The best comedy actors
These are my favorite comedic actors. All of them should be much more famous with their talent!
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- Actor
- Casting Department
- Casting Director
John Dunsworth was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, not far from the sea where he would spend much of his time on his yacht when not working. John was one of Halifax's most venerable and revered actors, appearing in countless CBC radio dramas and held leading roles in over 25 Neptune Theatre productions. In 1970, long before the days of waterfront renewal, John convinced the city of Halifax to lease to him a run-down old building by the shipyards which he turned into Pier One Theatre - Halifax's first and arguably its most successful alternative theatre company.
John first met Mike Clattenburg in the mid-1990s when he auditioned for a small role in Mike's short, One Last Shot. Halfway through shooting, John's small role blossomed into a leading part - a part that garnered him a Best Performance award from the Atlantic Film Festival. From there, John developed that role into the character Jim Lahey, the trailer park supervisor on the series Trailer Park Boys.
John's final acting credits include "Trailer Park Boys" (2001-2018), short film George (2018), and "Sir John A. And the Curse of the Anti-Quenched" (2017)
Beyond acting, John was an avid bridge player, holding master points. He also holds, until somebody proves otherwise, the Internet Scrabble record for having three 7-letter words in a row. Around town, John was easy to spot. He drove an old truck with a thousand pound winch that he would use to hauling granite. In 1987, John founded Filmworks Casting where he worked as Halifax's most successful casting director. Prior to that, John worked in the transportation industry, driving a cab for three years and working the CNR trains from Halifax and Sydney.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Robb Wells was born on October 28, 1971 in Moncton, New Brunswick and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia since the age of 8. His father was a Forensic Expert with The RCMP. Robb later went to high school with Mike Clattenberg and John Paul Tremblay. The three were always pulling practical jokes on people and getting into trouble. They had a bizarre sense of humor. While Tremblay and Wells were operating a successful chain of pizza restaurants called J.R. Capone's, they decided to pass the time making crude video skits of themselves. In 1998 they made a short film with acting veteran John Dunsworth called One last Shot. The film won a best actor and best cinematography award. A year later they made a mockumentary film called "Trailer Park boys" featuring newcomers Patrick Roach, Mike Jackson, Cory Bowles, Lucy Decoutere and Jeanne Harrison. During the filming, they met a sound mixer named Mike Smith, and after the filming was complete they made a deal with Showcase to make Trailer Park Boys into a TV Series with Mike Smith on board.
After the series was green-lit, the lovable Bubbles was born. Now there are 3 main characters in the Park. Besides their day jobs as restaurant managers in Nova Scotia and as sound mixers, Wells, John Paul Tremblay and Mike Smith are Canadian TV icons to this day.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born in Montreal Canada. Drama major at Humber College, but kicked out for only being good at comedy. Enrolled in an improv class and met Dave Foley. They began working as a comedy team while employed as movie ushers. In 1984 they merged with another comedy team and formed The Kids in the Hall.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Mark was born to Canadian diplomat Russell and architectural writer Chloe McKinney. Mark and his siblings spent much time traveling with their diplomat dad, and Mark attended schools in many cities around the world, including Trinidad, Paris, and Washington, D.C. His younger brother Nick is also a comedian; he appeared on the short-lived Comedy Central sketch-comedy show The Vacant Lot. Mark met Bruce McCulloch at the Loose Moose Theater Company, and the two joined two other comedians to form the comedy troupe 'The Audience,' which performed at Theatresports. Later, Mark and Bruce moved to Toronto and met Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald. They combined to form The Kids in the Hall. Later he starred in the TV cut sensation The Kids in the Hall (1988); after it was canceled in 1994, Mark joined the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975) from 1995 to 1997. He had roles in various movies including A Night at the Roxbury (1998), The Out-of-Towners (1999), The Ladies Man (2000), and Dog Park (1998), and Superstar (1999) which were both directed by Kids In The Hall co-star and friend Bruce McCulloch.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Scott Thompson was raised in Brampton, Ontario. He is the second oldest of four boys (the others are Craig, Derek and Dean). At 19, Scott got involved in an educational program called "Canada World Youth", and spent some time in the Phillipines. After CWY, Scott enrolled in York University but, in his third year, he was asked to leave for being "disruptive". Scott joined a Toronto improv troupe called "The Love Cats" and, while performing with them, he met Mark McKinney, who introduced him to the rest of The Kids in the Hall (1988). He was a guest performer with "The Kids" in 1984, and soon after became a member.- Actor
- Writer
Greg McHugh is an award winning actor, and writer. He is known to many as 'Howard' the dressing robed, socially awkward oddball in the hit Channel 4 series 'Fresh Meat' and most recently as 'Eddie', in BBC One's ground breaking show about Autism- 'The A Word'.
Greg is also the creator of 'Gary: Tank Commander' the Scottish BAFTA winning character with which he starred and wrote three series for the BBC. Greg's other numerous TV credits include: multi award winning BBC Film 'Marvellous', Channel 4's 'Dates', and 'A Discovery of Witches' for Sky One.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born in Scotland in 1962, Ford Kiernan was originally a tailor who branched out into comedy, appearing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995. His debut was appearing in his play, written with Greg Hemphill, "Still Game" (2002), which is now a hit sitcom in Scotland. He is married to Lesley, and they have two children.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Born in 1969, in Glasgow, Greg Hemphill was raised in Montreal, Canada, but later returned to Scotland to study at the University of Glasgow, where he achieved an MA Honours Degree in theatre, film and television. His debut was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1990, and has become well-known for his sitcom, Still Game (2002), which was written with his comedy partner Ford Kiernan. He is married to actress Julie Wilson Nimmo and has a son called Benny.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Reece Shearsmith originates from Hull and is a talented writer and performer. Having graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA(hons) in Theatre Arts, he is a quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen and has appeared in a variety of television shows and films. He has also written and performed in London's long-running weekly satirical show Newsrevue. He has two children, Holly and Danny, with wife Jane.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Steve Pemberton is a BAFTA winning actor and writer born in Blackburn, UK. He graduated from Bretton Hall in Yorkshire with a BA (Hons) in Theatre Arts in 1989. After leaving college Steve spent time producing and starring in small-scale theatre productions in London and working part-time for Variety as assistant editor of the International Film Guide. In 1996 Steve and his college friends Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson went to Edinburgh with comedy show The League of Gentlemen, winning the coveted Perrier Comedy prize a year later. The group then went on to record a radio series and four TV series for the BBC as well as staging three live tours and making a film.
In 2009 Steve and Reece wrote and starred in the multi-award winning black comedy Psychoville which ran for two series and a Halloween special. The pair's acclaimed anthology show Inside No 9 began in 2014 and Steve was awarded with a BAFTA for Best Male Comedy Performance in 2019. The show also won BAFTAs for Scripted Comedy and Comedy Writing. Steve lives in North London with his partner and three children.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Mark Gatiss is an accomplished author, actor and playwright. Originally from Sedgefield, County Durham, he graduated from Bretton Hall Drama College with a BA (honors) in Theatre Arts.
He was one-quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen (1999), and became heavily involved in the post-television Doctor Who (1963) scene, having written a variety of novels and audio plays, together with a string of short supernatural/science-fiction films (most of which he appeared in). He also co-wrote three sketches for BBC2's "Doctor Who Night" in November 1999.
When Doctor Who (2005) was re-imagined by Russell T. Davies and returned to television, Gatiss became part of the writing team. He had another major success as the co-creator of Sherlock (2010) for the BBC with Steven Moffat and also stars in the series as Mycroft Holmes. He has co-written plays for the Edinburgh Festival and appeared in a number of theatre and radio shows.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
He was taught metal work at school by the actor Steve Coogan's dad, and like Coogan he was an altar boy. He proposed to his wife Susan on one knee outside 'Andy's Records', because it was the first place where they kissed. He's worked everywhere, in a factory packing toilet rolls, in a supermarket, in a video shop, at a bingo hall, at a cash and carry, as a mobile disc jockey and at a garage for six years in between all the other jobs. He claims he lied to get into college, he told them he'd two 'A' Levels and five GCSEs and apparently they never checked up.
He won the 1997 So You Think You're Funny contest at Edinburgh and the North West Comedian of the Year award. In 1998 Peter took his own hour-long show to the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for the Perrier Award. Peter actually has a qualification in stand up, which he got as part of his Btec in Media Performance Studies. His childhood ambition was to be a bin man.- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Robert Lindsay was born on 13 December 1949 in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Fierce Creatures (1997), My Family (2000) and G.B.H. (1991). He has been married to Rosemarie Ford since 31 December 2006. They have two children. He was previously married to Cheryl Hall.