Biography for
Rik Mayall More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

7 March 1958, Harlow, Essex, England, UK

Birth Name

Richard Michael Mayall

Height

5' 11" (1.80 m)

Mini Biography

Rik Mayall, one of the first and foremost alternative comedians in the UK, was born in a village called Matching Tye, just outside Harlow in Essex. His parents, John and Gillian were both drama teachers. His acting debut was at the age of seven when he appeared in one of his father's stage plays. He met his comedy partner and best friend Adrian "Ade" Edmondson at Manchester University in 1975. Soon he and Ade began performing together as a comedy act called "Twentieth Century Coyote" at the now legendary Comedy Store in London. They later moved their act to a venue called "The Comic Strip" and it was there that they were discovered by producer Paul Jackson. Rik and his friends such as Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Alexei Sayle, Peter Richardson and Nigel Planer were boomed onto television screens with immense success. He wrote "The Young Ones" (1982) with Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. You loved it or you hated it, but you can't deny the impact it had on British Sitcom. His career was launched, and at only twenty-four years of age he became one of the most popular comedians in Britain. He wrote and starred in various other series and films over the years such as "The New Statesman" (1987); his role in it as Alan B'Stard earned him a BAFTA. He had his brief touch of Hollywood in 1991 when he starred as the title role in Drop Dead Fred (1991), but he soon returned to the British TV screens with "Bottom" (1991) a show which only ran for 3 seasons from 1991 to 1995 but was so popular that he and his co-star Adrian Edmondson still tour with live shows based on the series around Britain every two years or so to this day. In 1998 he had a severe accident and ended up in a coma after he crashed with his quad-bike at his farm in Devon. Luckily he recovered and starred in films and shows such as Guest House Paradiso (1999) and Day of the Sirens (2002). In 2002 he proved that he was back and ready for action in the comedy series "Believe Nothing" (2002) which reunited him with Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the writers of "The New Statesman". In 2003 he toured the UK alongside Adrian Edmondson with the fifth Bottom Live show.

IMDb Mini Biography By: LC

Spouse

Barbara Robbin

(1985 - present) 3 children

Trade Mark

Frequently performs alongside Adrian Edmondson

Frequently plays narcistic characters

In most of his television work, he will look at the camera and pull a face

Trivia

Children: Rosie (b. 1986), Sydney (b. 1989) and Bonnie (b. 1996)

Ex-girlfriend: Lise Mayer

Played Peeves the Poltergeist in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), but was cut out during editing.

Played the private detective in the "Peter Gunn" video by 'The Art of Noise'.

Has an older brother Anthony and two younger sisters, Libby and Kate

Met Adrian Edmondson (they starred together in "The Young Ones" (1982) and "Bottom" (1991)) in college.

Stage debut at the age of 6 appearing in a crowd scene in The Good Woman of Setzuan.

Wrote the first draft of Guest House Paradiso (1999), with Adrian Edmondson, whilst in hospital recovering from his quad-bike accident.

He was seriously injured in a quad bike accident in 1998 and was in a coma for several days. His first words on regaining consciousness were to the doctor: "So you're the bastard that keeps sticking needles into me!". He has since made a full recovery.

He had auditioned for for the roles of Banzai, Zazu and Timon in The Lion King (1994). He was asked to audition for the role of Timon by lyricist Tim Rice, who got the idea for the lyrics of the song "Hakuna Matata" by watching "Bottom" (1991).

Personal Quotes

One of my hobbies is people-watching. I love to sit outside a cafe watching people go by. I use things that I see in different characters that I play.

I'm a difficult person to interview. Everything I have to say is in my performance. I don't like to give too much away.

I'm not trying to do anything spectacular except to change the fabric of our society and bring down the Government.

I was always a show-off and liable to get over-excited. But I have got it under control. I now find people who can't control their energy very funny.

It hasn't happened to me yet, but I would now take a job simply to earn money for my family.