Greg Davies

Gregory Daniel "Greg" Davies (born 14 May 1968) is a British stand-up comedian and actor known for his roles as Greg in We Are Klang, Mr Phil Gilbert in The Inbetweeners and Ken Thompson in Cuckoo, as well as for his guest appearances in Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You? and Fast and Loose. He has performed on the BBC's Live at the Apollo series.

Early life

Davies was born in St Asaph, Denbighshire. His parents lived in England at the time, but his Welsh father drove his mother Pauline across the border to make sure he was born in Wales.^[1] He grew up in Wem, a small market town in the north of Shropshire, the county which he regards as his home.^[2][3] He also has a sister.^[4]

Davies was educated at Thomas Adams School and Brunel University, where he studied English and drama.^[5] Prior to embarking on a career in comedy, he had taught secondary school drama and English for 13 years at Langleywood School in Berkshire, Orleans Park School in Twickenham, southwest London, and Sandhurst School in Berkshire.^[6]

Career

In 2005 Davies played a caricature of cricketer W. G. Grace in a series of adverts for Channel 4's television coverage of The Ashes.^[7]

In 2007 Davies was nominated three times in the Chortle Awards, in the categories "Breakthrough Act" (for his solo stand-up act), "Best Sketch, Variety or Character Act", and "Best Full-Length Show" (both as part of sketch team We Are Klang).^[8]

In 2010 Davies' first solo stand-up show Firing Cheeseballs at a Dog was nominated for the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival.^[9] The show was subsequently taken on his first ever tour the following autumn.^[10] He was also nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe's Malcolm Hardee "Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid" Award.^[11]

From October 2013 Davies starred in the UK Channel 4 sitcom Man Down,^[12] as Dan, a man who hates his job as a teacher,^[13] with Rik Mayall as his father. Channel 4 commissioned an additional 25-minute Christmas special before the first series aired,^[14] and a second series was announced during Davies's live tour "The Back of My Mum's Head", although this was before Rik Mayall's death in June 2014. Following Mayall's death, Davies met with Channel 4 to discuss the future of the show. Mayall had been intended to have a more a prominent role in the second series.^[15] Channel 4 later announced that Man Down would return for a second series in 2015.^[16] The classroom used in the show is the same classroom in which Davies taught at Sandhurst School.^[17]

In December 2015 Davies starred in BBC Two's comedy drama A Gert Lush Christmas where he played Tony, the uncle of Russell and Kerry Howard's characters. On Christmas Day he played King Hydroflax in the 2015 Doctor Who Special "The Husbands of River Song" ^[18]

In July 2015 Davies starred as in the new Dave show "Taskmaster", appearing as the host, and is referred to as the Taskmaster himself.

Personal life

Davies is noted for his stature, standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall and having size 13 feet.^[19][20]

He was previously in a relationship with Liz Kendall, a Labour politician who in 2015 was re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Leicester West.^[21] However the couple split up just a few months before the 2015 General Election.^[22][23]

Filmography

References

External links

• Greg Davies at the Internet Movie Database