Ricky Gervais's Biography

Ricky Gervais was born on June 25, 1961 in Reading, England.

Gervais is best-known for co-writing, co-directing and starring as David Brent in the BBC sitcom series The Office and similarly creating and acting in Extras.

Earlier in his career Gervais had appeared in The 11 O'Clock Show, and his own talk-comedy show, Meet Ricky Gervais.

The 11 O'Clock Show was a brave attempt to blend current affairs with comedy. In their different ways, both The 11 O'Clock Show and The Office crossed genres.

In his early days, Ricky Gervais had spent several years as an entertainments manager for a student union, and for a while managed Suede.

He also tried stand-up comedy, which he says he found "just too hard". However 2004 saw Ricky Gervais back on stage, with his show Politics.

The Office was a hit both in terms of ratings and with the critics. Gervais won the Bafta award for best comedy performance for three years in a row, while The Office took two Golden Globes in Hollywood in January 2004, including Gervais winning 'Best Actor' for his role as David Brent - the first UK star to win a TV comedy acting prize at the US Golden Globe awards.

The Office was a hard act to follow, but Ricky Gervais together with Stephen Merchant managed to create another critical and popular series - Extras, in which Gervais played Andy Millman an 'extra' and nice chap, who ends up developing a comedy series.

Jo Whiley of the BBC asked Ricky Gervais what was the silliest rumour he'd heard about himself, to which he replied:

"That I was a pizza delivery boy and I knocked over an old lady. It was put on my biography on the 11 O'Clock Show and someone picked up on it. And the twins...

"Someone asked me what three things I would save if my house was on fire. I said my cat, my salamander and one of the twins. Later a journalist asked how are the twins?"

In 2004, Ricky Gervais's first children's book, Flanimals was published. He followed up with More Flanimals, and Flanimals of the Deep.

Ricky Gervais was cast as a Hollywood studio boss in a film called For Your Consideration, however he turned down parts in Mission Impossible 3 and The Da Vinci Code because, he told Sunday magazine, "I don't want to see me for two minutes on screen knowing I've spent six months in a Winnebago filming it."

In September 2008, the BBC reported how Ricky Gervais won critical acclaim for his leading role in Ghost Town.

However, Gervais said:

"Who wants to see my fat face all over the screen? I'm a better writer and director than I am a leading man."

In March 2009, Ricky Gervais told the BBC that as well as directing This Side Of The Truth, which will feature himself, Tina Fey, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Jonah Hill, and Jason Bateman; he and Stephen Merchant had just written a film set in England in the 1970s, Cemetery Junction (release date 7 April 2010).

In 2010, The Ricky Gervais Show, an animation based on Gervais's podcasts, was set to air in the UK for the first time, although it had already been transmitted by HBO in the USA.

Subsequently, his credits included After Life; Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian; The Invention of Lying; Cemetery Junction; and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.

He hosted the Golden Globes awards including a controversial performance in 2020, which was his fifth and final time.