, awful hair, but it makes me look good, which is why he's in the series. We look so strange on screen together as well. The height difference is ridiculous. I want people to know that he is a freak and I'm the normal one. Don't look at this and go, 'What? Didn't know Ricky was a dwarf.' I'm not. He's the weird one. - mocking his comedy partner, Stephen Merchant

Oh, these actors who ask, "What's my motivation?" all the time. Who cares? I'll tell you what your motivation is: it's the only thing you can do, and you're getting paid to do it, so shut the hell up!

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