Alan Brough (; born 1967) is a New Zealand actor, television and radio host and comedian based in Australia.

Career

Early life

Brough worked as an actor in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, mainly in live theatre. He also appeared in a series of butter commercials as a drag queen called Marge. In 1993, Brough appeared in the New Zealand sitcom ''

Melody Rules ''Melody Rules'' was a New Zealand sitcom created by Geoff Houtman and Mihera Paterson for TV3. It featured former '' Nightline'' host Belinda Todd as Melody, a hard-working sibling guardian surrounded by a gaggle of eccentric friends and family. ...

'' (widely regarded as a poor programme, being described as "cringeworthy").

Move to Australia

In 1995, Brough moved to Australia, where he worked on ''

Kath & Kim ''Kath & Kim,'' (also written as ''Kath and Kim'') is an Australian sitcom created by Jane Turner and Gina Riley, who portray the title characters of Kath Day-Knight, a cheery, middle-aged suburban mother, and Kim, her self-indulgent daughter. ...

'' as well as in films including ''

The Craic ''The Craic'' (stylised as ''The Craíc'') is a 1999 Australian comedy film starring stand-up comedian Jimeoin with Alan McKee, directed by Ted Emery. Plot It is 1988, and two best friends from Ireland—Fergus Montagu (Jimeoin) and Wesley Murr ...

'', ''

The Nugget ''The Nugget'' is a 2002 Australian comedy film about three friends who find the world's largest nugget of gold. Storyline The story concerns a group of three road workers who stumble upon the world's biggest nugget of gold, and become instant ...

'' and ''

Bad Eggs ''Bad Eggs'' is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written and directed by Tony Martin. It stars Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, with Alan Brough, Bill Hunter, Marshall Napier, Nicholas Bell, Steven Vidler, Shaun Micallef, Robyn N ...

''. He also appeared on a national radio show on

Triple M Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations. The network dates back to th ...

called ''

Tough Love with Mick Molloy ''ToughLove'' was an Australian comedic radio talk program broadcast from Melbourne through the Triple M network from 12:00PM – 1:00PM AEST in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. It was hosted by long-time Australian comic, Mick Molloy ...

'' and

Robyn Butler Robyn Butler is an Australian writer, actress and producer who is best known for her starring role in the television comedy series '' The Librarians''. Butler hosted a radio program called ''Tough Love'' on the Triple M network. She is married to ...

. He is best known for his role as a team captain on '' Spicks and Specks''. In 2006, he co-hosted ''Sammy, Subby and Alan for breakfast'' on

Mix 106.5 KIIS 1065 (call sign: 2WFM) is a commercial broadcasting, commercial FM radio station in Sydney, Australia, on a frequency of 106.5 MHz. KIIS 1065 is one of the flagship stations on Australian Radio Network, ARN's KIIS Network. The station's ...

Sydney alongside Sammy Power and

Subby Valentine Subby Valentine is an Australian comedian and radio presenter. Valentine came to prominence in 1997 after winning Raw Comedy, a national competition for new comic talent. He has since worked as a writer and performer for radio, free-to-air tele ...

. He resigned at the end of 2006. In 2008, he was appointed as host of the Sunday morning program on

774 ABC Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

and across Victoria, replacing

Helen Razer Helen Razer is a Melbourne-born and Canberra-raised radio presenter and writer. She is the author of four non-fiction books and a columnist with the Australian version of ''The Big Issue'', Melbourne newspaper ''The Age'' and contributor to the m ...

. He remained in the position for three years until 2011. In July 2010, he hosted special events at the

Melbourne Cabaret Festival The Melbourne Cabaret Festival is a not-for-profit cabaret festival that has been held each year since 2010 in the city of Melbourne in Australia and that by 2013 had grown to become the world's second-largest event of its kind. The festival was l ...

. Brough had a supporting role in the 2012 Australian comedy ''

Any Questions for Ben? ''Any Questions for Ben?'' is a 2012 Australian comedy film created by Working Dog Productions, directed by Rob Sitch. It stars Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor, Felicity Ward, Daniel Henshall, and Christian Clark. It was written by Santo Cilauro, ...

'', created by

Working Dog Productions Working Dog Productions (originally Frontline Television Productions Pty. Ltd.) is a film and television production company based in Melbourne, Australia. It was formed in 1993 by actors Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch, Jane Kennedy (actor), Jane Ken ...

. In 2012, Brough began performing the role of

Baron Bomburst Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

in the Australian production of ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 musical-fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes with a screenplay co-written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel '' Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car'' (1964). The film stars ...

''.

Personal life

Brough has been with his partner, theatrical agent Helen Townshend, since 1991. They have a daughter, Daisy, born in 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brough, Alan New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male comedians 1967 births Living people People from Hāwera New Zealand expatriates in Australia