Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director, producer and former pop musician from Reading, Berkshire. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his ground-breaking television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and collaborator, Stephen Merchant. Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais also played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including For Your Consideration, Stardust, Night at the Museum and Ghost Town, in which he assumes the leading role.
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Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English actor, comedian, writer, director, producer and former pop musician from Reading, Berkshire. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his ground-breaking television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and collaborator, Stephen Merchant. Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais also played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including For Your Consideration, Stardust, Night at the Museum and Ghost Town, in which he assumes the leading role.
Gervais has performed on three sell-out stand-up comedy tours, wrote the best-selling Flanimals book series, and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in his podcast The Ricky Gervais Show. He has accumulated a multitude of awards and honours throughout his career, including seven BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards and the 2006 Rose d'Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.
Early life
Gervais, along with siblings Larry, Marsha, and Bob, was raised in the suburb of Whitley in Reading, Berkshire. Gervais's father Jerry, a Franco-Ontarian, emigrated while on foreign duty during the Second World War from London, Ontario, Canada. Jerry met Gervais's mother, Eva, during a blackout, and both settled in Whitley.
During Xfm London's The Ricky Gervais Show and in further newspaper interviews with The Independent, Gervais noted that he believes his birth was unplanned due to the age difference between his youngest sibling and himself. During one interview with the Independent, Gervais tells the author that even his mother admitted his birth was unplanned.
Gervais has stated that his upbringing and childhood were stable and trauma-free, with a high level of honesty and openness between his family members. He described it as "much like
Gervais began his secondary education at Ashmead School, before moving on to University College London in 1979. While there, he studied Biology, and later changed to Philosophy, in which he received a lower second class honours. It was during his time at UCL that he met his long-time girlfriend, Jane Fallon.
Personal life
Gervais resides in London with his partner of 25 years, British television producer and best-selling author Jane Fallon. They have a pet cat, named Ollie (given to him by Jonathan Ross), and a salamander named Tel (now deceased).
Watching wildlife programmes as a child affected Gervais's understanding of cruelty towards animals. He is supportive of a declaration for animal rights, as well as the WSPA (an animal welfare organisation), and is against fox-hunting and bull fighting. He has also written to PM Gordon Brown urging him to implement a fur-free policy at the Ministry of Defence, as Gervais is against the use of real Canadian black bear fur in the Bearskins used by the Foot Guards.
