Jim Tavaré (born 1963) is a British

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He is best known for his work on ''

The Sketch Show ''The Sketch Show'' is a British television sketch comedy programme, featuring British comedians. It aired on ITV between 2001 and 2004. The show was first commissioned in 2001 and was co-produced by a company owned by Steve Coogan. Despite t ...

'' on ITV, which won a BAFTA award. He played the role of Tom (the owner of the Leaky Cauldron) in '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'', and has appeared in several music videos, including

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

's "Too Cold",

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

's "It's All About You" (for BBC

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

), Phoenix Foundation's "Thames Soup", and

Letlive Letlive, stylized letlive., is an American Rock music, rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band's final lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jason Aalon Butler (son of Aalon Butler, vocalist, and guitarist of the soul group Aalon), guitaris ...

's "Banshee".

Life and career

Tavaré was born in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1963. He is a cousin of former international cricketer Chris Tavaré. When he was 7, he and his family moved to

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, where he eventually attended

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

. After finishing his art studies, he moved to London, where he worked with

Corin Redgrave Corin William Redgrave (16 July 19396 April 2010) was an English actor. Early life Redgrave was born in Marylebone, London, the only son and middle child of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. He was educated at Westminster School and ...

. As a result, he successfully auditioned for and attended the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. Tavaré's first film appearance was as a student in '' Another Country'' (1984) with

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Colin Firth, several accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Aw ...

. Although uncredited, he was a featured extra appearing in numerous scenes throughout the film. Tavaré was

's stand-in for the duration of the film. Charles Spencer, Diana, Princess of Wales's brother, was also an uncredited extra. Tavaré eventually branched out into stand-up comedy with a unique act which featured his

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, an instrument he had learned to play during his childhood. In 1995, Tavaré wrote and starred in a series of short silent films for

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

, titled ''Jim Tavaré Pictures Presents''. On Channel Five, he had a skit series of his own that he co-wrote with

Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...

, called ''The Jim Tavaré Show''. He appeared three times in the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

and subsequently worked for

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

at several private engagements, including at a private Christmas party and at a gala held at Highgrove in front of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and 13 other crowned heads of state. He became renowned in the UK as Prince Charles's favourite comedian. Following an appearance at the Montreal Just For Laughs festival, CBS commissioned a special episode of the American series '' Wings'' based on and written entirely around his comedy act. Tavaré starred in this episode, which was called "Take My Life Please". Tavaré co-wrote and appeared in the

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 ...

-winning ITV series ''

'', alongside

Lee Mack Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian and actor, famed for his quick wit. Mack’s better known work includes creating, writing and starring in sitcom ''Not Going Out'', and featuring ...

, Tim Vine, Ronni Ancona, Karen Taylor, and Kitty Flanagan. In 2004, Tavaré appeared in '' Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' as Tom the Innkeeper. In 2008, he finished in fourth place on the American show '' Last Comic Standing 6'', having been the only overseas act ever to have reached the final show. He performed a 63-date national tour with the other four ''Last Comic Standing'' finalists throughout the US. He appeared in the fifth series of the

David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...

comedy-drama ''

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word), an expression that refers to the influx of Californians into various western states in the U.S. *Californication (album), ''Californication'' (album), a 1999 album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ...

'' as an English butler to a hip-hop mogul played by

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

frontman RZA. He made a guest-star appearance in season 5 of the comedy and spy drama ''

Chuck Chuck () is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV produce ...

'', the TV show ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', and on Comedy Central's ''Tosh.0''. In September 2013, he began filming the role of The Dog Catcher in Syco Entertainment's feature film '' Pudsey: The Movie'' alongside

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

Jessica Hynes Jessica Hynes (''née'' Stevenson) is a British actress, director and writer. Best known as a comedy actress, she has played Cheryl in ''The Royle Family'' (1998–2010), Siobhan Sharpe in ''Twenty Twelve'' (2011–2012) and ''W1A'' (2014–2 ...

, and John Sessions. In 2017, Tavaré was in an

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

after being injured in a collision with a car. After suffering catastrophic injuries (over 30 broken bones, including 14 broken ribs, collapsed lungs, multiple fractures, broken neck and a hand that detached from the wrist) Tavare returned to the stage with a new show about his experiences entitled "From deadpan to bedpan".

References

Sources

* ''Sit-Down Comedy'' (contributor to anthology, ed.

Malcolm Hardee Malcolm Hardee (5 January 1950 – 31 January 2005) was an English comedian and comedy club proprietor. His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunts and on the help and advice he gave to successful British Alte ...

& John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Tavare, Jim 1963 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians People from Northwich Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English double-bassists British male double-bassists English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors Last Comic Standing contestants Male actors from Essex 21st-century British double-bassists 21st-century English male musicians Comedians from Essex English comedy musicians Comedians from Cheshire Male actors from Cheshire Actors from Cheshire West and Chester