35 Facts About Nigel Planer

1.

Nigel George Planer was born on 22 February 1953 and is a British actor, writer and musician.

2.

Nigel Planer has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

3.

Nigel Planer won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage and BAFTA awards.

4.

Nigel Planer established a company, which pioneered technology in controlled-rate freezers, IVF and stem cell research.

5.

Nigel Planer has two brothers, and attended King's House School in Richmond and Westminster School in central London, where he wrote a satirical play about the school with fellow pupil Stephen Poliakoff.

6.

Nigel Planer began a degree course in African and Asian Studies at the University of Sussex, but dropped out to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

7.

Nigel Planer appeared with Peter Richardson as part of the double act "The Outer Limits".

8.

Nigel Planer is the author of several books, plays, radio plays, and TV scripts as well as a small volume of poetry.

9.

Nigel Planer was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Edinburgh Napier University in June 2011.

10.

Nigel Planer is best known for his role as Neil, the hippie housemate in the BBC comedy The Young Ones, which ran for two series broadcast in 1982 and 1984.

11.

In 2003, Nigel Planer played Professor Dumbledore in a Harry Potter parody, Harry Potter and the Secret Chamber Pot of Azerbaijan.

12.

Nigel Planer appeared on a BBC4 programme in the guise of Nicholas Craig in 2007, in which he was interviewed by Mark Lawson.

13.

Nigel Planer guest-starred in "The Pale Horse", a 2010 episode of Agatha Christie's Marple.

14.

Nigel Planer starred in Michael Palin's Number 27, Simon Gray's Two Lumps of Ice, Emma Tennant's Frankenstein's Baby, Blackeyes by Dennis Potter, Marcella, Cockroaches, David Walliams' Ratburger and Loaded.

15.

Nigel Planer played Matt LeBlanc's lawyer in the TV series Episodes.

16.

Nigel Planer was in the original cast for the 1997 London revival of Chicago as Amos Hart.

17.

Nigel Planer was a member of the original West End cast of Ben Elton's Queen musical We Will Rock You as Pop.

18.

Nigel Planer then starred as The Wizard in the original West End production of Wicked alongside Idina Menzel.

19.

Nigel Planer took over the role of Wilbur, opposite Michael Ball, in the West End production of Hairspray on 2 February 2009.

20.

Nigel Planer featured in Doctor Who: Live touring the UK, as Vorgenson The Inter-Galactic Showman, before appearing in Pantomime as Captain Hook at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield.

21.

Nigel Planer went on to star as Grandpa Joe in the original production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened in London's West End in 2013 for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for best supporting actor in a musical.

22.

From September 2018 to November 2018, Nigel Planer toured with Ade Edmondson in a play that they wrote together called Vulcan 7.

23.

Nigel Planer has appeared in films, including Flood, Virgin Territory, Bright Young Things, Hogfather, The Colour of Magic, The Wind in the Willows, The Land Girls, Clockwork Mice, Carry On Columbus, Brazil, The Supergrass, I Give It a Year, Burn, Burn, Burn, The List and Yellowbeard.

24.

Nigel Planer played Den Dennis, one of the four members of the 1980s spoof rock band Bad News, which made two albums produced by Brian May The band performed at the Hammersmith Apollo as well as the Donington and Reading Rock Festivals.

25.

Nigel Planer took Neil's stage act on the road in that year as Neil in the "Bad Karma in The UK" tour.

26.

Nigel Planer has a silver and a gold disc and a Brit award from his musical career.

27.

In 2021, Nigel Planer released several of his own musical projects.

28.

Nigel Planer released two singles written more recently, "City in the Summer", a jazz song about the hot summer of COVID-19, and "Love Strikes".

29.

Nigel Planer has written lyrics for "Commit No Nuisance", a music collaboration with Neil Avery and for Swedish rocker Matts Lindblom.

30.

Nigel Planer was the reader of the first unabridged audiobook editions of many of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.

31.

Nigel Planer appeared in the television adaptations of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather and The Colour of Magic, and performed as a voice artist in the games Discworld 2 and Discworld Noir.

32.

Nigel Planer has been the narrator of many of BBC Four's Britannia series of documentaries, including Prog Rock Britannia, Blues Britannia and Heavy Metal Britannia.

33.

Nigel Planer was a narrator in a direct-to-video version of Val Biro's Gumdrop book series in 1994.

34.

Nigel Planer narrated as a thirty-something Adrian Mole in the radio adaptation of Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years.

35.

Nigel Planer has written books, stage plays, TV shows, radio plays and newspaper articles as well as 105 episodes of The New Magic Roundabout.