97 Facts About Ricky Gervais

1.

Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director.

2.

Ricky Gervais co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms The Office, Extras, An Idiot Abroad, and Life's Too Short.

3.

Ricky Gervais created, wrote and starred in Derek and After Life.

4.

Ricky Gervais has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and the Rose d'Or twice.

5.

Ricky Gervais attempted a career as a pop star in the 1980s as the singer of the new-wave act Seona Dancing, and managed the then-unknown band Suede before turning to comedy.

6.

Ricky Gervais appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000, garnering a reputation as an outspoken and sharp-witted social provocateur.

7.

Ricky Gervais achieved greater mainstream fame the following year with his BBC television mock documentary series The Office, followed by Extras in 2005.

8.

Ricky Gervais co-wrote and co-directed both series with Stephen Merchant, and played the lead roles of David Brent and Andy Millman.

9.

Gervais, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington created the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs starring Pilkington and is produced by Gervais and Merchant.

10.

Ricky Gervais has starred in the Hollywood films For Your Consideration, the Night at the Museum film series trilogy, Ghost Town, and Muppets Most Wanted.

11.

Ricky Gervais wrote, directed, and starred in the 2009 romantic comedy film The Invention of Lying and the 2016 Netflix-released comedy film Special Correspondents.

12.

Ricky Gervais hosted the Golden Globe Awards five times, in 2010,2011,2012,2016, and 2020.

13.

Ricky Gervais worked as a labourer and hod carrier before he met Gervais's English mother, Eva Sophia.

14.

Ricky Gervais has spoken of his appreciation for his family's extreme sense of humour.

15.

Ricky Gervais was born on 25 June 1961 at Battle Hospital in Reading, Berkshire.

16.

Ricky Gervais was brought up in the Reading suburb of Whitley, with a sister, Marsha, and brothers Larry and Robert.

17.

Ricky Gervais attended Whitley Park Infants and Junior Schools and received his secondary education at Ashmead Comprehensive School.

18.

Ricky Gervais intended to study biology but changed to philosophy after two weeks, and was awarded an upper second-class honours degree in the subject from the University of London in 1983.

19.

Ricky Gervais worked as the manager for Suede before they became successful in the 1990s.

20.

In 2013, Ricky Gervais performed a live tour as David Brent along with his band Foregone Conclusion, Brent's fictional band in The Office.

21.

In 2016, as part of the Life on the Road film promotion, Ricky Gervais published the David Brent Songbook of 15 songs, which he recorded for the album Life on the Road as David Brent and Foregone Conclusion.

22.

Ricky Gervais worked as an assistant events manager for the University of London Union, then was head of speech at the alternative radio station Xfm.

23.

In 1998 Ricky Gervais's position was made redundant when the station was taken over by the Capital Radio group.

24.

In October 2017, Gervais began hosting the weekly radio show Ricky Gervais Is Deadly Sirius on Sirius XM, which ran until 2019.

25.

On 5 December 2005, Guardian Unlimited began offering free weekly podcasts, including The Ricky Gervais Show featuring Gervais, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington.

26.

In 2021, Ricky Gervais launched a paid-for audio series, Absolutely Mental, of his conversations with philosopher Sam Harris.

27.

Ricky Gervais has contributed to the BAFTA-winning The Sketch Show, penning several sketches.

28.

Ricky Gervais's one-off show Golden Years focused on a David Bowie-obsessed character called Clive Meadows.

29.

Ricky Gervais then came to much wider national attention with an obnoxious, cutting persona featured in a topical slot that replaced Ali G's segments on the satirical Channel 4 comedy programme The 11 O'Clock Show in early 1999, in which his character used as many expletives as was possible and produced an inordinate number of politically incorrect statements.

30.

Ricky Gervais has said that the episode "Training" is his favourite, where Brent plays his guitar and sings.

31.

In 2007, Ricky Gervais won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his portrayal of Andy Millman in the second series of Extras.

32.

The Ricky Gervais Show is an animated TV show that debuted on US cable network HBO on 19 February 2010.

33.

Ricky Gervais says there is no planning; a camera crew follows his friend around filming for many hours, which Ricky Gervais edits down to an hour each episode.

34.

In November 2011, Ricky Gervais filmed in London a 35-minute pilot episode for a potential comedy-drama series called Derek, which aired on Channel 4 on 12 April 2012.

35.

Ricky Gervais said that the series is about "kindness [being] more important than anything else".

36.

In May 2020 it was announced that Ricky Gervais had signed a new deal with Netflix, including a third season of After Life.

37.

Ricky Gervais toured the UK in 2003 with his stand-up show Animals.

38.

Fame was the subject of some controversy in January 2007 when Ricky Gervais included a routine, ostensibly about how people will do anything to become famous, referring to the murder of prostitutes in Ipswich.

39.

Ricky Gervais's fourth show was entitled Science, and commenced with an eleven-date tour in August 2009 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.

40.

In 2013, Ricky Gervais announced that his next stand-up show would be called Humanity.

41.

In May 2016, Ricky Gervais performed stand-up in London, starting with some low key warm-ups with cast members from Derek.

42.

Ricky Gervais continued his Humanity show throughout 2017 and into 2018.

43.

Ricky Gervais appeared at SF Sketchfest as part of the tour, which devoted a night in honour of him, alongside comedic legend and mentor Christopher Guest.

44.

Ricky Gervais announced his upcoming comedy stand-up specials named Armageddon on Netflix.

45.

One of the first animations Ricky Gervais voiced was the character of Penguin in Robbie the Reindeer's Legend of the Lost Tribe.

46.

Ricky Gervais had a starring role in Disney's Valiant, with Ewan McGregor, John Cleese and Jim Broadbent, as pigeon Bugsy.

47.

Ricky Gervais guest-starred in an episode of The Simpsons entitled "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife".

48.

Ricky Gervais is the only British comic to write and star in a Simpsons episode.

49.

The episode was the highest-rated in Sky One's history; it revolved around the angle that Ricky Gervais was the episode's sole writer.

50.

In 2012, Ricky Gervais made a guest appearance on Family Guy in the episode titled "Be Careful What You Fish For".

51.

The episode featured Lucy Davis, with whom Ricky Gervais starred in The Office.

52.

Ricky Gervais had a cameo role in Simon Pegg's and Jessica Hynes's sitcom Spaced as Dave, an estate agent who mistakenly places the advertisement for a property for a couple that turns out to be the premise of the show.

53.

Ricky Gervais has guest-starred on Alias as Daniel Ryan, a former Royal Navy bomb-disposal specialist turned rogue Irish Republican Army bomb-maker.

54.

Ricky Gervais broke into his trademark hysterical laugh every time his character made Louie the butt of a joke.

55.

In early 2015, Ricky Gervais guest-starred in Galavant, a four-week comedy mini-series, as Xanax the magician.

56.

Ricky Gervais made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live in a Digital Short during which he joked that The Office was adapted from a Japanese programme of the same name.

57.

Ricky Gervais hosted the 67th, 68th, 69th, 73rd and 77th Golden Globe Awards.

58.

Ricky Gervais's 2011 hosting of the awards was controversial for his jokes that were at the expense of many of the nominees, similar to the New York Friars Club roast-style jokes.

59.

Ricky Gervais's jibes were described as setting "a corrosive tone" by one critic, though some celebrities were seen crying from laughter, leaving the overall reaction to be 'mixed'.

60.

Ricky Gervais was a guest judge on Jerry Seinfeld's NBC show The Marriage Ref alongside Larry David and Madonna.

61.

Ricky Gervais has been a regular guest on Seinfeld's Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

62.

In 2013, Ricky Gervais guest starred in David Blaine: Real or Magic, a television special where Blaine proceeded to run a large needle through his forearm in front of Ricky Gervais.

63.

In January 2009, Ricky Gervais was a guest on BravoTV Inside the Actors Studio season 15 with James Lipton, where at one point of the interview he answered Lipton's question as David Brent, his character from The Office.

64.

Ricky Gervais has been on The Late Show with David Letterman 26 times.

65.

In mid-2014, upon hearing that Letterman was up for retirement, Ricky Gervais jokingly tried to discourage him by suggesting they go on a road trip where they would spend all their money.

66.

Ricky Gervais has appeared on the BBC's The Graham Norton Show many times over the years.

67.

Ricky Gervais has been on Graham Norton's couch with Stephen Merchant, co-creator and co-writer of The Office, to promote Cemetery Junction.

68.

Ricky Gervais is one of two featured comedians in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV who performs at the Split Sides comedy club on the virtual stand-up stage and as an interviewee on the in game radio station We Know The Truth.

69.

Ricky Gervais released a children's book in 2004, Flanimals, which depicted nonsense animals.

70.

Ricky Gervais starred in Muppets Most Wanted as Dominic Badguy, the partner of the movie's villain, Constantine.

71.

Ricky Gervais directed and starred in, Special Correspondents, which began filming in May 2015.

72.

Ricky Gervais directed and starred in the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road, a mockumentary following David Brent, a character first seen in The Office series, as he lives his dream of being a rockstar.

73.

On 5 November 2015 Ricky Gervais signed up to play Ika Chu, a villainous cat, in an animated film Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, originally known as Blazing Samurai.

74.

On 2 July 2005, Ricky Gervais appeared at the Live 8 event held in London's Hyde Park, where he performed his famous dance from The Office.

75.

On 1 July 2007, Ricky Gervais performed at the Concert for Diana in Wembley Stadium, a music event celebrating the life of Princess Diana 10 years after her death.

76.

Ricky Gervais has an apartment in the Barbizon 63 building in Manhattan, New York City.

77.

Ricky Gervais is a vegan, an atheist and a humanist, and states that he abandoned religion at the age of eight.

78.

Ricky Gervais is an honorary associate of the UK's National Secular Society and a patron of Humanists UK, a British charity that promotes the humanist worldview and campaigns for a secular state and on human rights issues.

79.

Ricky Gervais is a fan of the UFC and Reading FC He is a music fan and has stated that his hero is David Bowie, with his favourite song being "Letter to Hermione".

80.

Ricky Gervais has stated that his first experience of a live music gig was watching Iggy Pop.

81.

Ricky Gervais is one of the 100 contributors to the book, Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You, of which all proceeds go to NHS Charities Together and The Lullaby Trust.

82.

In June 2017, Ricky Gervais endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 UK general election.

83.

Ricky Gervais joined Twitter in December 2009 when he first hosted the 66th Golden Globes.

84.

In 2012, Ricky Gervais won a Shorty Award for Lifetime Achievement for his popular presence on social media.

85.

Ricky Gervais uses social media to promote his work to his fans.

86.

Ricky Gervais uses social media to raise awareness of animal welfare.

87.

Ricky Gervais won the Genesis Award from the Humane Society in March 2015 for his contribution to raising awareness for animal welfare on social media.

88.

In 2002, Ricky Gervais took part in a charity boxing match against Grant Bovey, for the UK charity telethon Comic Relief.

89.

Ricky Gervais was trained for the three-round contest by boxing trainer brothers Frank and Eugene Maloney, at their Fight Factory gymnasium.

90.

Ricky Gervais is a supporter of animal rights and has stated that he will leave his fortune to animal charities.

91.

Ricky Gervais named an Asian black bear, known as a moonbear, Derek after the protagonist from his series Derek.

92.

In December 2013, Ricky Gervais bought a $1000 cake shaped like a moonbear to raise funds for Animal Asia.

93.

Ricky Gervais is active in the prevention of illegal wildlife trade; he supported the handing over of ivory trinkets to the Metropolitan police in London.

94.

In 2015, Ricky Gervais donated a signed acoustic guitar to help raise funds for Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary in Ontario, Canada, with a special call-out to Pockets Warhol.

95.

In 2017, Ricky Gervais was awarded the Lord Houghton Award for Service to Animal Welfare from Animal Defenders International.

96.

Ricky Gervais was awarded the Humane Society International Cecil Award in 2018 for his frequent social media efforts to end trophy hunting.

97.

Ricky Gervais has received seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.