Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He is best known as a member of '' The League of Gentlemen'' with

Reece Shearsmith Reeson Wayne "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969) is an English actor, writer and comedian. He is best known for being a member of ''The League of Gentlemen'', alongside Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. With Pemberton, he lat ...

, Mark Gatiss, and

Jeremy Dyson Jeremy Dyson (born 14 June 1966) is a British author, musician and screenwriter who, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, is one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the West End show '' Ghost Stories ...

. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

Psychoville ''Psychoville'' is a British psychological horror- thriller black comedy mystery television series created and written by and starring ''The League of Gentlemen'' members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton for the BBC. It debuted on BBC Two ...

'' and the

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a diffe ...

Inside No. 9 ''Inside No. 9'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British black comedy Anthology series, anthology television programme that first aired in 2014. It is written by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and produced by the BBC. Each 30-minut ...

''. His other television credits include ''

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 ...

'', ''

Benidorm Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotels were built, though ...

'', ''

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

'', '' Shameless'', '' Whitechapel'', '' Happy Valley'' and '' Mapp and Lucia''.

Early life

Steve Pemberton is originally from

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north- ...

, Lancashire and attended Saint Michaels Church of England High School, Chorley.

Career

Film and television

Pemberton’s television performance credits include '' Whitechapel'', ''

'', ''

Under the Greenwood Tree ''Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School'' is a novel by the English writer Thomas Hardy, published anonymously in 1872. It was Hardy's second published novel, and the first of what was to become his series of Wessex n ...

'', '' Hotel Babylon'', '' The Last Detective'', '' Randall and Hopkirk'', ''

'' and '' Shameless''. In 2004, he portrayed Dr Bessner in ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at se ...

'' and

Harry Secombe Sir Harold Donald Secombe (8 September 1921 – 11 April 2001) was a Welsh comedian, actor, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'' (1951–1960), playing many characters, ...

in '' The Life and Death of Peter Sellers''. He also appeared in the film '' Lassie'' (2005).

Pemberton is best known as being a member of the sketch comedy team ''The League of Gentlemen'', along with fellow performers Mark Gatiss,

, and co-writer

, all of whom he met at

Bretton Hall College Bretton Hall College of Education was a higher education college in West Bretton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It opened as a teacher training college in 1949 with awards from the University of Leeds. The college merged with the Uni ...

in his late teens. ''The League of Gentlemen'' initially began as a stage act in 1995, then transferred to

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 Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

as ''On the Town with the League of Gentlemen'' in 1997, and finally arrived on television on

BBC Two 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 a ...

in 1999. The latter has seen Pemberton and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and a Golden Rose of Montreux. From 2007 to 2015, Pemberton appeared as

Mick Garvey ''Benidorm'' is a British sitcom written and created by Derren Litten and produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV that aired for ten series from 1 February 2007 until 2 May 2018. The series features an ensemble cast of holiday makers and staff at th ...

in ''

''. Pemberton appeared in 43 episodes. In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film ''

Free Jimmy ''Free Jimmy'' ( No: ''Slipp Jimmy fri'') is a 2006 adult computer-animated comedy film first released in Norwegian in 2006, and later in English in 2008. The film was written and directed by acclaimed Norwegian subculture comic book artist Ch ...

'', Pemberton voiced Mattis, a heavy-set and bizarrely-dressed biker member of the Lappish Mafia. In June 2009, ''

'' aired and marked Pemberton's return to BBC Two. It was co-written by Pemberton and his fellow League of Gentlemen member, Reece Shearsmith. Both of them play numerous characters in the series, similar to the format of ''The League of Gentlemen''. Pemberton portrayed Rufus Drumknott in 2010's ''

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal ''Terry Pratchett's Going Postal'' is a two-part television film adaptation of ''Going Postal'' by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob, which was first broadcast on Sky1, and in high definition on ...

''. He appeared as Vice Principal Douglas Panch in the Donmar's 2011 production of '' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee''. In 2014, he played Georgie Pillson in an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

E.F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. Early life E.F. Benson was born at Wellington College in Berkshire, the fifth child of the headm ...

's '' Mapp and Lucia''. He also wrote the

, which featured his ''League of Gentlemen'' cohort Mark Gatiss. It was broadcast during Christmas 2014. Since 2014, he has starred as various characters in the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically catego ...

series ''Inside No. 9'', which he co-created with Shearsmith, airing on BBC Two. Series six aired in 2021. Pemberton reunited with his ''The League of Gentlemen'' colleagues in 2017 for three special episodes, transmitted in December 2017 on BBC2. He appeared as himself in the 2018 short film To Trend on Twitter in aid of young people with cancer charity

CLIC Sargent Young Lives vs Cancer, the operating name for "CLIC Sargent", is a charity in the United Kingdom formed in 2005. Young Lives vs Cancer is the UK's leading cancer charity for children, young people and their families. Its care teams provide speci ...

with fellow comedians David Baddiel,

Helen Lederer Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954) is an English comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series '' Naked Video' ...

and actor

Jason Flemyng Jason Iain Flemyng''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 25 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for roles in British films such as '' Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' (1998 ...

. In October 2021, Pemberton was nominated for Best Outstanding Comedy Actor at the inaugural National Comedy Awards for Stand Up to Cancer for his appearances in series 6 of ''Inside No. 9''. The seventh series of ''Inside No. 9'' premiered on 20 April 2022.

Theatre

Pemberton's early work centred mainly around fringe theatre; he was a founding member of the 606 Theatre with Gordon Anderson, Tom Hadley, and producer Shane Walter. He has produced, performed in, and directed various stage productions. In 2020 it was announced that Pemberton would join

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson ( né Johnson; born 13 June 1990) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in '' Kick-Ass'' (2010) and its 2013 sequel, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) character Pietro M ...

on West End stage in Martin McDonagh’s ''

The Pillowman ''The Pillowman'' is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read i ...

'', directed by

Matthew Dunster Matthew Dunster is an English theatre director, playwright and actor.Dominic Cavendish for The Telegraph. 17 Mar 201Matthew Dunster: From teenage kicks to dramatic hits/ref> He was the Associate Director of the Young Vic from 2005 to 2009 and t ...

. However, due to the Covid-19 situation, the run was postponed until 2021. Pemberton said, “It’s been a dark time for the performing arts and I can’t wait to have the theatres open again. Unfortunately, The Pillowman has to be put to bed for now, but I very much hope that we’ll be able to bring Martin’s dazzling play to the West End before too long.”

Other

Pemberton has written for '' Variety'' and was the assistant editor of the ''International Film Guide'' from 1991 to 1998.

Personal life

Pemberton lives in

Fortis Green Fortis Green is a ward in the extreme northwestern corner of the Borough of Haringey, north London. It is also the name of the road that runs between Muswell Hill and East Finchley which forms part of the A504. The ward lies between Colney H ...

, London, with his partner, Alison Rowles, and their three children. He speaks German and French.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pemberton, Steve 1967 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Bretton Hall College Best Male Comedy Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners British radio writers English comedy writers English male comedians English male film actors English male radio actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from Lancashire People from Blackburn The League of Gentlemen