James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms '' The Thin Blue Line'' as Constable Kevin Goody, and '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Reverend Roger in '' Mount Pleasant''.

Early life

Born in London, Dreyfus was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

. He then trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...

. His parents divorced when he was very young.Fletcher, Mary, ''Why life's looking Goody for James'', TV Times, pg 31.

Career

In 1998, Dreyfus won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

for his work in ''The Lady in the Dark'' at the National Theatre. In the same year, Dreyfus was nominated for the

Ian Charleson Award The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the renowned British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the '' Sunday Times'' n ...

for a performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'' at the

Birmingham Rep Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

. Dreyfus's first television break came with the BBC comedy series ''

Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...

''. followed by roles as Constable Kevin Goody in

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' The Thin Blue Line'' and Tom Farrell, the gay flatmate of Linda (

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...

) in '' Gimme Gimme Gimme''. Dreyfus played opposite

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

in the short-lived

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sitcom '' Bette''. Known for portraying "camp, endearing characters," Dreyfus (in a ''Sheengate Publishing'' interview) compared the character Frank Spencer from ''

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1, created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for two series, including two Christmas special ...

'', whom he described as a campy but married heterosexual, to Dreyfus's character Kevin Goody from ''The Thin Blue Line''. Regarding his character Tom Farrell from ''Gimme Gimme Gimme'', Dreyfus hypothesized that, even if the character were heterosexual, the actor would still portray Tom as camp and flamboyant. Furthermore, Dreyfus said that he felt that he became

typecast In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...

due to his portrayals of "flamboyant" characters.Our interview with James Dreyfus
. Interviewed by Rob Edwards. ''Sheengate Publishing''. 31 January 2013. He played Thermoman in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

comedy '' My Hero'', a role he took over in the sixth series from

Ardal O'Hanlon Ardal O'Hanlon (; born 8 October 1965) is an Irish comedian, actor, and author. He played Father Dougal McGuire in ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), George Sunday/Thermoman in '' My Hero'' (2000–2005), and DI Jack Mooney in '' Death in Paradise'' ...

. Although the same character, he used the name George Monday, as opposed to Ardal O'Hanlon's character's name, George Sunday. After disappointing ratings, the show was cancelled. Dreyfus also starred as Mr Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years''. From 2012 to 2017, Dreyfus appeared as Reverend Roger in the

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witnes ...

series '' Mount Pleasant''. In 2017, he voiced an incarnation of The Master from ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' in the

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'', the ...

release The First Doctor Adventures Volume One, going on to appear as the character in 2019's 'The Home Guard', 2020's 'The Psychic Circus' and 2022's 'Blood of the Time Lords'. In an interview with comedy writer and gender-critical activist

Graham Linehan Graham Linehan () (born 22 May 1968) is an Irish television writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms ''Father Ted'' (1995–1998), ''Black Books'' (2000–2004) and '' The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013). He has also ...

, Dreyfus claimed he was dismissed from the role following comments on Twitter made in support of author

JK Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...

Selected works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyfus, James 1968 births Living people English male film actors English male television actors English male stage actors English male musical theatre actors English male voice actors English male radio actors People from Chiswick Male actors from London Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Laurence Olivier Award winners English gay actors People educated at Harrow School English male Shakespearean actors British male comedy actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors