Steve Coogan Biography

Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, writer and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, working as a voice artist on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early 1990s, he began creating original comic characters; this led him to win the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In 1999, he co-founded the production company Baby Cow Productions.

While working with Armando Iannucci on The Day Today and On the Hour, Coogan created his most developed and popular character, Alan Partridge, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality. He featured in several television series, which earned Coogan three BAFTA nominations and two wins for Best Comedy Performance. A feature-length film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, was released in 2013, and opened at number one at the British box office.

Coogan grew in prominence within the film industry in 2002, after starring in The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He portrayed Phileas Fogg in the 2004 remake Around the World in 80 Days, and has co-starred in The Other Guys, Tropic Thunder, In the Loop, Hamlet 2, Our Idiot Brother, Ruby Sparks and Night at the Museum, as well as collaborating with Rob Brydon in The Trip and Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story. He was also a principal voice actor in the computer animated comedy film Despicable Me 2.

Coogan has also branched out into more dramatic roles, with What Maisie Knew, and portrayed Paul Raymond in the biopic The Look of Love. He co-wrote, produced and stars in the film adaptation Philomena, alongside Judi Dench, and has been cast in the lead role for the ABC television pilot Doubt, created by David Shore.

On 22 November 2011, Coogan, along with Hugh Grant, gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on phone hacking, favouring regulation of the press.

Early life

Coogan was born in Middleton, Greater Manchester, on 14 October 1965. He was the fourth of seven children born to Kathleen (née Coonan), a housewife, and Anthony Coogan, an IBM engineer. He was raised in Alkrington as a Roman Catholic, in an Irish working class family. He attended Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School. He has stated that he had a happy childhood, and in addition to having four brothers and two sisters, his parents fostered children on a short-term basis.

Coogan had a talent for impersonation, and wanted to go to drama school, despite being advised by a teacher that it could lead to a precarious profession. After five failed applications to various drama schools within London, he received a place at the theatre company New Music, before gaining a place at the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre.

Career

Coogan began his career as a comic and impressionist, performing regularly in Ipswich, before working as a voice artist for television advertisements and the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In 1992, Coogan won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his performance with long-time collaborator John Thomson, and starred alongside Caroline Aherne and John Thomson in a one-off Granada TV sketch show The Dead Good Show. His most prominent characters developed at this time were Paul Calf, a stereotypical working-class Mancunian, and his sister Pauline, played by Coogan in drag.

Alan Partridge

See Alan Partridge for more information While working with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris on the Radio 4 comedy On the Hour, Coogan conceived his most popular and developed character, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality. He appeared as a sports presenter on the television comedy The Day Today, before hosting his own chat show, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge. In 1997, Partridge returned in the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, which was followed by a second series in 2002, and received five BAFTA nominations. Partridge featured in Coogan's 2008 stand-up tour.

He revisited the character in two one-off Sky Atlantic specials, including Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, which received a further two BAFTA nominations, as well as the mockumentary Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, which has been renewed for a second season. A feature-length film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, was released in 2013.

TV roles

Paul Calf first began as a character named 'Duncan Disorderly' in Coogan's early stand-up routines. Calf first came to wider public notice in 1993, with several appearances on Saturday Zoo, a late-night variety show presented by Jonathan Ross on Channel 4. Paul 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 o' 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, Pete Calf (played by Coogan in Coogan's Run) 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 Portuguese Eurovision Song Contest winner Tony Ferrino. Duncan Thicket has appeared in 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 and Bob and Margaret, 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, and in 2008, starred in the BBC1 drama Sunshine.

In 2010, he reunited with actor Rob Brydon and director Michael Winterbottom (both of whom he had worked with on the 2006 film A Cock and Bull Story (see Film Roles below)), for the partially improvised BBC2 sitcom The Trip, in which he and Brydon do a tour of northern restaurants, which he is writing up for the Observer. The Trip was nominated for a 2011 Television BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy, and Coogan won Best Male Performance in a Comedy Role.

He provided the voices of Philip Masterson-Bowie (a horse) and Mark Andrews (a sparrow) for the animated comedy series I Am Not an Animal. He was also the voice of Satan on Neighbors from Hell. In December 2011, Coogan voiced Roger Mellie and Tracey Tunstall of the Fat Slags in three Viz Comedy Blaps for Channel 4. He voiced a cruise-ship director in The Simpsons A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again.

Coogan co-stars in Moone Boy, along with Johnny Vegas and Chris O'Dowd, who also wrote the show. The series is a co-production between Sprout Pictures, who produced the original Little Crackers short, Baby Cow Productions, Hod Cod Productions and Grand Pictures, and began filming in early 2012 on location in Boyle, Ireland and Dublin, Ireland. He also returned with his character Alan Partridge, in Alan Partridge " Welcome to the Places of My Life, which aired on Sky Atlantic. It was stated, by several critics and news papers, that the show has been highly anticipated, and was generally well received.

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 comical version of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days from Disney, with Jackie Chan, Ambassador Mercy in Marie Antoinette, Bruce Tick in Sweet Revenge, and Octavius in Night at the Museum (a role he reprised in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian). He has also played himself three times 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, womanising version of himself. Thirdly he played himself in the 2010 film The Trip. He worked again with director Winterbottom in The Look Of Love, about '50s porn-king Paul Raymond.

The first film which he co-wrote with Henry Normal was The Parole Officer, in which he also acted 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.

Achievements

Coogan's show Steve Coogan in character with John Thomson was winner of the Perrier Award for best show at the 1992 Edinburgh Fringe. 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. In June 2012, Coogan was placed second in a list of the Top 100 People In Comedy.

Stand-up comedy comeback tour

In March 2008, it was confirmed that Coogan would return to doing stand-up comedy as part of his first stand-up tour in ten years. The tour, named "Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and other less successful characters", saw the return of some of his old characters including Paul Calf and Alan Partridge. Reviews of the opening night were mixed, and such reviews continued as the tour progressed. Much of the criticism focused on the apparent unrehearsed quality of some of the performances and nervous stage presence of Coogan's. Chortle comedy guide wrote "Steve Coogan's stage comeback after ten years is most definitely a show of two halves: the superlative Alan Partridge plus a collection of characters that are not only less successful, but woefully less funny."

Production work

Coogan, along with his writing partner Henry Normal, founded Baby Cow Productions in 1999. Together, they have served as executive producers for shows such as The Mighty Boosh, Nighty Night, Marion and Geoff, "Gavin and Stacey", Human Remains and Moone Boy, as well as the Alan Partridge feature film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. They have also produced Where Are the Joneses, an online sitcom which uses wiki technology to allow the audience to upload scripts and storyline ideas.

In the media

Coogan said he "liked to keep himself private", adding; "I have never wanted to be famous, as such " fame is a by-product". He has been a popular target of the British tabloid press since 1996, who he stated have subjected him to entrapment and blackmail, printed obvious falsehoods about him, also targeting his family and friends in attempts to extract stories from them. Coogan in some cases gave a strong denial to allegations, but in others did not contest them because he wanted to shield vulnerable friends from adverse publicity. The tabloids also published intrusive information about his relationships and the schooling of his child. Coogan has also been critical of the broadsheet press, saying they have colluded with the tabloids in the interests of selling newspapers. In 2005 he said "The Guardian tends to have its cake and eat it. It waits for the tabloids to dish the dirt and then it talks about the tabloids dishing the dirt while enjoying it themselves." However, Coogan later gave credit to the same newspaper for its investigation of the phone hacking scandal. Coogan said that because of the persistent intrusion into his private life, the press had effectively made him "immune" to further attack, as his "closet is empty of skeletons".

Phone hacking

Coogan became a prominent figure in the News International phone hacking scandal as one of the celebrities who took action against the British tabloids in light of these events. He was made aware by his phone service provider of "possible anomalies" on his phone in 2005 and 2006. In 2010, Coogan's legal firm obtained a partially redacted version of Glenn Mulcaire's hacking notebook by a court order which showed Coogan had been targeted and his personal information was in the possession of Mulcaire. Mulcaire was forced by the High Court of Justice to disclose to Coogan's legal team who amongst the staff at the News of the World ordered him to hack phones. This information was obtained by Coogan's lawyers on 26 August 2011. Interviewed on Newsnight on 8 July 2011, Coogan said he was "delighted" by the closure of the News of the World and said it was a "fantastic day for journalism". He said the idea of press freedom was used by the tabloids as a "smokescreen for selling papers with tittle-tattle" and said the argument against press regulation was "morally bankrupt" Coogan provided an 8-page witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry and appeared at the inquiry on 22 November 2011 to discuss the evidence. He said he was there reluctantly representing a lot of celebrities who felt they could not speak out for fear of reprisals from the tabloid press.

Personal life

Coogan was born on 14 October 1965 and raised in Middleton, Lancashire, to parents Anthony and Kathleen Coogan. His younger brother, Brendan, is a former Top Gear presenter, and his older brother, Martin, was the lead singer of the early 1990s band the Mock Turtles. All three attended the Cardinal Langley RC High School.

Coogan married Caroline Hickman in 2002, and divorced in 2005. Coogan entered rehab for personal related issues. He dated model China Chow for 3 years. In March 2011 Coogan was guest editor for lads mag, Loaded magazine, where he met, and began dating glamour model Elle Basey, the couple are still together.

In 2011, he purchased the eight-bedroom manor Ovingdean Grange, in Ovingdean for a reported £2.45 million.

Coogan supports the Labour Party. He believes that Conservatives think "people are plebs" and that "they like to pat people on the head". A noted car enthusiast, he has had a succession of Ferraris, but stopped buying them after realising that the depreciation and running costs were greater than hiring a private plane.

Filmography

Feature films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Resurrected	Youth
1995	The Indian in the Cupboard	Tommy Atkins
1996	The Wind in the Willows	Mole
1998	Sweet Revenge	Bruce Tick
2001	The Parole Officer	Simon Garden	Writer Nominated " BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer
2002	24 Hour Party People	Tony Wilson	Nominated " Empire Award for Best British Actor Nominated " Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
2003	Coffee and Cigarettes	Steve	Segment: "Cousins?"
2004	Ella Enchanted	Heston the snake	Voice only
	Around the World in 80 Days	Phileas Fogg
2005	Happy Endings	Charley	Nominated " Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical
	A Cock and Bull Story	Tristram Shandy / Walter Shandy / Steve Coogan
2006	The Alibi	Ray Elliot
	Night at the Museum	Octavius
	Marie Antoinette	Ambassador Mercy
2007	For the Love of God	Graham
	Hot Fuzz	Metropolitan Police Inspector	Uncredited
2008	Finding Amanda	Michael Henry
	Tales of the Riverbank	Roderick	Voice only
	Tropic Thunder	Damien Cockburn
	Hamlet 2	Dana Marschz
2009	What Goes Up	Campbell Babbitt	Producer
	In the Loop	Paul Michaelson	Chlotrudis Award for Best Cast
	Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian	Octavius
2010	Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief	Hades
	The Other Guys	David Ershon
	Marmaduke	Raisin	Voice Only
2011	The Trip	Steve Coogan
	Our Idiot Brother	Dylan
2012	Ruby Sparks	Langdon Tharp
	What Maisie Knew	Beale
2013	The Look of Love	Paul Raymond
	Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa	Alan Partridge	Writer
	Despicable Me 2	Silas Ramsbottom	Voice Only
	Philomena	Martin Sixsmith	Writer/Producer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Spitting Image	Various characters	Voice only
1993	The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer	Lead singer of Go West	1 episode
	Harry	Stebbings	2 episodes
	Saturday Zoo	Paul Calf/Pauline Calf
1994	The Day Today	Various characters	Writer 7 episodes
1995	Coogan's Run		Writer 6 episodes
1994"1995	Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge	Alan Partridge	Writer 7 episodes
1996	Tales from the Crypt	Danny Skeggs	1 episode
1997	The Friday Night Armistice	Alan Partridge
	The Fix	Mike Gabbett
	The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon	Tony Ferrino
1997"2002	I'm Alan Partridge	Alan Partridge	Writer 12 episodes
1998	Bob and Margaret	Various characters	1 episode
1999	Hooves of Fire	Blitzen	Voice only
	Mrs Merton and Malcolm	Various characters	6 episodes (5 as voice only)
2001	Combat Sheep	Commander Harris	Executive producer Voice only
	A Small Summer Party	Geoff	Executive producer
	Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible	Various characters	Writer and executive producer 6 episodes
2002	Cruise of the Gods	Nick Lee	Executive producer
	Legend of the Lost Tribe	Blitzen	Voice only
2003	The Private Life of Samuel Pepys	Samuel Pepys
	Anglian Lives: Alan Partridge	Alan Partridge	Writer
2004	I Am Not An Animal	Various characters	Voice only Executive producer 6 episodes
2005	Monkey Trousers		Executive producer 5 episodes
2006	Little Britain	Pilot	1 episode
2006"2007	Saxondale	Tommy Saxondale	Writer and executive producer 13 episodes
2007	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Dr. Bright	1 episode
2008	Sunshine	Bing Crosby	3 episodes
2010	The Trip	Steve Coogan	6 episodes
	Neighbors from Hell	Satan
2010"2011	Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge	Alan Partridge	Writer 12 episodes
2012	The Simpsons	Rowan Priddis	Voice only Episode: "A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again"
	Moone Boy	Francie "Touchie" Feeley	1 episode

Awards and nominations

Year	Title	Award	Category	Result
1992	In Character with John Thompson	Perrier Comedy Award	Best Comedy Show
1994	Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge	British Comedy Awards	Best Male TV Performer
1995	Pauline Calf's Wedding Video	BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
	Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge		Best Light Entertainment Performance
1998	I'm Alan Partridge	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor
		BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
			Best Comedy (Programme or Series)
2002	The Parole Officer		BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer
2003	Cruise of the Gods	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor
	I'm Alan Partridge	BAFTAs	Best Comedy Performance
		Royal Television Society
	24 Hour Party People	Empire Awards	Best British Actor
		Online Film Critics Society	Best Breakthrough Performance
2005	Happy Endings	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actor
2010	In the Loop	Chlotrudis Award	Best Cast
2011	The Trip	BAFTAs	Best Male Comedy Performance
2013	Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life	BAFTAs	Best Male Comedy Performance

Stand-up releases

Year	Title
1994	Live 'N' Lewd
1998	Live " The Man Who Thinks He's It
2009	As Alan Partridge And Other Less Successful Characters " Live