Miranda Hart Biography

Miranda Katharine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972), known professionally as Miranda Hart, is an English actress, comedian, and writer.

Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart struggled to make her foray into comedy. After writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making small appearances in various British sitcoms, she reached a wider audience with her self-written semi-autobiographical radio series Miranda Hart's Joke Shop, which started airing on BBC Radio 2 in 2008.

Hart writes and stars in the 2009 BBC sitcom Miranda (which is based on her radio series), which has earned its star four BAFTA nominations, three Royal Television Society awards and four British Comedy Awards throughout its three series. The sitcom's third series aired on BBC One 2012-2013. In 2012, she began appearing in the BBC drama Call the Midwife as Camilla "Chummy" Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne. Hart's semi-autobiographical book, Is It Just Me?, was released in October 2012.

Early life

Family

Miranda Hart was born on 14 December 1972 in Torquay, Devon, to Royal Navy officer Captain David Hart Dyke CBE LVO RN and Diana Margaret Luce. Her father was commanding officer of HMS Coventry when it was sunk by the Argentinians in the 1982 Falklands conflict, as a result of which he was badly burned trying to escape the stricken warship. Her mother, Diana Margaret, is the daughter of Sir William Luce GBE KCMG (1907-1977), who was the British Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Aden, 1956-60.

On her mother's side, her great-grandfather was Vice Admiral Sir Trevylyan Napier KCB MVO, who was the Commander-in-Chief, America and West Indies Station (1919-1920), while her great-great-grandfather was Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, 3rd Baronet, who was the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom (1901-1920). Miranda's uncle is The Rt Hon The Lord Luce KG GCVO DL, a former Conservative MP and Minister, later HM Governor and Commander in Chief of Gibraltar (1997-2000) and Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household, 2000-2006. Her great-uncle and the brother of her maternal grandfather was Admiral Sir David Luce GCB DSO (with Bar) OBE, who served as First Sea Lord. Her great-great-uncle was Major-General Sir Richard Harman Luce KCMG CB, who served as Member of Parliament for Derby from 1924-1929. Hart's patrilineal great-great-great-great-grandfather was Sir Percival Hart Dyke, 5th Baronet (1767-1846) whilst her distant cousin, the 10th and present baronet, Sir David Hart Dyke lives in Canada. Hart's 1st cousin is modern-day plant hunter Tom Hart Dyke. She has a sister, Alice Louisa Hart Dyke (born 1975).

Whilst from an aristocratic background, Hart has stated that she hates saying that, and does not consider herself upper class. Hart added that her family tree can be traced back to the 12th century and that her aunt and uncle live in a castle (Lullingstone Castle) which they cannot afford to run.

Education and training

Though born in Torquay, Hart grew up in Petersfield, Hampshire, and was educated at Downe House, Berkshire, an independent girls' boarding school, where she was a contemporary and friend of the sports presenter Clare Balding, who was head girl.

She attended the University of the West of England in Bristol, graduating with a 2:1 degree in political science. Hart then completed a postgraduate course in Acting at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts. In 2002, she performed a solo show in Edinburgh and in 2004 she pitched a comedy show to the BBC. At her read-through for BBC executives, Ab Fab writer and star Jennifer Saunders was present.

Work

Television and film

Before her own series was commissioned, Hart made appearances in various British sitcoms. In Not Going Out she initially appeared as an acupuncturist. However, her performance impressed the producers so much that they wrote a regular role for her as Barbara, a clumsy cleaner. She continued to play the part until the production of Miranda in 2009. Hart earned a British Comedy Award nomination for her role as Teal in two series of the BBC television comedy sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, which ran from January 2006 to August 2007.

She also appeared in even smaller roles in French & Saunders, My Family and Other Animals, Nighty Night, Absolutely Fabulous where she played a 'Japanese' woman called Yoko, The Vicar of Dibley as a speed-dater, Lead Balloon, William and Mary, Smack the Pony (for which she wrote and performed in a couple of sketches and a number of video diaries), Stupid!, Monday Monday as Tall Karen, and as a minicab driver in the Channel 5 comedy Angelos, which ran for 6 episodes.

Hart played a cameo in David Baddiel's feature film The Infidel. She appeared in a short film by Tim Plester, World of Wrestling, in which she played "Klondyke Kate", a wrestler billed as 'hell in boots'. The film was released in late 2007 alongside its companion shorts Blakes Junction 7 and Ant Muzak. 25 March 2013 will see the UK cinema release of 12 in a Box, a feature film that was originally made in 2007.

Hart is best known for her performance in her self-titled, self-penned and semi-autobiographical sitcom Miranda, which started recording for BBC Two in 2008 and began airing on 9 November 2009. The situation comedy also features Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, James Holmes, and Sally Phillips. The series is based on Hart's semi-autobiographical writing and followed a television pilot and the BBC Radio 2 comedy Miranda Hart's Joke Shop. Described as an "old-fashioned" sitcom, it received positive comments from critics and Hart won the 2009 Royal Television Society award for comedy performance for her role in the first series. A second series was commissioned and filming started in mid-2010. The series began airing on BBC Two and BBC HD on 15 November 2010. A third series began broadcasting from 26 December 2012 on BBC One. Repeats of the show have begun airing on UKTV Gold.

She appeared as guest host of Have I Got News for You in October 2009 and again in December 2011. She also presented a BBC spoof programme looking back over 2009 called 2009 Unwrapped with Miranda Hart. A similar show looking back over 2010 was also broadcast in December 2010. On 27 December, she was a team member on Big Fat Quiz 2011, a quiz about the events of that year presented by Jimmy Carr, appearing alongside David Walliams (team blue). As a fan of the series, Hart has also appeared twice on Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

On Boxing Day 2011, she appeared in an episode of Bear Grylls' Wild Weekend. She also scaled down one of the Alps with Bear Grylls in a show with him in March 2013.

In 2012, Hart began to appear in the BBC One drama, Call the Midwife, playing the character of "Camilla 'Chummy' Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne".

As part as the 60-year Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Hart co-presented at the Diamond Jubilee Concert.

She is currently the voice of the Müller Corners adverts. She also appeared in a TV advert for Alpen.

Radio

Her semi-autobiographical series Miranda Hart's Joke Shop was aired on BBC Radio 2 in 2008 and went on from there to be developed into the television series Miranda. Hart has also presented comedy specials for the network alongside Jon Holmes. In October 2011 she attracted criticism after co-hosting The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Holmes while Chris Evans was on holiday. The website Digital Spy reported that some listeners were unhappy with the quality of the programme. The BBC issued a statement in response saying, "Miranda Hart is one of the UK's best-loved comedians and BBC Radio 2 felt it appropriate to bring her warmth to its audience for a week. Jon Holmes is a highly experienced presenter from BBC Radio 6 Music [...] BBC Radio 2 appreciates if their presentation wasn't to everyone's liking, but feels it's important to be able to bring new talent to its output and hopes its audience understands the importance of maintaining a breadth of content on the network."

Live performance

Avoiding the normal stand-up circuit for more character-based comedy, including an appearance in the Edinburgh and touring show The Sitcom Trials, Hart has written her own theatre material for the Edinburgh Fringe. Her one-woman shows include Miranda Hart – Throbs, It's All About Me and Miranda Hart's House Party. She also performed in Alecky Blythe's 2006 play Cruising at the Bush Theatre.

She was among the performers at the Diamond Jubilee concert held outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012.

Hart will embark on her first tour in 2014, titled My, What I Call, Live Show, performing in arenas in the UK and Ireland. Tickets went on sale on 17 December 2012.

Tours

My, What I Call, Live Show
Date	City	Country	Venue
UK and Ireland
28 February 2014	Bournemouth	United Kingdom	Bournemouth International Centre
1 March 2014
2 March 2014
4 March 2014	Plymouth		Plymouth Pavilions
5 March 2014
6 March 2014	Nottingham		Capital FM Arena
7 March 2014
8 March 2014
10 March 2014	Cardiff		Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
11 March 2014
12 March 2014	London		The O2 Arena
13 March 2014
14 March 2014	Manchester		Manchester Arena
15 March 2014
17 March 2014	Glasgow		The Hydro
19 March 2014	Newcastle		Metro Radio Arena
20 March 2014
21 March 2014	Leeds		First Direct Arena
22 March 2014
24 March 2014	Liverpool		Echo Arena Liverpool
25 March 2014
28 March 2014	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Odyssey Arena
29 March 2014	Dublin	Ireland	The O2
1 April 2014	Brighton	United Kingdom	Brighton Centre
2 April 2014
5 April 2014	Shefield		Motorpoint Arena Sheffield
6 April 2014
8 April 2014	Birmingham		National Indoor Arena
9 April 2014
10 April 2014
11 April 2014	London		The O2 Arena
12 April 2014

Comic Relief

Hart was the second contestant to be voted off the third series of Comic Relief does Fame Academy in 2007. Two years later, she appeared in the final sketch from comedy duo French and Saunders, which was broadcast during Red Nose Day 2009. In 2010, she and six other TV celebrities raised over £1 million for the charity Sport Relief cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End. She starred as a judge on both series two and three of Let's Dance for Comic Relief, alongside other guest judges including Kelly Brook, Rufus Hound and Louie Spence in 2010 and 2011. In aid of Comic Relief, a Miranda mini-episode set in the world of Pineapple Dance Studios was broadcast on 18 March as part of Red Nose Day 2011. She took part in a Red Nose Day edition of Celebrity MasterChef in 2011, which she won. Miranda also co-presented Sport Relief 2012, which concluded with her and fellow comedian David Walliams dancing semi-naked to Abba's Dancing Queen. She also donated a signed Miranda script to be auctioned in aid of Comic Relief.

Awards and nominations

In 2010 Hart won the Best Comedy Performance award from the Royal Television Society for her performance in Miranda and was also nominated for best comedy writing. She and Patricia Hodge were both nominated for "Best Comedy Actress" awards at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival 2010.

In 2011 she won "Best Comedy Actress" and "People"s Choice Award for the King Or Queen Of Comedy" in the British Comedy Awards 2011, where Miranda also won "Best New British TV Comedy" and was nominated for "Best Sitcom". The same year, she was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress in a comedy role and her hit BBC Two sitcom Miranda was nominated for the BAFTA YouTube choice award, the only award voted for by the public.

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
2006	Hyperdrive	British Comedy Awards	Best Female Comedy Newcomer
2010	Miranda " Series 1		Best TV Sitcom
			Best New TV Comedy
			Best TV Comedy Actress
			People's Choice Award
		British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role
			Best Situation Comedy
		Monte-Carlo TV Festival " Golden Nymph	Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
		Royal Television Society Awards	Best Writer for a Comedy
			Best Comedy Performance
2011	Miranda " Series 2
			Best Scripted Comedy
		Banff TV Festival " Banff Rockie Award	Best Sitcom
		British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role
		British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actress
			Best TV Sitcom
			People's Choice Award
		Broadcasting Press Guild Awards	Best Comedy and/or Entertainment
		TV Quick Awards	Best Comedy Show
2012		National Television Awards	Most Popular Sitcom
	Call the Midwife	British Academy Television Awards	Best Supporting Actress
	Is It Just Me?	National Book Awards	Non-Fiction Book of the Year
2013	Call the Midwife	National Television Awards	Outstanding Drama Performance (Female)
	Miranda " Series 3	British Academy Television Awards	Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role

Personal life

Hart lives in Hammersmith, West London.

In her early twenties, Hart had an unsuccessful trial at Queens Park Rangers Ladies. She revealed this during Would I Lie to You.

In July 2012, Miranda announced she was writing a book, to be released in October 2012. The book is called 'Is It Just Me?' and features stories, anecdotes and life advice delivered in her own style. She used Twitter to give the public a chance to appear in the book, if they contributed anecdotes to @NoItsUsToo, using the #isitjustme hashtag.