Andy Hamilton
| Andy Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 Hamilton, 2007 | |
| Birth name | Andrew Neil Hamilton |
| Born | 28 May 1954 Fulham, London, England |
| Medium | Radio, television |
| Education | Downing College, Cambridge (BA) |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Genres | Political satire |
| Subject(s) | Politics |
| Spouse |
Libby Asher
(m. 1988) |
| Children | 3 |
| Notable works and roles | Old Harry's Game Outnumbered |
Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor.
Early life and education
[edit]Hamilton was born in Fulham, west London. He was educated at Westminster City School which was then a voluntary aided grammar school[1] and later read English at Downing College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Cambridge University Light Entertainment Society (CULES).
Career
[edit]Hamilton first came to notice while performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the 1970s. In the mid-1970s he sustained himself by taking jobs at Harrods and the Post Office before joining the BBC in 1976.[2]
His early radio work, mostly on BBC Radio 4 included Week Ending, The News Huddlines and The Million Pound Radio Show (with Nick Revell). He has since appeared regularly in Chelmsford 123, Have I Got News for You, The News Quiz, QI, and If I Ruled the World. Hamilton is frequently invited as a panellist on The News Quiz and as a guest panellist on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
He is the voice of Dr Elephant, the dentist in the children's show Peppa Pig. He was also the original voice of Bob Fish, who is also a dentist, in the cartoon Bob and Margaret. Hamilton is also the voice of Captain Squid, the pirate in the children's show Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom.
On 16 March 2007, he co-presented BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme alongside usual presenter Martha Kearney as part of that day's Comic Relief fundraising activities, after defeating Richard Hammond and Kelvin MacKenzie in a poll.
Since 1995, Hamilton has written and played the lead role of Satan in the Radio 4 sitcom Old Harry's Game. He toured with his UK stand-up show Hat of Doom in 2008.
In 2009, Hamilton presented the BBC Four series It's Only a Theory with Reginald D. Hunter.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast two, four-part series, Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers, in 2017 and 2018. Series 1 comprised the topics of childhood, politics, the human body, and animals, based on his own personal experiences of them.[3]
Personal life
[edit]He has no thumb on his right hand. He joked that it was amputated when he was five "by a surgeon who felt that symmetry was over-rated" to the audience of Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers on Radio 4 in October 2017.[4][5]
He married Libby Asher in 1988, and they have three children.[citation needed]
He is a supporter of Chelsea Football Club.
Writing
[edit]Hamilton has written for:
Television
[edit]- Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979)
- The Dawson Watch (1979-1980)
- Shelley (1979)
- Scotch and Wry (1980)
- Who Dares Wins (1983)
- Alas Smith & Jones (1984)
- The Kit Curran Radio Show (1984)
- Kit Curran (1986; with Guy Jenkin)
- Scotch & Wry (1986)
- Drop the Dead Donkey (1990; co-creator with Guy Jenkin)
- Eleven Men Against Eleven (1995)
- Never Mind the Horrocks (1996)
- Underworld (1997)
- Bob and Margaret (1998-2000)
- Bedtime (2001–2003)
- The Exam (2002; for the National Theatre Connections Anthology)
- Trevor's World of Sport (2003)
- The Armstrong and Miller Show (2007)
- Outnumbered (2007–2014; co-written with Guy Jenkin)
- The Two Ronnies
- It's Only a Theory (2009)
- Just Around The Corner (2012; Pilot only; co-written with Guy Jenkin)
- Ballot Monkeys (2015)
- Power Monkeys (2016)
- Kate & Koji (2020–present)
Radio
[edit]- The Million Pound Radio Show (with Nick Revell)
- The News Huddlines
- Old Harry's Game (creator, in which he also stars as Satan)
- Trevor's World of Sport (radio version broadcast years: 2004, 2005 and 2007)
- Revolting People (co-creator with Jay Tarses, in which he also stars as Sergeant McGurk)
- Week Ending
- Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers (2017)
Film
[edit]- What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)
Books
[edit]- The Thatcher Papers (New English Library, 1980) (with Alistair Beaton)
- Andy Hamilton (1994), Drop the Dead Donkey 2000, London: Little, Brown, ISBN 0316912360, OL 22627103M, 0316912360
- "The Star Witness" ([Unbound Publishers], ISBN 1-78352-298-4, 2016), "Like its author, this book is funny, poignant and too short" - Jack Dee
References
[edit]- ^ Westminster City School – A Brief History Archived 28 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 April 2015
- ^ Have I Got News for You – Series 44 – Episode 10 (BBC), 21 December 2012
- ^ Presenter and writer: Andy Hamilton (18 October 2017). "Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers". Andy Hamilton Sort of Remembers. BBC. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
- ^ Drop the Dead Donkey Series 1 DVD
- ^ Wark, Penny (13 July 2005). "I was made to feel quite special". The Times (paywall restrictions apply). London.
External links
[edit]- Andy Hamilton at the British Film Institute
- Andy Hamilton at IMDb
- Andy Hamilton at British Comedy Guide
- Andy Hamilton Biography at bbc.co.uk
- [1] appears to be a totally different Andy Hamilton
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1954 births
- Living people
- 20th-century English comedians
- 20th-century English male actors
- 20th-century English male writers
- 20th-century British screenwriters
- 21st-century English comedians
- 21st-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male writers
- 21st-century English screenwriters
- Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge
- British male television writers
- Comedians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
- English comedy writers
- English male comedians
- English male screenwriters
- English male television actors
- English male voice actors
- English radio personalities
- English radio writers
- English stand-up comedians
- English television directors
- English television personalities
- English television writers
- Male actors from London
- People educated at Westminster City School
- Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
- People from Fulham