Ricky Gervais

Ricky Dene Gervais (born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, director, producer, writer, and musician.

Gervais worked initially in the music industry, attempting a career as a pop star in the 1980s with Seona Dancing and working as the manager of a then-unknown Suede before turning to comedy. Gervais appeared on The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000. In 2000, he was given a Channel 4 talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais, and then achieved greater mainstream fame a year later with his BBC television series The Office. It was followed by Extras in 2005. He co-wrote and co-directed both series with Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, he played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. He has also starred in the Hollywood films Ghost Town, and Muppets Most Wanted, and wrote and directed The Invention of Lying. He has performed on four stand-up comedy tours, written the Flanimals book series and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show. He hosted the Golden Globe Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Gervais has won seven BAFTA Awards, five 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. In 2007 he was voted the 11th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 3rd greatest stand-up comic. In 2010 he was named on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.

Career
Gervais's film career has included small roles as the voice of a pigeon Bugsy, in 2005's Valiant, as a studio executive in 2006's For Your Consideration, as museum director Dr. McPhee in 2006's Night at the Museum and its sequels Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, and as "Ferdy the Fence" in the 2007 film Stardust.

Gervais starred in Ghost Town as a dentist who sees spirits, and was in Lowell, Massachusetts during May 2008 filming his next project, The Invention of Lying, which he starred in along with, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe and Louis C.K.. The social comedy, was co-written and co-directed by Gervais and Matt Robinson.

Gervais and co-writer Stephen Merchant made a film called Cemetery Junction, set in 1970s Britain, about class, love and fulfilment. The film was released in April 2010.

Gervais will direct and star in two upcoming films; the first, Special Correspondents, began filming in May 2015. The comedy stars Eric Bana as a journalist and Gervais as his assistant. They pretend to report news from a war torn country but in actuality they are safe in New York. The second film, Life On The Road, is a mockumentary following David Brent, a character first seen in The Office series, as he lives his dream of being a rockstar.