Eddie Izzard

If you have never seen any of Eddie Izzard's DVD's, I would suggest renting one and I bet after watching him, you would want to own at least one of his dvd's. The one that seems to have the best reviews, is called, 'Dress To Kill'. Everyone I know that has seen it has loved it. I have just bought three more dvd's, as we find him so funny. He is Nigel's voice (the Koala in The Wild) and makes that film.
Called "the funniest man in England" by John Cleese, actor-comedian (and transvestite) Eddie Izzard refined his shtick as a street performer in Covent Garden, sitting on a unicycle, performing handcuff escapes and engaging in heavy-duty swordfights ("Our deaths for your entertainment" was the shill) while developing the ability to "talk and talk and talk and just not stop." Although he has starred in the 1994 world premiere of David Mamet's "The Cryptogram" (as a gay man) and played the title role of Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II", he far prefers a world of his own "carefully crafted rubbish" to that of serious acting, playing his various one-man shows to sold-out houses in England, France (in French) and, most recently, the USA. It is not transvestite humor; he just happens to be a cross-dresser who does comedy, specializing in stream-of-conscious fare that rarely touches on sexuality ("I'd be the perfect one-parent family").
Izzard made his feature acting debut (sans purple nail polish and Jean Paul Gaultier Chinese housecoat) as the devious anarchist-ambassador Vladimir of "The Secret Agent" (1996), Christopher Hampton's take on the Joseph Conrad novel. He later played a gum-chewing, old lady-thumping bad guy in "The Avengers", the disappointing feature based on the 60s series, and wore fantastic 70s suits (and, ironically, less makeup than anyone else in the film) as "a very can-do, gonna-make-you-a-star" band manager in Todd Haynes' "Velvet Goldmine" (both 1998). Something of a cult figure in England, Izzard was the subject of "TX", a BBC documentary made of him on tour, as well as Peter Richardson's behind-the-scenes film "Glorious: The Road Movie", which aired on Channel 4. For American TV, he acted in a 1996 episode of HBO's "Tales From the Crypt", performed on HBO's "Comic Relief VIII" and narrated the "David Bowie" segment of VH1's documentary "Legends" (both 1998). Izzard also portrayed evil disco king Tony Pompadour in the feature "The Mystery Men" (1999), battling a host of cast-off comic book superheroes played by Ben Stiller, Geoffrey Rush and Janeane Garofalo, among others. In 2002, he portrayed Tony Parker in the war-comedy feature, "All The Queen's Men", co-starring with Matt LeBlanc.

Born:- on 02/07/62 in Aden, Yemen
Job Titles:- Actor, Comedian
Family:- Father: John Izzard. worked for British Petroleum
Mother: Dorothy Ella Izzard. died of cancer at age 41 c. 1968
: has an older brother
Education:-
St John's School, Porthcawl, Wales, 1968
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England

Milestones:-
* 1985 Went public as a transvestite at age 23 (date approximate), incorporating it into his act at a later date
* 1994 Starred in West End stage productions of David Mamet's "The Cryptogram" and "900 Oneonta"; also played the title role in Leicester revival of Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II"
* 1995 Appeared in solo show "Definite Article"
* 1996 American TV debut in the "Confession" episode of HBO's "Tales From the Crypt"
* 1996 Feature debut in "The Secret Agent" as devious anarchist-ambassador Vladimir
* 1997 Performed his one-man show "Glorious" at NYC's P.S. 122
* 1998 Appeared at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, winning the Amstel Light jury prize for best one-person show, "Dress to Kill"
* 1998 Brought "Dress to Kill" to NYC's Westbeth Theatre, later taking it to San Francisco and Los Angeles
* 1998 Portrayed a silent baddie guarding Sean Connery in "The Avengers" and played band manager Jerry Devine in Todd Haynes' "Velvet Goldmine", about glam rock musicians
* 1999 A San Francisco performance of "Dress to Kill" was aired as an HBO comedy special; received two Emmy Awards
* 1999 Played one of the villains fighting a rag-tag group of superheroes in "The Mystery Men"
* 1999 Starred on the London stage in as American comic Lenny Bruce in a revised version of Julian Barry's play "Lenny", directed by Peter Hall
* 2000 Portrayed German silent actor Gustav von Wangenheim in "Shadow of the Vampire"
* 2000 Toured USA with one-person show "Circle"
* 2001 Portrayed Charlie Chaplin in "The Cat's Meow"; released theatrically in the USA in 2002 * 2001 Returned to the British stage replacing Clive Owen in the revival of "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg"
* 2002 Cast opposite of Matt LeBlanc in "All The Queens Men"
* 2002 Co-starred with Derek Jacobi and Christopher Eccleston in a modern version of "Revenger's Tragedy" helmed by Alex Cox
* 2004 Cast in "Ocean's Twelve" directed by Steven Soderbergh
* 2005 Cast in John Turturro's big screen musical "Romance & Cigarettes"
Dropped out of college and got comedy experience as a street performer
Family left Yemen and moved to Bangor, Northern Ireland c. 1964, later relocating to Skewen, Wales before father finally settled in Bexhill-on-Sea in 1969
Will play the film's main villain, a baddie named Professor Bedlam in the Ivan Reitman comedy "Super Ex" starring Uma Thurman (lensed 2005)