Russell Brand

Russell Brand
File:Russellbrand2007.jpg Brand in 2007 at a book signing
Birth name	Russell Edward Brand
Born	(1975-06-04) June 4, 1975 Grays, Essex, England
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, radio
Nationality	British
Years active	2000 – present
Website	http://www.russellbrand.tv/

Russell Edward Brand (born June 4, 1975) is an English radio and television personality, comedian, actor, and newspaper columnist.

Early life

Brand was born in Grays, Essex, England, the only child of Barbara Elizabeth (née Nichols) and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer. His parents separated when Russell was six months old. Brand had a quite isolated and lonely childhood which led to several years of self-harm and bulimia.[2]. Brand made his theatrical debut aged fifteen, in Bugsy Malone as Fat Sam, and his performances earned him a council funded education at the private Italia Conti Academy, which led to a three-year scholarship at Drama Centre in Chalk Farm.

Career

Stand-up

Brand's first significant stand-up appearance was at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year final in 2000. Although he did not finish in the top three, his performance attracted the attention of an agent, John Noel. His first big tour was his show Shame which he toured the UK and performed to sell out audiences drawing on embarrassing things that have happened and the tabloid press and how they have treated him since he became famous. In late November 2006 Russell put on a secret stand-up show for anyone who had added him as a friend on MySpace. This show featured unseen material not featured on his DVD. Brand performed a sketch with close friends Matt Lucas & David Walliams for a Little Britain live show for Comic Relief in which he played a crossdressing plumber who comes out to "fellow crossdresser", Emily Howard. Brand appeared in a sketch and did stand-up at the 2006 Secret Policeman's Ball. In March 2007, Brand performed a charity show with Noel Fielding centred around the Goth Detectives. The idea for the show was inspired by Jonathan Ross, who, on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2006, suggested that Fielding could play Bob Skeleton ("Indie Detective"), which led to Brand and Fielding jokingly describing a fictional scenario in which they were "Goth Detectives."

Presenting

Brand's first presenting job was as a VJ on music channel MTV presenting Dance Floor Chart and MTV Select. However he was sacked after coming to work dressed as Osama bin Laden on 12 September, 2001.

In 2004, he hosted Big Brother's Eforum on E4, a sister show to Big Brother 5. The show gave celebrity guests and the public the chance to have their say on the goings-on inside the Big Brother house. For Big Brother 6 the show's name changed to Big Brother's Big Mouth. The ratings for Big Brother's Big Mouth during Big Brother 7 were good. Following the racism row of Celebrity Big Brother 5, Brand confirmed he would not return to host the Big Brother 8 series of Big Brother's Big Mouth (although the row was not cited as the cause); in a statement Brand thanked all the producers for "taking the risk of employing an ex-junkie twerp" to front the show and of his time presenting the show, he said: "The three years I've spent on Big Brother's Big Mouth have been an unprecedented joy." Brand hosted a one-off special called Big Brother According to Russell Brand in which Brand takes a surreal, sideways look at Big Brother through the ages. On 8 January 2008, Brand was the fifth celebrity to hijack the Big Brother house in the E4 show Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

Brand was welcomed back into the MTV fold in spring 2006 when he began presenting chat show 1 Leicester Square initially going out at 8 p.m. on Sundays before being shifted to a post-watershed time of 10 p.m. on Mondays, allowing a more adult theme to the show. Guests have included Tom Cruise, Uma Thurman, McFly and Boy George. A second series began in September 2006 on MTV UK. Following Big Brother 7 finished, Brand presented a debate show called Russell Brand's Got Issues, on digital channel E4. The viewing figures for the first episode were seen as disappointing, being beaten by nearly all of E4's main multi-channel rivals, despite a big publicity and promotional campaign for the show and achieving only 148,000 viewers on the opening night. Then finally, On November 9, 2006 it was announced that Brand would host his own chat show called The Russell Brand Show. The first episode was broadcast on Friday November 24 on Channel 4 and the show ran for five weeks.

In December 2006, Brand took part in Channel 4's annual The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, presented by Jimmy Carr. He was teamed with Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh. They went on to win the quiz after receiving 22 points for one question (quizmaster Jimmy Carr had jokingly said that he'd give them 22 points if they got it right, assuming that they would get it wrong, as they were giving blatantly incorrect answers to the other questions).

Brand also presented the 2006 NME Awards, and was famously called a 'cunt' by Bob Geldof, to which he replied "It's no wonder Bob Geldof knows so much about famine - he's been dining out on "I Don't Like Mondays" for 30 years".

Brand hosted the 2007 BRIT Awards and an hour of Comic Relief. On July 7, 2007 Brand presented at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.

Brand returned to Channel 4 to host Russell Brand's Ponderland, in which he discusses various topics like childhood and science through stand-up comedy. The show first aired Monday, October 22, 2007, and was on every weeknight that week.

A documentary presented by Brand and Matt Morgan about the writer Jack Kerouac called Russell Brand On the Road aired on December 12, 2007 on BBC Four.

Acting

Brand's first major TV acting work was an appearance in an episode of The Bill in 1994. In 2002 he filmed roles in the television comedy dramas, Cruise of the Gods and White Teeth. In 2005 he played Tommy in the BBC sitcom Blessed which was written and directed by Ben Elton.

Brand auditioned for the part of Super Hans in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, but was rejected by the writers in favour of Matt King.

In 2007 Brand played a recovering crack addict called Terry in the pilot for ITV comedy The Abbey, written by Morwenna Banks. The Abbey has since been commissioned for a full series to be shown on ITV2 although it is not clear if Brand will be in the series. Also that year, Brand appeared in Cold Blood for ITV playing an ex-con called Ally.

Brand first film role was in the 2007 film St Trinian's, in which he played Flash Harry. In 2008, he had a small role in Penelope.

Brand's breakthrough role was in the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall in which he played Aldous Snow, the boyfriend of the title character (played by Kristen Bell). Brand received rave reviews for his performance as Snow.

Brand is currently filming a starring role alongside Adam Sandler in new Disney film Bedtime Stories, to be released at Christmas. He is reuniting with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow to film a buddy comedy entitled Get Him to the Greek co-starring Jonah Hill later this year. It is described in Variety Magazine as a "very dirty take on Almost Famous".

According to press reports, Brand is in talks to appear in an as yet untitled action comedy feature film alongside Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, after being introduced to director Brett Ratner by Courtney Love.

Radio

Brand's radio career began in early 2002, when he hosted a Sunday afternoon show with Matt Morgan on London's Indie Rock station Xfm. Brand was fired from this job after reading out pornographic material live on-air.

Brand has co-hosted The Russell Brand Show since it began in April 2006 on BBC 6Music, until the present, where it currently airs on BBC Radio 2 on Saturdays from 9pm – 11pm. The show is attributed with over 2 million listeners.

See also: The Russell Brand Show (radio show)

Books

Main article: My Booky Wook

Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook, published by Hodder & Stoughton, was released on November 15, 2007. The book gained a mixed reception upon release. The Observer commented that "Russell Brand's gleeful tale of drugs and debauchery in My Booky Wook puts most other celebrity memoirs to shame."

Brand was to be playing himself in a film adaptation of his autobiography, to be directed by Michael Winterbottom but the project has since been shelved by Brand, who did not want American audiences to learn of his "chequered past" without reading the book first. .

He also released a book in 2007 entitled Irons in the Fire, which is a collection of his writings for the Guardian newspaper about West Ham United's 2006/07 season.

Brand signed a £1.8 million two-book deal with HarperCollins in June 2008. The first book will be released this Christmas, with the second expected to hit shelves in 2009.

Music

Brand recorded The Beatles song "When I'm Sixty-Four" with Grammy Award-winning composer David Arnold for the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He contributed two songs to the soundtrack of the 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as part of the fictional band Infant Sorrow.

Personal life

Brand lives in Hampstead, London. He is a big fan of The Smiths and their ex-frontman Morrissey, and has a cat of the same name. Brand has been a vegetarian since the age of 14, does yoga and Capoeira. He is a fan of West Ham United and has a season ticket. His love of football is a big part of his life; he claims it is "intrinsically about my relationship with my father."

Brand dresses in a flamboyant bohemian fashion describing himself as looking like an "S&M Willy Wonka." Brand's current style consists of black eyeliner, drainpipe jeans, Beatle boots, and long, shaggy, backcombed hair. He has stated that this look was partly inspired by his friend, Dirty Pretty Things frontman Carl Barât.

Brand is a former heroin and sex addict, alcoholic and has had numerous run-ins with the law, having been arrested eleven times. During the time of his addiction, he was known for his debauchery, a notable example being his ejection from The Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh. He has been free from heroin addiction since 2003, and is now a patron of the addiction charity Focus 12. His abandonment of drugs and alcohol was instigated by his agent John Noel. He did so with the help of the Hare Krishnas, to whom he feels "indebted".

Awards

• Time Out
  • 2006 Best Stand-Up
• GQ
  • Most Stylish Man of the Year 2006
  • Least Stylish Man of the Year 2007
  • Least Stylish Man of the Year 2008
• Loaded Laftas 2006
  • 2006 Funniest Man
• British Comedy Awards
  • Best Newcomer 2006
• 33rd Annual Television and Radio Awards Broadcasting Press Guild
  • Best Television Performer In A Non-Acting Role

• PETA Europe
  • Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian 2006
  • Europe's Sexiest Vegetarian 2007
  • World's Sexiest Vegetarian 2007
• Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups
  • 69th in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups programme
• The Sun
  • Shagger of the Year 2006
  • Shagger of the Year 2007
• British Book Awards
  • 2008 Biography of the Year

Selected works

TV appearances

• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (2006, 2007 twice, 2008)
• Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive (2006)
• Soccer AM (2006)
• Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2006 (2006)
• Teenage Cancer Trust Benefit (2007)
• The Culture Show (2007)
• The Paul O'Grady Show (2007)
• Have I Got News For You (2007)
• The Graham Norton Show (2007)
• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2007 (2007)
• Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack (2008)
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2008 twice)
• The Late Show with David Letterman (2008)

DVD releases

• Russell Brand: Live (2006)
• Russell Brand: Doing Life (2007)

Filmography

• St Trinian's (2007) as Flash Harry
• Penelope (2008) as Sam
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) as Aldous Snow
• Bedtime Stories (2008) as Mickey
• Get Him to the Greek (2009)

Discography

• Russell Brand: Live (2006)
• Russell Brand: Doing Life (2007)
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Original Soundtrack (2008)
• My Booky Wook (2008)
• 40th anniversary re-recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (TBA)

Further reading

• Carey, Tanith (2007). Russell Brand. London: Michael O'Mara Books. ISBN 978-1843172406.
• Stone, Dave (2007). Russell Brand: Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. London: John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1844543960.
• Brand, Russell (2007). My Booky Wook. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0340936153.

External links

• Russell Brand's website
• Russell Brand at IMDb
• Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 show homepage
• Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 Blog
• Russell Brand's BBC 6 Music show homepage
• Focus 12 Charity