Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais (born June 25, 1961, Reading, Berkshire, England) is an English comedian best known for his work on the BBC comedy series The Office (2001–03).

After completing his studies in philosophy at the University of London, Gervais fronted the little-known band Seona Dancing, which scored a minor hit in the Philippines in 1985 with the song “More to Lose.” In 1996 he joined the radio station XFM, where he hosted a program and met Stephen Merchant, who became a frequent collaborator. During the 1990s Gervais contributed comedy sketches to the BBC TV shows Bruiser and Golden Years, in which he also appeared. He began a regular role on the The 11 O’Clock Show and in 2000 briefly hosted his own talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais.

In July 2001 The Office, a send-up of the contemporary workplace, debuted on BBC television. Created and written by Gervais and Merchant, the sitcom used a mock documentary style to follow the ups and downs of the staff of Wernham Hogg, a fictional paper company. Gervais starred as David Brent, a boss with serious delusions about his talents as an entertainer and a habit for being outrageously insensitive. The show, which was later broadcast in the United States and elsewhere, ran for only 12 episodes across two seasons and then returned with a two-part Christmas special in 2003. Despite its short run, it was a popular and critical success, winning numerous BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and British Comedy awards as well as two Golden Globe Awards. Gervais and Merchant also were executive producers for an American version of The Office that aired in 2005–13.

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After the success of The Office, Gervais began to perform regularly as a stand-up comedian, and he published Flanimals (2004), the first in a popular series of children’s books based on imaginary beasts. He returned to television as a struggling actor in Extras (2005–07), another collaboration with Merchant; his performance won him an Emmy Award in 2007 for best actor in a comedy series. In 2005–06 Gervais hosted The Ricky Gervais Show, an Internet podcast in which he, Merchant, and Karl Pilkington engaged in casual (if sometimes bizarre) banter. The weekly show was downloaded by more than 500,000 listeners per episode, making it at the time the most downloaded podcast ever. The audio was later featured in an animated adaptation of the program, also called The Ricky Gervais Show (2010–12). Gervais and Merchant later created and appeared as fictionalized versions of themselves in the TV series Life’s Too Short, which, like Extras, lampooned the entertainment industry. The show debuted in 2011 and concluded with a special two years later. In Gervais’s next series, Derek (2012–14), he portrayed a naive and loyal caretaker at a nursing home. He then took a dark turn as a suicidal widower in After Life, which aired on Netflix in 2019–22.

While continuing to appear on television, Gervais took roles in such films as For Your Consideration (2006) and Night at the Museum (2006). With Ghost Town (2008), he starred in his first leading role in a feature film, playing a man who emerges from a near-death experience with an ability to see ghosts. Gervais also wrote and directed (with Matthew Robinson) The Invention of Lying (2009), which centers on a down-on-his-luck screenwriter (played by Gervais) who discovers that he alone can lie in a world where everyone tells the truth. His other film credits include Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). He also lent his voice to the animated comedies Escape from Planet Earth (2013) and The Willoughbys (2020). In addition, Gervais was a frequent host of the Golden Globes ceremony (2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020), earning both praise and criticism for his often acerbic barbs. In 2024 he won a Golden Globe for best performance in stand-up comedy on television for his Netflix comedy special Ricky Gervais: Armageddon (2023).