Definição e significado de Paul_Merton

Paul Merton
Merton in 2008
Birth name	Paul James Martin
Born	(1957-07-09) 9 July 1957 (age 54) Parsons Green, London, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Years active	1982–present
Genres	Surreal, wit, observational comedy, improvisation, deadpan
Influences	Oscar Wilde, Charlie Chaplin, Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers
Influenced	Ricky Gervais, Dara Ó Briain, Jimmy Carr, Neil Mullarkey, Daniel Kitson, Sean Lock
Spouse	Caroline Quentin (m. 1990-1998, divorced) Sarah Parkinson (m. 2003, her death) Suki Webster (m. 2009-present)
Notable works and roles	Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1988–1993) Just a Minute (1989–present) Have I Got News for You (1990–present) Paul Merton: The Series (1991–1993) Room 101 (1999–2007) Paul Merton in China (2007) Paul Merton in India (2008) Paul Merton in Europe (2010)

Paul Merton (born Paul James Martin; 9 July 1957) is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill,^[1] his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy. Considered by a number of critics, fellow comedians and members of the public to be among Britain's greatest comedians,^[2][3][4] he is well known for his regular appearances as a team captain on the BBC panel game Have I Got News for You, and as the former host of Room 101. He has also appeared as a regular panellist on Radio 4's Just a Minute and as one of Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players.

  Early life

Merton was born on 9 July 1957^[5] in Parsons Green, London^[6] to an English father (a train guard on the London Underground)^[7] and an Irish Roman Catholic mother.^[6] When his mother returned to work as a nurse, Merton and his younger sister were looked after by their grandfather, who lived with them in their council flat in Mitcham, South London.^{[citation needed]}

He failed his eleven plus and went on to Wimbledon College, a Jesuit-run secondary school that had just become a comprehensive, where he received A-levels in English and History.^[8] His experience of victimisation there as a working-class boy became a frequent subject of his comedy.^{[citation needed]} After leaving school, Merton worked at the Tooting employment office for seven years.^[7]

  Career

Merton often claims that he was inspired to go into comedy at an early age watching clowns at a circus, remembering, "I had no idea that adults could behave like that."^[9] He gained his earliest professional credits under his birth name, including an appearance as a yokel in Time, an episode of The Young Ones in 1984. On joining Equity he found that the name Paul Martin was already taken, so he renamed himself after Merton, the district of London where he grew up.

  Stage

Though he had harboured serious ambitions of becoming a performing comedian since his school days, it was not until April 1982, at the Comedy Store in Soho, that his dream was realised. He recalls that on only his second or third night he found the dour role that has informed his comic approach ever since. He was also in the "Cinderella" Christmas panto as "Lucretia" in 1999.

He has been a member of the London improv group The Comedy Store Players since 1985, and still regularly performs with them.^[10]

Merton performed in Paul Merton's Improv Chums at Pleasance as part of Edinburgh Comedy Festival in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

  Television

His breakthrough as a television performer came in 1988 with Channel 4's improvised comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which moved to TV from BBC Radio 4, though he had previously performed on the channel's Saturday Live and compered its series Comedy Wavelength in 1987. He remained on Whose Line until 1993. Have I Got News for You started in 1990, and two series of his own sketch show, Paul Merton: The Series, followed soon after. In 1996, Merton performed updated versions of fifteen of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's old scripts for an ITV series, Paul Merton in Galton & Simpson's.... Six of these scripts were previously performed by Tony Hancock. These were very badly received by both critics and public, and although a selection of episodes was initially released on VHS, it was not until June 2007 that the complete series was released on DVD.

Also in 1996, Merton took a break from Have I Got News for You during its eleventh series, making only one appearance as a guest on fellow captain Ian Hislop's team. Merton later explained that at the time he was "very tired" of the show and that he thought it had become "stuck in a rut". Nevertheless, he added that he felt his absence gave the programme the "shot in the arm" it needed and that it had been "better ever since".^[11] In 2002, following allegations in the UK tabloids linking the show's chairman, Angus Deayton, with prostitutes and drug use, the host was asked to resign from the show. Merton hosted the first episode after Deayton's departure and was described as "merciless" in his treatment of his former co-star.^[12]

In 1999 Merton replaced Nick Hancock as host of Room 101, a chat show in which guests are offered the chance to discuss their pet hates and consign them to the oblivion of Room 101. He hosted 64 editions. In 2007, his final guest was Ian Hislop (who became the first interviewee to appear twice, having also been on an edition with Hancock). Hislop's selections purposely included items that Merton was known to like, such as The Beatles and the films of Charlie Chaplin.^[13]

Merton is one of the recurring stars from the 4 ITV Pantos. His best role came in 1999, where Merton starred alongside Ronnie Corbett as one of the ugly sisters in ITV's Christmas pantomime of Cinderella. His other co-stars were Julian Clary, Samantha Janus, Ben Miller, Harry Hill, Frank Skinner and Alexander Armstrong.

In the same year, to coincide with the launch of his first stand up tour in 10 years, and this is me...Paul Merton, he was given his own one hour South Bank Show special. The show charted his beginnings in the comedy business, to the development of his improvisational skills, his mental breakdown, and the popularity of Have I Got News For You.

  Merton at Ely Maltings, after giving a talk on his book Silent Comedy

He was rumoured to be a possible new host of Countdown to replace both Richard Whiteley^[14] and his successor, Des Lynam,^[15] but decided not to pursue this.

Merton is a keen student of comedy, particularly the early silent comedians^[16] and in 2006, BBC Four broadcast Paul Merton's Silent Clowns: a four-part documentary series on the silent comedy craft of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and Harold Lloyd.^[17] Merton examined their respective careers, interspersed with moments from a live show in which he presented clips of their work. Among the audience were many children, who were seeing the performers for the first time. Merton took a stage version of this show to the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in late 2007 took the show on a UK tour. A tie-in book was written by Merton and published by RH Books in late 2007. The Independent described it as "clearly a labour of love" but criticised the exhaustive and overly-thorough plot synopses of the films discussed.^[18]

Also in 2007 he presented a four-part travel documentary, Paul Merton in China, which was broadcast on Five from 21 May 2007. His second travel series, Paul Merton in India was transmitted from 8 October 2008 on the same channel. A third series, Paul Merton in Europe began broadcasting on the 11th January 2010, again on Five.^[19]

Merton hosted the British version of Thank God You're Here, which aired on ITV in 2008.

In 2009, Merton directed and presented a documentary on the British films of Alfred Hitchcock, in a series of star-presented documentaries on BBC Four.^[20] In May 2010, Merton temporarily co-presented The One Show for two weeks on Thursday after Adrian Chiles left the show.

His three part documentary series Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood about the early history of Hollywood was broadcast in May 2011 on BBC2. In Merton's third TV series for 2011, Paul Merton's Adventures, he travels around the world going on popular tourist trails, but still manages to find some extraordinary things.

  Radio

In the late 1980s, Merton appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Big Fun Show. After long-time Just a Minute panellist Kenneth Williams died in 1988, Merton (a fan of the show) contacted the producer at the suggestion of the host, Nicholas Parsons. He was invited to participate during the following year and has appeared regularly on the programme ever since.^[21] Merton has become regarded as the stalwart of the show, in the same league as the former, much-lamented "Big Four" panellists Clement Freud, Kenneth Williams, Derek Nimmo and Peter Jones. Besides his work on Just a Minute, Merton was a semi-regular guest on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue from 1991 to 1998. Between 1993 and 1995, Merton was among the regular cast members on the Radio 4 improvisational comedy series The Masterson Inheritance. In 2000 he presented Two Priests and a Nun Go into a Pub, in which he interviewed British and Irish comedians who had (like Merton himself) been brought up as members of the Roman Catholic Church. In 2009, Merton started a Radio 4 series in which he reads Spike Milligan's war memoirs in an audio-book fashion.

  Bibliography

Merton has written or co-authored four books:

• Julian Clary; Paul Merton (1989-10-12). The Joan Collins' Fan Club. ISBN 978-0-333-49926-9. http://books.google.com/?id=YqNhNwAACAAJ. 
• Paul Merton (1993-09-15). Paul Merton's history of the twentieth century. ISBN 978-1-85283-570-5. http://books.google.com/?id=A1LuAQAACAAJ. 
• Paul Merton (1996-10-07). My Struggle. ISBN 978-0-7522-0353-9. http://books.google.com/?id=CeyJAQAACAAJ. 
• Paul Merton (2007-10-23). Silent Comedy. Random House UK. ISBN 978-1-905211-70-8. http://books.google.com/?id=a3tXvxvIi6YC. 

  Personal life

Merton married actress Caroline Quentin in 1990; they divorced in 1998.^{[citation needed]} Merton subsequently had a relationship with producer and actress Sarah Parkinson; they were married unofficially in a service in the Maldives in 2000. They were officially married three months before her death from breast cancer on 23 September 2003.^[22] He married fellow improviser Suki Webster in 2009.^[23]

Merton has suffered from severe depression and, shortly before becoming a household name on Have I Got News for You, booked himself into the Maudsley psychiatric hospital for six weeks, of which he has since spoken frankly. In an interview with The Guardian he was reported to have been "hallucinating conversations with friends, and became convinced he was a target for the Freemasons".^[7]

He used the Maudsley episode as a key framework in his 2012 tour, Out Of My Head. He gave many examples of his experiences there, conversations with staff and fellow inmates were played out as sketches with his fellow performers, Richard Vranch, Lee Simpson and Suki Webster. He stated that, during his time at the Maudsley, he was simultaneously appearing in Whose Line Is It Anyway? on Channel 4.

  Acclaim and awards

In a 2007 public poll featured in The Guardian, Merton was voted alongside the likes of Oscar Wilde, Spike Milligan, Noël Coward and Winston Churchill as one of the ten greatest wits of all time.^[4] The Comedian's Comedian, a 2005 Channel 4 poll of fellow comedians, saw him voted among the top twenty greatest international comedians in history,^[3] with host Jimmy Carr crediting him for being "responsible for more great lines than Angus Deayton's dealer."^[24] The Observer's "The A-Z of Laughter", a 2003 special compiled by expert judges which featured the fifty funniest acts in British comedy by letter, applauded Merton for "bringing to Have I Got News for You a genuine surrealism that cuts through the clubbable smugness."^[2]

Merton has accumulated multiple awards and honours. After seven BAFTA Award nominations for "Best Entertainment Performance", he finally won the award in 2003, defeating fellow Have I Got News for You star Angus Deayton, who had been dismissed from the show the previous October. He has since been nominated for a further three awards – a total of eleven nominations – including a nomination for his travel documentary Paul Merton in China.^[25] Merton's appearances on Have I Got News for You have seen him nominated for five British Comedy Awards, winning the 1992 "Top TV Comedy Personality" and 1999 "Best Comedy Entertainment Personality" awards. He has also shared a further three British Comedy Awards with the panel and crew of the show, winning "Best new TV comedy" in 1991, "Best comedy gameshow" in 1999 and "Best Comedy Panel Show" in 2009. He received the 2004 Broadcasting Press Guild Award for "Best Non-Acting Performer", also for his work on Have I Got News for You.^[26]

In 2008, Merton presented Bruce Forsyth with a BAFTA Fellowship: Forsyth had given Merton his Best Entertainment Performance award in 2003.^[27]

  References

  Further reading

• Barratt, Nick. "Family detective: Paul Merton", The Daily Telegraph, 6 October 2007. Retrieved on 3 June 2008.
• 'I think I'm sane' - Paul Merton The Guardian, 23 October 2007. Retrieved on 10 June 2008

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Merton

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Paul Merton

• Paul Merton at the Internet Movie Database
• Paul Merton Official Website
• Paul Merton at bbc.co.uk
• Paul Merton at Comedy Store Players website
• Interactive video talk by Paul Merton on early British silent film comedy for the British Film Institute
• Paul Merton's Impro Chums at Edinburgh Comedy Festival

Whose Line Is It Anyway? UK version Host Clive Anderson Regular contestants Chip Esten Stephen Frost Stephen Fry Josie Lawrence Mike McShane Paul Merton Colin Mochrie Greg Proops John Sessions Brad Sherwood Tony Slattery Steve Steen Ryan Stiles Jim Sweeney Sandi Toksvig Caroline Quentin Musicians Colin Sell Richard Vranch Laura Hall Win Meyerson US version Host Drew Carey Regular contestants Wayne Brady Chip Esten Kathy Greenwood Colin Mochrie Greg Proops Brad Sherwood Denny Siegel Ryan Stiles Jeff Davis Musicians Laura Hall Linda Taylor Cece Worrall-Ruben Related topics List of UK episodes List of US episodes List of games Drew Carey's Green Screen Show (List of episodes) Mock the Week Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza (List of episodes)