25 Facts About Al Murray

Alastair James Hay Murray was born on 10 May 1968 and is an English comedian, actor, musician and writer from Hammersmith.

Al Murray was born in Buckinghamshire, where his father worked for British Rail.

Al Murray regularly performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, before launching his "Pub Landlord" persona.

Al Murray continues to perform as a stand-up and is a regular on British TV and radio.

Al Murray was born in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, the only son of a lieutenant colonel in 131 Regiment, Royal Engineers.

Al Murray was educated at Bedford School, and St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he read Modern History.

At Oxford, Al Murray performed in the comedy group the Oxford Revue, in a show directed by Stewart Lee.

Al Murray started out with an act that involved sound-effect impressions, including guns, animals and a car boot.

Al Murray made his first TV appearance on Channel 4's The Word in November 1991.

Al Murray's principal character in performance is an English publican with conservative values and an animosity towards Germans and the French; he challenges audience members to name any country before producing some plausible instance of Britain bettering it.

At the Edinburgh Festival, Al Murray came up with "The Pub Landlord".

Al Murray made his first television appearances on Harry Hill in 1997 playing Harry's big brother Alan, and subsequently featured in a short film, Pub Fiction.

Al Murray made a brief appearance as the Pub Landlord in Series 2, Episode 6 of Lee and Herring's This Morning with Richard Not Judy.

Al Murray has made many other television appearances, including the An Audience with.

Al Murray has an interest in music and is a semi-professional drummer.

Al Murray plays drums for the rock covers band T-34 and appeared at the Download Festival in 2010, returning in 2011.

Al Murray is a fan of the progressive rock bands Genesis, King Crimson and Yes.

Al Murray appeared in the documentary Genesis: Together and Apart, and was announced as the host of the 2019 Progressive Music Awards for Prog magazine.

Al Murray played in the Hampshire located Folk Rock band: Bemis "Folk Rock That Breathes New life into The Spirit of Woodstock".

In 2013, Al Murray guest-starred in series 5 of children's show Horrible Histories.

In 2019, Al Murray starred as his own ancestor William Makepeace Thackeray in a three-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Vanity Fair by Jim Poyser, with additional material by himself.

In 2023, Al Murray co-wrote with Matt Forde and Sean Foley and is a voiceover artist Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image The Musical based on the TV series Spitting Image, which premiered at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in February, before transferring to London's West End at the Phoenix Theatre in May for 13 weeks.

On 14 January 2015, Al Murray announced his formation of the "Free United Kingdom Party" and declared his candidacy, deploying his Pub Landlord persona, for the seat of South Thanet running against UKIP leader Nigel Farage, as parliamentary candidate in the 2015 general election.

When nominations for South Thanet were released on 9 April 2015, it was confirmed that Al Murray would appear on the ballot paper with no description, rather than his FUKP name and emblem.

Al Murray was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bedfordshire in 2014, and an honorary Doctor of Social Science by the University of Wolverhampton in 2017.