| Peter Serafinowicz | |
|---|---|
| Born | 10 July 1972 Liverpool, England, United Kingdom |
| Other name(s) | Gelg |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1991 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Alexander |
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz (pronounced /sɛrəˈfɪnəwɪtʃ/; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, writer, composer and voice artist.
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Early life
Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool, England. He has Belarusian, Polish, and British heritage. He attended Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Primary School and St Francis Xavier Secondary School.[1]
Career
Acting and writing
Serafinowicz made his broadcasting debut in 1993 on Radio 1 show The Knowledge, a spoof documentary about the music industry. From there he went on to perform in Radio 4 shows Weekending, Harry Hill's Fruit Corner, Grievous Bodily Radio, The Two Dannys and A Whole New Ball Game. In 1998 he appeared on TV in Comedy Nation and You are Here. He also had a role in the Simon Nye-penned sitcom How Do You Want Me?.
In 1999 he made a number of appearances in Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, playing principal character Tim Bisley's (Simon Pegg) arch-nemesis, Duane Benzie. He made another appearance in the series when it returned in 2001. In 2001 Serafinowicz took the lead in BBC2 sitcom World of Pub, playing the same character as he had done in the show's run on Radio 4. He was also in The Junkies, the world's first internet sitcom. In 2002 the critically acclaimed Look Around You, a series of 10-minute 70s school science video spoofs, debuted on BBC2 in which Serafinowicz played a scientist. He co-wrote the show alongside Robert Popper, whom he met on the set of Spaced. The show returned in 2005 as a spoof of the 1980s show Tomorrow's World, with Serafinowicz playing Peter Packard, one of the presenters.
In 2003 he appeared in another Nye-written sitcom, Hardware, in which he played the affable Kenny. He reprised this role in the second series in 2004. Also in 2004 he appeared in British rom-zom-com (romantic-zombie-comedy) Shaun of the Dead, playing Pete, the tidy flatmate of principal characters Shaun and Ed. He also appeared in boxing movie The Calcium Kid. In Sixty Six, the 2006 British film about a Jewish boy whose Bar Mitzvah is scheduled for the same day as the 1966 World Cup final, Serafinowicz plays Uncle Jimmy. In the week before the 2006 Academy Awards a video circulated on the Internet of a fake news item (called "O! News", a parody of E! News) about a new Oscar statue, in which Serafinowicz imitated Alan Alda, Paul McCartney and Al Pacino. A second O! News video later appeared, parodying the 2006 Apple Corps v. Apple Computer lawsuit. This attracted the interest of the BBC, and a pilot was commissioned for The Peter Serafinowicz Show. A full series was broadcast on BBC Two in 2007 (with a Christmas Special in 2008). For his performance, Serafinowicz was presented with the Best Entertainer prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony.[2] The series has also been nominated for Best Comedy Programme at this year's BAFTA Television Awards.[3]
Serafinowicz had also made a number of guest appearances on television, including the comedy shows Smack the Pony and Hippies (both 1999), Black Books (2000), I'm Alan Partridge (2002) and Little Britain (2003), comedy drama Murder Most Horrid (1999) and ITV Drama series Marple (2005). He has made a number of guest appearances on both television and radio panel shows. He regularly appeared on The 99p Challenge and appeared on Have I Got News For You in 2005, 2006 and 2008 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2005, and QI in 2003. He also appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 October 2007, Would I Lie To You? on 8 August 2008, and Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 15 October 2009.
As of 2008[update], Serafinowicz is working with Robert Popper on a new television series, as well as a website, based on a spoof religion "Tarvuism" for US network Adult Swim.[4] In 2009, he appeared in Universal Films' Couples Retreat, directed by Peter Billingsley.
Voice artist
Serafinowicz has done many adverts and voice-overs and is a talented impressionist. His most high profile role as a voice artist was as Darth Maul in the film Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. His voice overdubbed that of Ray Park, who portrayed Darth Maul in costume. This appearance was referred to during the second series of Spaced, as well as when he provided the voice for Darth Chef in an episode of South Park in 2006.[5]
He also did voice work on the children's show Look and Read.
He impersonated Terry Wogan in a 2003 Comic Relief spoof of Blankety Blank and he regularly utilises his array of impressions when performing. He also provided the voice of Captain Ardias in THQ's Warhammer 40,000: Firewarrior.
On the BBC quiz show Would I Lie To You?, he revealed that he overdubbed the voice of Pelé in the English language version of his adverts to promote Viagra and raise the awareness of impotency.[6]
Composer
As a composer and musician, Serafinowicz produced virtually all of the music for Look Around You, under the pseudonym Gelg.[7]
Personal life
He is married to actress Sarah Alexander, of Smack the Pony, Coupling and Green Wing.[8] Their first son, Sam, was born in March 2007. His brother James is a writer and director,[9] and can be seen wearing Peter's Liverpool Blue Coat School uniform at the beginning and end of each episode of the first series of Look Around You. His sister is married to the Father Ted, Black Books and Big Train writer Graham Linehan.
His grandfather, Szymon Serafinowicz, was the first person charged in the UK under the 1991 War Crimes Act, for alleged acts committed during the Second World War. He was not convicted of any crime, as the jury ruled him unfit for trial on grounds of dementia.[10]
Selected credits
Television
- Spaced
- Look Around You (co-writer and producer)
- World of Pub
- Hippies
- Ted and Alice
- Black Books
- I'm Alan Partridge
- Hardware
- South Park (voicing "Darth Chef")
- The Magical Legend Of The Leprechauns (voice of "Dunlang, the Dullahan", also playing George Fitzpatrick)
- The Peter Serafinowicz Show (creator)
Radio
- The 99p Challenge
- Lee and Herring
- Harry Hill's Fruit Corner
- The Two Dannys
- Danny Baker's All Day Breakfast Show[11]
- The Sofa of Time, as the voice of Reamen Bod
Film
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, voice of Darth Maul
- Shaun of the Dead, Pete.
- The Calcium Kid, Dave King
- Sixty Six Uncle Jimmy
- Run, Fat Boy, Run, TV Commentator
- Tales of the Riverbank, Multi Characters
- Couples Retreat, Sctanley
Video games
- Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior, Captain Ardias
- Star Wars: Battlefront II, Darth Maul
References
- ^ The floor is his - Telegraph
- ^ "Rose d'Or Winners 2008" (PDF). Rose d'Or AG. 2008-05-06. http://www.rosedor.com/downloads/RdO_Winners_2008.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
- ^ "Television Awards Nominations in 2009". BAFTA. 2009-03-24. http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/tv-noms-2009,709,BA.html. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2008/10/14/7588/say_hebbo_to_tarvuism!
- ^ Philby, Charlotte (2008-08-30). "My Secret Life: Peter Serafinowicz, Actor and comedian, age 36". www.independent.co.uk. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-peter-serafinowicz-actor-and-comedian-age-36-912006.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- ^ "Pelé signs deal...to raise the profile of viagra!". The Age. 8 February 2005. http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Love-is-the-drug/2005/02/07/1107625131844.html.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0784818/#composer IMDb Composer credits
- ^ Philby, Charlotte (30 August 2008). "My Secret Life: Peter Serafinowicz". The Independent .. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/my-secret-life-peter-serafinowicz-actor-and-comedian-age-36-912006.html. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ "James Serafinowicz". IMDB. http://imdb.com/name/nm1618804/.
- ^ "BBC star’s grandfather faced Nazi war crimes trial" thisislondon.co.uk, 21 Oct 2007, retrieved 12 April 2009
- ^ http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=256575169
External links
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