fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series Horrible Histories, Yonderland and Ghosts. He has written and appeared in films such as Mindhorn and Paddington 2, and in the BBC sitcom Detectorists.

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Simon Farnaby
Farnaby at the 2011 Children's BAFTAs
Born	(1973-04-02) 2 April 1973 (age 49) Darlington, County Durham, England
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Claire Keelan
Children	1

Early life

Farnaby was born on 2 April 1973 in Darlington, County Durham[1] and attended Richmond School, North Yorkshire.

Career

Farnaby is a long-time member of The Mighty Boosh supporting cast, having had roles both in their series and co-starring in the quasi-spinoff film Bunny and the Bull. He is also well known for his similarly offbeat characters in the CBBC live-action series of Horrible Histories, such as Caligula and the Grim Reaper. Other notable television work includes a recurring role on the sitcom Jam & Jerusalem and co-starring as eccentric neighbour Sloman on The Midnight Beast's TV series. He previously had a very brief role in Coronation Street in the 1990s.

Along with journalist Scott Murray, Farnaby co-wrote The Phantom of the Open, a biography of Maurice Flitcroft, a would-be professional golfer whose unsuccessful attempts to qualify for the Open Championship led to his being described as "the world's worst golfer". The book was published in 2010.[2]

Along with the five other principal members of the cast of Horrible Histories, Farnaby is also the co-creator, writer and star of Yonderland, an eight-part family fantasy comedy series that premiered on Sky One on 10 November 2013. The show ended in 2016, with three series and a Christmas special.[3] He co-starred with the same troupe in Bill, a 2015 BBC comedy film based loosely around the early life of William Shakespeare.[4][5]

In 2013, Farnaby presented a documentary entitled Richard III: The King in the Car Park, tracing the discovery and identification of the remains of the last Plantagenet king. The next year, Farnaby presented another Channel 4 documentary series entitled Man Vs Weird, in which he travelled the world investigating people who claim superhuman abilities.

In 2014, Farnaby narrated a series on Channel 5 called On the Yorkshire Buses, following East Yorkshire Motor Services.[6]

In 2016, Farnaby co-wrote Mindhorn with Julian Barratt, a comedy about Richard Thorncroft (Barratt), a faded television actor drawn into negotiations with a criminal who believes his character Detective Mindhorn is real. Farnaby also has a small acting role as Clive Parnevik.

In 2016, Farnaby had a small role in Rogue One, as an X-Wing pilot.

In 2017, Farnaby stated that he was working on a film script based on his biography of Maurice Flitcroft.[2]

In 2017, Farnaby co-wrote Paddington 2 with Paul King. Farnaby had a small role in both the first film and its sequel, before subsequently appearing alongside Paddington Bear and Queen Elizabeth II in a short film broadcast as a part of the celebrations for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.

In 2020, Farnaby wrote The Wizard In My Shed.

In 2021, Farnaby and King were reported to have to signed on to co-write, with King directing, Wonka, a prequel based on the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Personal life

Farnaby is married to actress Claire Keelan (his second wife) with whom he has a daughter, Eve, born in 2014.[7]

Filmography

Film

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Fat Slags	Ventriloquist
	Blake's Junction 7	Terry	Short film
2009	Bunny and the Bull	Bunny
2010	Burke & Hare	William Wordsworth
2011	Your Highness	Manious the Bold
2013	All Stars	Foreman
2014	Paddington	Barry
2015	Bill	Various
2016	Mindhorn	Clive Parnevik	Also writer
	Rogue One	X-wing pilot Farns Monsbee
2017	Paddington 2	Barry	Also writer
2018	Christopher Robin	Taxi Driver
2021	The Phantom of the Open		Writer
2023	Wonka		Also writer

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	The House of Windsor	Sean Sutcliffe	1 episode
1996	Coronation Street	Greg Bamfield	1 episode
2004–2007	The Mighty Boosh	Various characters	3 episodes
2005	The Lenny Henry Show	Twyford	1 episode
	Spoons	Various Characters	6 episodes
2006	Blunder		6 episodes
2006–2009	Jam & Jerusalem	Samuel "Spike" Pike	12 episodes
2007	Comedy Cuts	Werewolf	1 episode
	The Yellow House	Henri	TV movie
	Strutter	Various	2 episodes
2008	M.I. High	James Blond	1 episode
	The Golf War	Stuart Ogilvy	Failed pilot
	Angelo's	Kris	6 episodes
	LifeSpam: My Child is French	Various	Failed pilot
2009–2013	Horrible Histories	Various characters	65 episodes
2010	The Persuasionists	Keaton	6 episodes
	Comedy Lab	Old Man	1 episode
2011	Dick and Dom's Funny Business	Various characters	1 episode
	Horrible Histories' Big Prom Party	Various characters	One-off special
2012	Dave Shakespeare	Dave Shakespeare	Failed pilot
2012–present	The Midnight Beast	Sloman	10 episodes
2013	Utopia	Marcus	1 episode
2013	Not Going Out	Scott	1 episode
	Richard III: The King in the Car Park	Presenter	Documentary
	Richard III: The Unseen Story	Narrator	Documentary
2013–2016	Yonderland	Various characters	25 episodes
2013	Crackanory	Robert Pickle	1 episode
2014	Man Vs Weird	Himself	3 episodes
	On the Yorkshire Buses	Narrator	8 episodes
	Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy	George Orwell	1 episode
2014–2015	Detectorists	Art	7 episodes
2015	House of Fools	Health Inspector	1 episode
	Horrible Histories	Various characters	12 episodes
	Top Coppers	Dr Schäfer	2 episodes
2017	Quacks	Dr Flowers	1 episode
2019–present	This Time with Alan Partridge	Sam Chatwin	3 episodes
2019–present	Ghosts	Julian Fawcett MP	Also co-creator
2021–present	Britbox advert	Narrator	2 adverts
2022	Platinum Party at the Palace	Footman	Paddington Bear sketch. Also writer[8]

References

External links

• Simon Farnaby at IMDb
• Simon Farnaby on The Spotlight

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