Stephen Merchant

Stephen Merchant is a renowned English director, writer, radio presenter, actor, and comedian. He was born as Stephen James Merchant on November 24, 1974, in Bristol, England. Stephen attended Hanham High School and from 1993 to 1996, he attended University of Warwick, Coventry, where he earned the upper second-class Honours in Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Literature. He once worked on Radio Warwick as a film reviewer.

Stephen started his career as a stand-up comedian in Comedy Box in Bristol. He became popular after joining the TV game show, Blockbusters, in 1997. He also worked as a disc jockey for Radio Caroline. It was also in 1997 when he met Ricky Gervais Ricky Gervais is a British actor, comedian, writer >> Read More... , the Head of Speech at XFM London. He hired Stephen as his assistant and they both hosted an afternoon radio show in 1998. Later, they both left the station after the Capital Radio Group acquired it. Also in 1998, he joined and became a finalist in a competition for comedians entitled Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.

After his collaboration with Ricky Gervais, he started his production course at BBC. He included Gervais in the short film, Seedy Boss, which turned out to be their inspiration when they created, penned, and directed the mockumentary sitcom, The Office The Office is an Indian television sitcom streamin >> Read More... . Prior to this, they collaborated in another sitcom entitled Golden Years, which was aired as part of Comedy Lab series on Channel 4 in the year 1998. However, it failed to find success. During the mid-2001, the first series of The Office was aired on BBC Two but received low ratings at first. Gervais and Stephen returned to XFM and hosted The Ricky Gervais Show. This led to a productive relationship with Karl Pilkington (Producer).

The two later took a hiatus from the radio show to film the second series of The Office. Stephen made a cameo appearance in the episode, Charity. In 2002, he directed Comedy Lab’s The Last Chancers. He and Gervais continued hosting The Ricky Gervais Show until 2003 and took another break to film the Christmas special of The Office. In early 2004, their radio show went off the air. During these times, Stephen made a recurring role as a chef in the British horror parody TV series, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. He also made a cameo appearance in the award-winning British sitcom, Green Wing. Stephen also works as a script associate on Channel 4’s Nathan Barley.

It was also during the same year when The Office was aired in the US and turned out to be critically acclaimed. The Office also earned the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy Award at the Golden Globe. In 2005, The Office (US Version) premiered with Stephen and Gervais as the Executive Producers. Later, they penned 3rd season episode entitled The Convict and Stephen helmed the 5th season episode titled Customer Survey. When they returned to XFM Radio show, their new sitcom, Extra, was premiered on BBC 2, where Stephen played as Darren Lamb. The second series of the show was aired in late 2006, following with a Christmas Special in the year 2007. All three were aired on HBO in the US.

His portrayal as Darren Lamb in the show earned him the Best Actor Award at the British Comedy Awards in 2006. In early 2007, Stephen started hosting his very own radio show entitled The Steve Show on BBC 6 Music, which focused particularly on music that was never heard before. In 2013, the American comedy TV series, Hello Ladies Hello Ladies is a Telugu lifestyle and fashion sho >> Read More... , was aired on HBO with Stephen playing as Stuart Pritchard. He also donned small roles in films like Run Fatboy Run, Hot Fuzz, and The Invention of Lying. In 2010, he did a supporting role in the fantasy comedy film, Tooth Fairy Click to look into! >> Read More... , with Dwayne Johnson Born on 2nd May 1972 in California, Dwayne Johnson >> Read More... in the lead role.

On TV, Stephen made a cameo role in the 6th season of Fox Network’s 24. Stephen and Gervais celebrated in the 2010 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film, Cemetery Junction. In the same year, the duo penned and made cameo appearances in Warwick Davis Most of us have watched Harry Potter series and en >> Read More... ’ sitcom, Life’s Too Short. The two also produced the travel documentary TV series, An Idiot Abroad. In 2011, he voiced the character of Paris, a gnome, in the 3D animated film, Gnomeo & Juliet. In the same year, he played as Gary Putney in Owen Wilson-starrer film, Hall Pass Click to look into! >> Read More... . In 2013, he co-starred Rose Byrne The famous English actress Rose Byrne was born in >> Read More... and Rafe Spall in I Give It a Year.

He also acted on ABC’s Modern Family in the episode, Las Vegas Serial Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... . Stephen voiced Wheatley in the first-person puzzle-platform video game, Portal 2; from where he earned widespread acclaim. He reprised his role in the 2013’s Team Fortress 2. He also do a voice-over for Waterstones and Barclays. He starred in Newcastle Brown Ale and Cadillac commercials in 2014. He was one of the Executive Producers of the American musical reality competition show, Lip Sync Battle If I were to ask you what annoys you most, you wou >> Read More... , in 2015. He was seen in three episodes of the American sitcom, The Big Bang Click to look into! >> Read More... Theory and in 2016, he was cast in the sequel to The Wolverine Click to look into! >> Read More... .