Kulvinder Ghir (born 10 August 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known as one of the cast members in the BBC

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

'' Goodness Gracious Me''. He is also known for playing Aslam in the 1987 Yorkshire-based film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too!'', alongside

Michelle Holmes Michelle Holmes (born Corinne Michelle Cunliffe; 1 January 1967, Rochdale, Lancashire), is an English actress who has appeared in several television serials. Career Holmes performed in a pop band called the Dunky Dobbers. She changed her ...

Siobhan Finneran Siobhán Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is a British actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'', and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation Stre ...

and

George Costigan George J. Costigan (born 8 August 1947) is an English actor who is best known for portraying Bob in the 1987 film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' and for roles in TV series such as '' Happy Valley'' and '' So Haunt Me''. Early life Born in Portsmouth ...

Early life

Ghir was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian Punjabi parents of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

heritage. Ghir grew up in the Chapeltown suburb of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Ghir first began performing on stage at 13, going on to play comedy clubs between 15 and 17, thereafter enrolling in a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

drama school.

Career

Ghir made his first television appearance as a teenager in 1981 on the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

programme ''The Extraordinary People Show''. At the time, he was looking at going into

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, and was one of three teenagers chosen to question

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

about his techniques, and for general advice. His next TV appearance was in 1985, in the recurring role of Davy Malik in the BBC drama ''

Howards' Way ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business comm ...

''. His breakthrough role came in 1987, in the controversial British film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too!''. Since then, he has worked extensively in film, television and theatre. He is best known as being one of four regular cast members in the BBC sketch comedy ''Goodness Gracious Me'', in both its radio and TV incarnation. Amongst the many characters Ghir played were "Chunky Lafunga", a sexy

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

"hero", the superhero Bhangra Man, and as one half of the "Bhangramuffins" duo (alongside series co-writer

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Two sketch comedy series '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and as the star of the sitcom ''The Kumars at No. 42''. H ...

). He is also known for providing the voice of Ajay Bains in ''

Postman Pat ''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendal ...

''. His play ''Dusky Warriors'' premiered at the Theatre Royal,

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Chari ...

, in 1995. He also lent his voice to a few animated series aside from ''

'', including ''

Chop Socky Chooks ''Chop Socky Chooks'' is a computer-animated action series produced by Aardman Animations, Decode Entertainment, and Cartoon Network Europe that ran on Cartoon Network from 7 March 2008 until 24 July 2009. It was created and directed by Sergio ...

'' and the 2015 reboot of ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with hi ...

''. In 2009, he was in the film ''

31 North 62 East ''31 North 62 East'' is an independent psychological thriller film released in September 2009. The title refers to a point in south-western Afghanistan near Zaranj and the Iranian border. It was written by brothers Leofwine Loraine and Tristan ...

'' as Tariq. From September 2009 to May 2011, Ghir was part of the cast of

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

comedy series ''

Lunch Monkeys ''Lunch Monkeys'' is a British situation comedy, first shown on BBC Three in 2008. Overview ''Lunch Monkeys'' by David Isaac is a BBC Three comedy series, produced by Channel X North, set in the administration department of fictional personal i ...

'', playing Mohammed Khan, father of

Abdullah Afzal Abdullah Afzal ( ur, عبداللہ افضل; born 1989) is a British actor and stand-up comedian. Early life Afzal is of British-Pakistani descent from Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England. He has three older brothers, two older sisters and a ...

's character. The show lasted two series. In 2013, he appeared as one of the feuding brothers in the UK film, '' Jadoo''. He also appeared in the final episode of British sitcom '' Big School'', as Mr. Rupesh the school bus driver. He also hosted the 2013

Brit Asia TV Music Awards The Brit Asia TV Music Awards, also known as Brit Asia TV World Music Awards or the abbreviation BAMA, is an awards show that is held annually in the United Kingdom since 2010 (except in 2016), usually in October. The awards show is produced by ...

. Since 2013, he has played Cyril in ''

Still Open All Hours ''Still Open All Hours'' is a British sitcom created for the BBC by Roy Clarke, and starring David Jason and James Baxter. It is the sequel to the sitcom ''Open All Hours'', which both Clarke and Jason worked on throughout its 26-episode run ...

''. In 2019, he played the protagonist's father in ''

Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, a which first appeared on his 1973 debut album '' Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
BBC interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghir, Kulvinder 1965 births Living people Writers from Nairobi British male actors of Indian descent British Sikhs British people of Indian descent British male television actors British male stage actors British male film actors British male voice actors British male musical theatre actors British male Shakespearean actors Royal Shakespeare Company members Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Punjabi people 20th-century British comedians 21st-century British comedians