Roderick Keith Ogilvy "Rory" Bremner,"Rory Bremner". '' Who Do You Think You Are?''. Wall to Wall for

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, ...

. 2 February 2009. No. 1, series 6. (born 6 April 1961) is a Scottish

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passag ...

and comedian, noted for his work in

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where s ...

and impressions of British public figures. He is also known for his work on ''

Mock the Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

'' as a panellist (for Series 1 and 2), ''Rory Bremner...Who Else?'', and sketch comedy series ''

Bremner, Bird and Fortune ''Bremner, Bird and Fortune'' is a satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune ("the Two Johns") with the satirical impressionist Ror ...

''.

Early life

Bremner was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, the son of

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

Donald Stuart Ogilvy Bremner (1907–1979) and his second wife Ann Simpson (1922–2001). He has an older brother and an older half-sister (from his father's first marriage). Bremner was educated at

Clifton Hall School Clifton Hall School is an independent day school located near Newbridge in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is divided into the Nursery, Junior, and Senior Schools and educates pupils from nursery to Senior 6. Buildings The school occupies a 19th-ce ...

and

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: * Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New ...

, and then studied Modern Languages at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, graduating with a degree in French and German in 1984. In 2009, Bremner was the subject of the series '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' in a quest to research about his father, whom he barely knew. His father had served in the 1st Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and was often away from home. Bremner travelled to

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of ...

, the Dutch city liberated by the East Lancs, amongst other places to retrace his father's footsteps. Together with his brother, they traced their father's ancestry and discovered that their great-grandfather John Ogilvy had served as a " surgeon general" (equivalent of the present-day senior

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

medical officer) during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and was later posted to British colonies.

Career

While studying at

, he worked on the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

circuit in the evenings and was also active in a student drama club. He first came into the limelight in 1985, when his single, "N-N-Nineteen Not Out" (released under the name of the Commentators) became a hit in the British charts. It was a parody of Paul Hardcastle's number one hit, " 19", with Bremner impersonating cricket commentators, including Richie Benaud,

John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, OBE (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's ''Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he be ...

, and

Brian Johnston Brian Alexander Johnston (24 June 1912 – 5 January 1994), nicknamed Johnners, was a British cricket commentator, author, and television presenter. He was most prominently associated with the BBC during a career which lasted from 1946 until h ...

, and replacing references to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

with references to the England cricket team's disastrous 1984 home series against the West Indies, in which the

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 ...

captain David Gower had averaged 19. An uncredited Hardcastle himself played all the instruments. Bremner contributed to ''

And There's More ''And There's More'' is a British comedy sketch show starring Jimmy Cricket produced by Central Independent Television for ITV from 28 June 1985 to 2 July 1988. Cast Over the four series Jimmy was joined by a number of other people: Series ...

'', ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British satire, satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productio ...

'', and ''

Week Ending ''Week Ending'' was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1970 and 1998. It was devised by writer-producers Simon Brett and David Hatch and was originally hosted by '' Nationwide'' presenter Michael B ...

'', and by 1987 he had his own

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

show, ''Now – Something Else''. He later moved to

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

with ''Rory Bremner, Who Else?'' where his output became more satirical and the sporting commentators gradually came to represent a smaller proportion of his repertoire. Having teamed up with veterans John Bird and John Fortune, he hosted ''

'', which (along with its predecessor ''Rory Bremner, Who Else?'') won numerous awards. Occasional one-off specials were also shown, with Bremner impersonating

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...

and various other government figures. In the 1990s he became a semi-regular cameo turn on the Channel 4

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

show '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and in 2005 he was a team captain on the BBC Two improvisational satire show ''

Mock The Week ''Mock the Week'' is a British topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. The programme was present ...

''. Bremner has performed on ''

Sunday AM Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

'', impersonating politicians, with a review of recent political events. He has also presented a

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's ...

series, ''Rory Bremner's International Satirists'', in which he talks to comedians and impressionists from other European countries. In September 2009, he presented a

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

documentary, ''Rory Bremner and the Fighting Scots'', about the history of Scots serving in the British Army. In the run-up to the

2010 UK General Election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

, he performed a 20-date ''Election Battlebus Tour'', his first stand-up comedy tour in five years. Bremner has translated three operas into English: '' Der Silbersee'' by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

, ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

'' by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

, and '' Orpheus in the Underworld'' by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

. In April 2007, he took part in ''The Big Brecht Fest'' at the

Young Vic Theatre The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 2018 ...

in London celebrating the work of German dramatist

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

, where a series of newly translated versions of some of Brecht's short plays were performed. One of the plays—the short comedy of manners ''A Respectable Wedding''—was newly translated by Bremner, who also penned the title to the series. His translation drew a positive reception from critics, although it did draw the ire of some for the removal of any

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

edge to the play, directed by

Joe Hill-Gibbins Joe Hill-Gibbins (born as Joseph Hill-Gibbins) is a British theatre and opera director. Background Hill-Gibbins was born and raised in Surrey. He attended a local comprehensive, George Abbot School, and later read Drama at Manchester Universit ...

as a squirming farce that relies heavily on the comic value of embarrassment. Bremner took part in the 2011 series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''. His dance partner in the series was Erin Boag and on 23 October 2011, he was the 3rd celebrity to be eliminated. In 2012, Bremner appeared on the

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

programme, ''The Story of Light Entertainment'', in an episode about impressionists. In January 2013, he began hosting a new

quiz show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, s ...

, '' Face the Clock''. In 2013, Bremner presented '' Rory Goes to Holyrood'', a one-off show for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...

that takes a satirical look at Scottish politics and the independence referendum. The programme was announced in March 2013, with plans for it to be aired later in the year. In a BBC press release for the show, Bremner spoke of his reasons for recording the programme. "Coming back to Scotland in the run-up to the Referendum, I realised I knew almost nothing about Scottish Politics. Time I did. And why is there so little political comedy in Scotland outside the Parliament? Time to make sense (and nonsense) of it all." The programme featured Bremner presenting a one-off stand-up routine at Edinburgh's Assembly Hall, airing on 13 June 2013. Bremner subsequently called for there to be more satire in the referendum debate: "There's great humour to be had. There's a lot of big, different characters involved and good arguments, and there are plenty of good Scottish comedians who can have plenty of fun with it. It's far too dangerous to leave it only to the politically minded." In 2015, he returned to TV comedy with two political satire programmes on BBC Two: "Rory Bremner's Coalition Report", a satirical summary of the previous five years in British Politics, and the "Election Report", a satire of the 2015 General Election. Bremner is patron of the London-based drama school Associated Studios. From 2016, Bremner has been a team captain on the ITV comedy game show ''The Imitation Game'', a panel show hosted by

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show '' Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

based around impressions. In late 2016, he featured in the

miniseries ''Desolation Jests'' alongside

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

Jan Ravens Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with he ...

and John Bird. The four-part show was written by

David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series '' Jonathan Creek''. He was awa ...

Recognition

Bremner was awarded honorary life membership of the

King's College London Students' Union King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) is an independent charitable organisation that's works to further the interests of its members (approximately 36,000 students at King's College London). It governs the 300 student societies and a ...

in the early 2000s. In 2005 he was made a fellow of his '' alma mater'',

. Additionally, he was awarded an honorary fellowship by Queen Mary, University of London, in 2008. Bremner also received an honorary doctorate from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 2011. He was placed at 49 on ITV's list of

TV's 50 Greatest Stars TV's 50 Greatest Stars was a one-off British television awards show which invited the viewing public to vote for their favourite on-screen stars from a list compiled by the broadcaster ITV. Fifty actors, actresses, presenters and comedians, both ...

, and in 2008 received the

James Joyce Award The James Joyce Award, also known as the Honorary Fellowship of the Society, is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) of University College Dublin (UCD) for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field; r ...

of the Literary and Historical Society.

Political views

In a 2001 interview, Bremner expressed his disillusionment with the premiership of Tony Blair, despite being initially optimistic about him. He said: "When I first met

in 1996, he was open and idealistic, keen to bring a breath of fresh air to government. But something happened – was it just the arrogance of power? – that narrowed Labour's vision from purposeful reform and investment, to peevish and petulant pragmatism." However, he remained an outspoken critic of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, saying: "How dare they look at the railways, the schools, the hospitals, and say the priority is

tax cuts A tax cut represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. Tax cuts decrease the revenue of the government and increase the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax cuts usually refer to reductions in ...

?" Bremner supported

Reg Keys Reginald Thomas Keys (born 1952) is the father of a United Kingdom, British serviceman killed in the Iraq War. He stood in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 general election as an anti-war independent candidate for in Sedgefield (UK ...

in the 2005 general election when he stood against Tony Blair as an anti-war candidate. Bremner opposed

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. ...

in the 2014 referendum, arguing that "social justice, a fairer society and the NHS don’t stop at the border" and that people should "fight for those things within the Union". He was also one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elect ...

at the 2015 general election. In August 2018, Bremner spoke at a People's Vote rally in Edinburgh; People's Vote was a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 Greenwich Mean Time, GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 Central Eur ...

deal between the UK and the European Union.

Personal life

Bremner's first marriage was to Susan Shackleton, a teacher, in 1987; the couple divorced in 1995. On 11 September 1999, Bremner married Tessa Campbell Fraser; they have two daughters. Bremner speaks

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and studied

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

at O-level. Bremner has been diagnosed with

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

References

External links

Profile
at the ''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...