Steve Coogan

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Steve Coogan
holding a producer credit for The 1 Second Film in January 2005
Born	Stephen John Coogan October 14, 1965 (1965-10-14) (age 42) Middleton, Greater Manchester, England
Spouse(s)	Caroline Hickman (2002–2005) (div.)
Awards won BAFTA Awards Best Comedy Performance 1998 I'm Alan Partridge Best Comedy 1998 I'm Alan Partridge

Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is an English comedian. His best known character in the United Kingdom as Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his film roles. He also works in stand-up comedy, having recently announced his latest tour, "Steve Coogan Is Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters", to be performed in 2008, the first time he has performed stand-up in a decade.^[1] Steve Coogan has had intentions of reviving Alan Partridge on the big screen.

Contents 1 Life & career 1.1 Early life 1.2 Alan Partridge 1.3 Other TV roles 1.4 Film roles 1.5 Personal life 1.6 Owen Wilson controversy 1.7 Achievements 1.8 Return to stand-up 1.9 Production company 2 References 3 External links

[edit] Life & career

[edit] Early life

Coogan is one of nine children. He was born and raised in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in a large Irish Catholic family.^[2] Coogan started out as a fresh, hip, new stand-up comic and mimic, whilst working in Ipswich, as well as doing voice-over work for adverts and impressions on Spitting Image. In 1988, he did impressions of Prince Charles which featured on the Urban label release "Don't Believe The Hype" by Acid House artist Mista E. The impressions were also used as jingles in 1988/89 on the Radio 1 FM Friday night dance music show Jeff Young's Big Beat. He also acted on the observation round on The Krypton Factor in 1989.

[edit] Alan Partridge

Main article: Alan Partridge

He teamed up with Chris Morris and Armando Iannucci, amongst others, on the Radio 4 comedy show On the Hour, where he helped give birth to his most famous creation Alan Partridge. Alan went on to have his own radio show and also appeared on TV in The Day Today and his own chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. In 1997 he bounced back with the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, which was followed by a second series in 2002. Partridge will make yet another triumphant return as part of Coogan's 2008 stand-up tour, with an Alan Partridge movie in production.^[3]

[edit] Other TV roles

Paul Calf has appeared in two video diaries, an episode of Coogan's Run, and in various stand-up performances. He is an unemployed Mancunian wastrel with a particular hatred of students. His catchphrase is "Bag of shite".

Paul lives in a council house in the fictional town of Ottle with his mother and his sister, Pauline Calf (also played by Coogan). His father died some time before the first video diary was made. For a long time he was obsessed with getting back together with his ex-girlfriend, Julie. Paul's best friend is "Fat" Bob (played by John Thomson), a car mechanic who eventually married Pauline. Paul supports Manchester City and is very partial to Wagon Wheels. He wears Burton suits, sports a bleached mullet and drives a Ford Cortina. Other Coogan creations include Tommy Saxondale, Duncan Thicket, and Tony Ferrino. Duncan Thicket has appeared on a tour of live shows. Other TV shows he has starred in include Coogan's Run, Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, Monkey Trousers and Saxondale. Coogan has provided voices for the animated series I Am Not an Animal, the one-off BBC2 comedy about sheep Combat Sheep, two Christmas specials starring Robbie the Reindeer, and an episode of the BBC Radio Four spoof sci-fi series Nebulous. He starred in BBC2's The Private Life of Samuel Pepys in 2003, and Cruise of the Gods in 2002. In 2006, he had a cameo in the Little Britain Christmas special as a pilot taking Lou and Andy to Disneyland. In 2007, Coogan played a psychiatrist on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

[edit] Film roles

Notable film roles include Factory Records boss Tony Wilson in the film 24 Hour Party People, Mole in Terry Jones' The Wind in the Willows, Phileas Fogg in a remake of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days with Jackie Chan, Ambassador Mercy in Marie Antoinette, Bruce Tick in The Revengers' Comedies, and Octavius, the first Roman Emperor and nephew to Julius Caesar, in Night at the Museum. He has also played himself twice on screen. First, in one of the vignettes of Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes, alongside Alfred Molina. Second, in 2006 Coogan starred with Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom's A Cock and Bull Story, a self-referential film of the "unfilmable" self-referential novel Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. In the film, Coogan plays a fictional, womanizing version of himself.

The first film he co-wrote with Henry Normal was The Parole Officer. He also acted in this alongside Ben Miller and Lena Headey. Coogan has an uncredited cameo in Hot Fuzz, scripted by Shaun of the Dead writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. He stars as a failed actor turned high school drama teacher in the 2008 film Hamlet 2 and had a role in the Tropic Thunder. It was announced on August 8, 2007, that he is also to star in a film adaptation of the life of Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards.^[4] He was also recently in Finding Amanda alongside Brittany Snow and Matthew Broderick. He will also return as Octavius in Night at the Museum 2: Escape from the Smithsonian, out on May 22, 2009 - memorial day.

[edit] Personal life

One of his brothers, Brendan, is a former Top Gear presenter, and another, Martin, was the lead singer of the early 1990s band The Mock Turtles. All the brothers attended the Cardinal Langley RC High School.

A favourite of the British tabloids, Coogan's personal life has made headlines since the early 1990s. In August 2005, the News of the World stated that rock star Courtney Love had claimed to be pregnant with Coogan's child, following a two-week long fling the pair allegedly had while staying at the same hotel, although this claim has been dismissed by both parties.^[5] The news came a month after Coogan had divorced his wife, Caroline Hickman,^[6] (whom he married in 2002) on the grounds that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. He has a daughter, Clare, from a previous relationship with Anna Cole. He is dating China Chow.

Coogan has a few other relatives who are also involved in the arts in Britain and America. One of which is associated with the West-End London theater and another who does freelance singing and acting in and around Chicago.

On the commentary for Season 2 of "I'm Alan Partridge", Coogan states that he is a socialist who enjoys paying taxes, whilst discussing the eponymous character's investigation by the Inland Revenue.

[edit] Owen Wilson controversy

In August 2007, the New York Post wrote that Coogan was being "blamed" in a story following Owen Wilson's suicide attempts for allegedly supplying the actor with hard drugs. Courtney Love said after Wilson's failed attempts, "I was just out of rehab, and he was right there with the drugs. I tried to warn Owen. I tried to warn his friends. I hope from the bottom of my heart that Owen stays the hell away from that guy." Steve Coogan responded through Access Hollywood, denying Love's accusations and offering support to Wilson. "My thoughts are with my friend Owen at this difficult time, but I do want to set the record straight and say that the allegations...are completely and utterly false," he said.^[7]

[edit] Achievements

He has won numerous awards for his work in TV including British Comedy Awards, BAFTAs, and The South Bank Show award for comedy. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2005, a poll to find The Comedians' Comedian saw him being voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

[edit] Return to stand-up

In March 2008, it was confirmed that Coogan will return to doing stand-up comedy as part of his first stand-up tour in ten years. The tour is named "Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and other less successful characters" and should see the return of some of his old characters including Paul Calf and Alan Partridge.^[8] The first date of the tour is October 1st in Stoke with the last date on December 5th in Newcastle

[edit] Production company

Coogan, along with writing partner Henry Normal, founded Baby Cow Productions in 1999. Together they are the executive producers for such shows as The Mighty Boosh, starring Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, Nighty Night, starring Julia Davis, Marion and Geoff, starring Rob Brydon, and Human Remains, starring Davis and Brydon. Baby Cow Productions latest venture is Where Are the Joneses,^[9] the world's first daily online sitcom which uses Wiki technology to allow the audience to upload scripts, storyline ideas, etc.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steve Coogan at TV.com
• Steve Coogan at the Internet Movie Database
• Coming to a cinema near you... Alan Partridge as Our Man in Tashkent
• Steve Coogan: From a Partridge to 'Cock and Bull Fresh Air interview by Terry Gross

Persondata
NAME	Coogan, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Coogan, Stephen
SHORT DESCRIPTION	English actor & comedian
DATE OF BIRTH	October 14, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH	Middleton, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH