Andrew Mark O'Connor (born 23 March 1963 in

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

) is an English actor, comedian, magician, and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Television career

Although O'Connor enjoyed a short stint as a child actor, appearing as Tom Brill in the BBC mini-series ''The Canal Children'' in 1976, he made his mark as a children's magician, and won the

Magic Circle A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be mar ...

's ''Young Magician of the Year'' prize in 1981. After appearing in a number of variety shows on television, he was invited to join the cast of

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

's '' Copy Cats'', a showcase featuring impressionists such as

Bobby Davro Robert Christopher Nankeville, known professionally as Bobby Davro (born 13 September 1958), is an English actor and comedian. He made his television debut in 1981 followed by breakthrough in ''Live from Her Majesty's'' (1983); this was follo ...

and Gary Wilmot, in 1985. A second series, without Wilmot, followed in 1986. O'Connor received a writing credit for each series. His own children's show, ''Andrew O'Connor's Joke Machine'' soon followed, in which he told jokes and performed magic tricks and invited children to do the same. In 1986, O'Connor began appearing in ITV's popular Saturday morning children's series, '' No. 73''. Shortly afterwards, he switched to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

to launch another Saturday morning children's series, ''

On the Waterfront ''On the Waterfront'' is a 1954 American crime drama film, directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning and Eva Marie Saint in her film de ...

'', alongside fellow ex-''No. 73'' host Kate Copstick. In 1991, O'Connor became the second actor to play The Head in CITV's arts and crafts show ''

Art Attack ''Art Attack'' is a British children's television programme revolving around art, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan on CITV from 1990 to 2007, and subsequently hosted by Lloyd Warbey on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2015. The original program ...

'' presented by

Neil Buchanan Neil Buchanan (born October 1956) is an English artist, photographer, and musician, best known for his work on British children's television. During his tenure as a children's television presenter, he hosted the CITV programme '' Art Attack'', ...

. In 1988, O'Connor also appeared regularly in short comedy sketches co-written by himself for the Observation round in ITV game show '' The Krypton Factor''. In the same year, he took over from Jeremy Beadle as the presenter of the daytime game show, ''

Chain Letters A chain letter is a message that attempts to convince the recipient to make a number of copies and pass them on to a certain number of recipients. The "chain" is an exponentially growing pyramid (a Tree (graph theory), tree graph) that cannot b ...

''. He returned to acting to play the role of the computer in early 1990s children's sci-fi show '' Kappatoo'' but it was his career as a quiz-show host that took off, and he subsequently presented the UK version of '' Talk About'', moved to Saturday night prime time in 1991 with ''One to Win'', and returned to daytime television with '' The Alphabet Game''. In 1993 O'Connor presented ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...

'' for a week while Chris Evans was on holiday, but did not enjoy the experience of live television. The same year, he presented a BBC One game show called ''Happy Families'', alongside Sarah Greene. He presented an ITV & Family Channel game show called '' Family Catchphrase'', which was a spin-off from ''

Catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

''; there were 100 episodes from 1994. One episode featured a young Simon Amstell and another featured a guest appearance from the show's creator, Stephen Radosh. Also in 1994, O'Connor played the lead in the touring musical ''

Me and My Girl ''Me and My Girl'' is a musical with music by Noel Gay and its original book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose. The story, set in the late 1930s, tells of an unapologetically unrefined Cockney gentleman named Bill Snibson, wh ...

''. O'Connor established

Objective Productions Objective Media Group (OMG), previously known as Objective Productions, is a media production company. It has produced shows including '' The Cube'', ''Lingo'', '' The Gold'', '' Feel Good, Peep Show'', '' Fresh Meat'', and '' Toast of London' ...

with Michael Vine, where O'Connor holds the position of Chair. The company website states the company was founded in 1991 but a 2005 interview with O'Connor in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' lists 1996 as the year the company was formed. According to

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the British Government that maintains the Company register, register of companies, employs the company registrars and is responsible for Incorporation (business), incorporating all forms of Company, co ...

, Objective was incorporated on 9 April 1992. He has produced comedy and magic-related TV shows, including ''

Peep Show A peep show, peepshow, or, a peep booth is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the devel ...

'', and most of

Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, and writer. He is a self-described "psychological illusionist" whose acts are often designed to expose the methods of those who claim to possess supernatural powers, ...

's programmes. O'Connor is an advocate of public service broadcasting, and in particular

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

, to whom he attributes a large part of his success as a producer.Andrew O'Connor's statement
at

OFCOM The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

Film career

O'Connor directed the film '' Magicians'' starring David Mitchell and

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor and writer. He rose to prominence alongside David Mitchell as part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb. Mitchell and Webb starred in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Peep Show' ...

released on 18 May 2007.

Theatre career

In 1993, O'Connor played the title role in the musical ''BILLY'' at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

. He then went on to play the lead role of Bill Snibson in ''

'' in 1994 and the title role in the revival of '' Barnum'' in 1995 and 1996. He has also directed in theatre with productions of '' 42nd Street'', ''

Anything Goes ''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madc ...

'' and '' The Nerd'' on tour and '' The Odd Couple'' (female version) in the West End. In 2015, O'Connor directed ''Derren Brown: Miracle'' with

Andy Nyman Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer, singer and magician. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his performance as Tevye in the 2019 West End revival of ''Fiddler on the Roof''. Early life and ...

Awards

O'Connor has won two

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

awards for ''The Quick Trick Show'' and ''Peep Show'', and ''Magicians'' won best comedy film at the Miami film festival.

References

External links

BBC Comedy GuideUK Gameshows
*
Objective Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Andrew 1963 births Living people English television presenters English stand-up comedians English television producers English magicians Male actors from Hertfordshire Actors from Stevenage English male comedians Comedians from Hertfordshire