James Thomas Mulville (born 5 January 1955) is an English comedian, comedy writer, producer and television presenter. He is best known for co-founding (in 1986) the British independent television production company

Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. History Hat Trick Productions was founded in 1986 by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville ...

with

Denise O'Donoghue Denise O'Donoghue, OBE (born 13 April 1955, in Wembley) is a British television production company executive. Early life She attended the Catholic St Dominic's Convent Grammar School in north-west London (became St Dominic's Sixth Form College ...

and

Rory McGrath Patrick Rory McGrath (born 17 March 1956) is a British comedian, television personality, and writer. He came to prominence in the comedy show ''Who Dares Wins'' and was a regular panellist on the game show ''They Think It's All Over'' for many ...

(who left in 1992). In 2003, Mulville and O'Donoghue, as co-founders of Hat Trick, were listed in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' as two of the 50 funniest people in Britain.

Early career

Brought up in

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

, Liverpool, Mulville attended

Alsop High School Alsop High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Walton, Liverpool, L4 6SH, England. The school is well known for its white and brown remaining one of the hallmarks of Walton village. History The school was fou ...

, a local comprehensive. He began his career as an actor and writer for the

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

, whilst reading French and Classics at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. At Cambridge, Mulville met

with whom he both performed and wrote. He became president of Cambridge Footlights in 1977 and after graduating, went on to work for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

comedy for four years, producing shows such as ''

Injury Time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

'' (1980–1982) and '' Radio Active'', before moving to television in 1984 as script editor and producer of ''

Alas Smith and Jones ''Alas Smith and Jones'' is a British comedy sketch television series starring comedy duo and namesake Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones that originally ran for four series and two Christmas specials on BBC2 from 1984 to 1988, and later as ''Smi ...

''.

TV appearances and radio broadcasts

He appeared in and co-wrote the cult TV show ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

'' (1983–88). He was one of the cast of the British comedy series '' The Steam Video Company'' (1984). He starred in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

sitcom ''

That's Love ''That's Love!'' is a British television sitcom about the domestic problems of a young married couple, lawyer Donald ( Jimmy Mulville) and designer Patsy ( Diana Hardcastle). The programme was produced by TVS and first broadcast on ITV betwee ...

'' in the 1980s, along with

Diana Hardcastle Diana Hardcastle Wilkinson is an English actress who has appeared largely in television roles. Career Hardcastle has appeared in episodes of ''Midsomer Murders'', '' Inspector Lynley'' and '' Taggart''. She played recurring roles in the series ' ...

and

Tony Slattery Tony Declan James Slattery (born 9 November 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s, most notably as a regular on the Channel 4 improvisation show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' His ...

. He co-wrote and starred with

in the two series of ''

Chelmsford 123 ''Chelmsford 123'' is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. Chelmsford ran for two series, of six and seven episodes respectively, in 1988 and 1990. The series was set in the British town of Chel ...

'', a comedy set in Roman Britain, broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

in 1988 and 1990. They also co-wrote the Radio Comedy ''Glompus Van Der Hloed's Tales From The Crypt'', which starred

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor and writer. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Sp ...

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...

and

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. Rhys Jones came to national attention in the 1980s for h ...

, which aired on Capital Radio in the early 1980s and subsequently released in an abridged version as an album. He featured on the radio version, as well as the television pilot, of UK improvisation show, ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show originating as a British radio programme, before moving to British television in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1999, ABC began airing an American ...

'', alongside

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and Nonny Williams. Mulville had a non-comic acting role in

Alan Bleasdale Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...

's '' G.B.H.'' in 1991, playing a researcher hired by the lead character Michael Murray to trace his childhood nemesis. On radio, he appears in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

comedy series ''

Old Harry's Game ''Old Harry's Game'' is a UK radio comedy written and directed by Andy Hamilton, who also plays the cynical, world-weary Satan. "Old Harry" is one of many names for the devil. The show's title is a humorous play on the title of the 1982 TV s ...

'' (1995–2012) as Thomas Quentin Crimp. He and

Andy Hamilton Andrew Neil Hamilton (born 28 May 1954) is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, novelist and actor. Early life and education Hamilton was born in Fulham, southwest London. He ...

are old friends, having met at Cambridge, where they were at university with Rory McGrath,

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedy writer, and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts durin ...

and Griff Rhys Jones. More recently, he and

Jed Mercurio Gerald Gary "Jed" Mercurio (born September 1966) is a British television writer, producer, director and novelist. A former hospital doctor and Royal Air Force officer, Mercurio has been ranked among UK television's leading writers. In 2017, Mer ...

, via HTM Television inked a first look deal with 20th Television in an effort to expand it to the US.

Personal life

He has been married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce. He has four children, a step-daughter and three sons. His second marriage was to

, with whom he continued to work after they divorced. In 1999 Mulville and O'Donoghue jointly received the BAFTA Alan Clarke Award for their creative contribution to television. His third wife is Karen Mulville, the co-founder of the retirement complex

Auriens Auriens is a luxury retirement complex in Chelsea, London, in Dovehouse Street, overlooking Dovehouse Green and the King's Road. Auriens is on the site of what was the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's only local authority care home. It ...

. He is an Everton F.C. supporter. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary degree by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

.PDF File of Honorary Graduates, Mulville is on page 9
Retrieved 16 June 2019.,

Notes

External links

Official Hat Trick Productions Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mulville, Jimmy 1955 births Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Comedians from Liverpool English male comedians English comedy writers English male radio actors English male television actors English television writers English people of Irish descent Living people BBC radio producers Television presenters from Liverpool Hat Trick Productions English male writers British male television writers