Philip Cornwell is an English actor, comedian, impressionist and writer. He is part of the '' Dead Ringers'' television and radio series, and is the voice of Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...

. Cornwell has co-written and performed principal roles in '' The Glam Metal Detectives'' and '' Stella Street''. He also portrayed DJ Dave Clifton from '' I'm Alan Partridge'' and the movie, '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa''.

Early life and career

Cornwell was born in

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...

, in the County of

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 ...

. He first appeared on TV in 1980 in the BBC youth programme Something Else - Southend as an episode presenter. He is popularly known for voicing Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band,

. He provided the voices of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

for the '' Steve Wright in the Afternoon'' show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

in the late-1980s and early-1990s. These impersonations - augmented by many others, including the series narrator,

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

- formed the backbone of 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 ...

TV series '' Stella Street'', written and performed with John Sessions. In 1996, he performed in a comedy spoof sketch TV advert to '' The Professionals'' imitating Martin Shaw's character of ''Doyle'' (with the actor Ray Trickett playing Lewis Collins' ''Bodie'') for the release of the '' Nissan Almera''. In 1997 as part of the same advertising campaign he performed another spoof sketch of the 1970s television series '' The Sweeney''. He played the part of Harry Noakes, Captain of the cockleboat Renown in the TV mini-series''

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

.'' Cornwell has appeared in several films made by

the Comic Strip The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

, including the role as Dave Spanker in '' Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown''. He also played Dave Clifton, a local radio DJ on Radio Norwich - a fictional radio station in both series of '' I'm Alan Partridge''. In 2013, he reprised the role for the movie '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa''. Cornwell was the voice of Gilbert the Alien in the 1980s TV series '' Get Fresh'', which later span off into '' Gilbert's Fridge'', a series starring the character. Cornwell also voiced Sir Lancelot and Robin Hood in the animated children's television series '' King Arthur's Disasters''. He played King Stupid in the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

series '' Stupid!'', having replaced

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian and actor. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is the son of N ...

, because the latter was involved in '' Excuse My French'' on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 matte ...

. Cornwell also appeared in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode, " The Fires of Pompeii". In 2010 he presented/hosted the Friday night EuroMillions lottery draw show on BBC One. In 2011 he did several stand-up comedy gigs as character Switzerland McNaughtiehorse. Cornwell is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and presents the weekly podcast ''The Spurs Show''Download Phil Cornwell Mp3 and Phil Cornwell Music at Playbackmedia
/ref> with Mike Leigh. In January 2013, he appeared in the ITV comedy drama series ''

Great Night Out ''Great Night Out'' is a British comedy drama which aired on ITV (TV network), ITV in 2013. It was created by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni and starred Lee Boardman, William Ash (actor), William Ash, Craig Parkinson and Stephen Walters. The ser ...

'' as Tonky. Cornwell played Sanson 'The Bourreau' in the 2023 movie ''

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

'', directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Direct-to-video

Web series

Video games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwell, Phil Living people English impressionists (entertainers) English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors People from Leigh-on-Sea Male actors from Essex 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Comedians from Essex English male comedians Gorillaz members English sketch comedians Actors from Southend-on-Sea (district) Year of birth missing (living people)