Nigel Planer
Born	February 22, 1953 (age 54) London, England
Notable roles	Neil Pye (The Young Ones)

Nigel George Planer (born February 22, 1953 in London) is an English actor, novelist and playwright. He was educated at Westminster School, Sussex University and LAMDA. February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2006 estimate... The Young Ones may refer to: The Young Ones (TV series), a 1980s British sitcom about four students living together The Young Ones (film), a film starring Cliff Richard The Young Ones (song), sung by Cliff Richard This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2006 estimate... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... The Royal College of large men at Westminster (almost always known as Westminster School) is one of Britains top boys independent schools and one of the nine British public schools, as set out in the Public Schools Act 1868. ... University of Sussex Logo © University of Sussex The University of Sussex is an English campus university located near the East Sussex village of Falmer, near Brighton and Hove and on the edge of the South Downs. ... The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), founded 1861, is a leading British drama school in west London. ...

Personal life

He has two sons from previous marriages - Stanley, with Anna Leigh, married from 19 August 1988 - 1995 and Harvey, with Frankie Park (April 1999-?).

Acting career

Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil, the hippie housemate of Vyvyan (Adrian Edmonson), Rik (Rik Mayall) and Mike (Christopher Ryan) in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones, which ran from 1982-1984. Planer was one of the original cast of the The Comic Strip team, pioneers of the alternative comedy movement in the UK. Originally a nightclub stage show, he appeared with its creator Peter Richardson as part of the double act The Outer Limits. It was also Planer and Richardson that wrote the That's Life! parody on Not The Nine O'Clock News. Adrian Edmondson Adrian Edmondson (sometimes credited as Ade Edmondson, born 24 January 1957 in Bradford, Yorkshire, Britain) is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer who gained fame as Vyvyan in The Young Ones in the early 1980s. ... Richard Michael Rik Mayall (born on March 7, 1958 in Harlow, Essex) is an English comedian and actor. ... Christopher Ryan is an English actor who trained at East 15 Acting School in London. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion (US$7. ... The Young Ones may refer to: The Young Ones (TV series), a 1980s British sitcom about four students living together The Young Ones (film), a film starring Cliff Richard The Young Ones (song), sung by Cliff Richard This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Peter Richardson born 15 October 1951 in Devon, Britain, is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... Thats Life! was a television magazine-style series on BBC between 1973 and 1994, presented by Esther Rantzen throughout the entire run, with various changes of co-presenters. ... Not the Nine OClock News is a comedy television programme that was shown on the BBC, broadcast from 1979 to 1982. ...

Stage career

His first break in the theatre was understudying David Essex as Che Guevara in the original West End run of Evita. Nigel was in the original London cast of Chicago, as Amos Hart. He was a member of the original West End cast of Ben Elton's Queen musical We Will Rock You. From 10-15 July 2006 he played the part of the Narrator in "The Rocky Horror Show" taking on the role in Manchester and Bromley. He is currently starring as The Wizard in the West-End production of Wicked at The Apollo Victoria Theatre. He recently appeared on a BBC 4 programme under the guise of 'Nicholas Craig' to be interviewed by Mark Lawson. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14,[1] 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or El Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, medic, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. ... // West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland . Along with New Yorks Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the... Evita is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics). ... Chicago is a musical, based on the play Chicago by Maurine Dallas Watkins. ... // West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland . Along with New Yorks Broadway Theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of theatre in the... Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, writer and director. ... Queen is an English rock band, formed in 1970 in London by Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor, with John Deacon joining the following year. ... We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. ... The Rocky Horror Show is a long running stage musical (opening in London initially, on June 19, 1973) that inspired the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. ... The Wizard of Oz (or simply The Wizard) is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and further popularized by the classic 1939 movie. ... Wicked is an American musical produced by Universal Pictures with music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and book by Winnie Holzman. ... The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a theatre on Wilton Road near Victoria station in London. ...

Music career

Nigel was one of the 4 members of the 1980s spoof rock band, Bad News, playing Den Dennis. As Neil from The Young Ones, Nigel gained a number two hit single in 1984 in the form of "Hole in My Shoe", (originally a hit for sixties band Traffic). A cover of Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle" was a less successful follow up, only reaching number seventeen in the charts. After that, an album was produced, entitled "Neil's Heavy Concept Album." Nigel also took Neil's stage act on the road in that year as Neil in the "Bad Karma in The UK" tour. This culminated in a month long run at St. Mary's Hall at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Young Ones also appeared on Cliff Richard's 1986 charity rerecording of 'Living Doll', which spent three weeks at number one in the UK. Bad News are a spoof rock band, created for the Channel 4 television series The Comic Strip Presents. ... The Young Ones is a British sitcom which ran for two series of six episodes each in 1982 and in 1984. ... Traffic was a rock band from Birmingham, England, formed in late 1966 by Steve Winwood with Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason. ... Tomorrow (previously known as The In Crowd and before that as Four Plus One) were a 1960s psychedelic rock band. ... A street performer on the Royal Mile, with volunteer (2004). ... The Young Ones may refer to: The Young Ones (TV series), a 1980s British sitcom about four students living together The Young Ones (film), a film starring Cliff Richard The Young Ones (song), sung by Cliff Richard This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Credits

He is arguably best known in Britain for his work in television comedy and satire, including:

• Boom Boom...Out Go The Lights (1980)
• Shine on Harvey Moon (1982)
• The Young Ones - on which he played Neil, the hippie (1982-1984)
• Roll Over Beethoven (1983-1984)
• The Comic Strip Presents... (1983-2000)
• King & Castle (1986-1988)
• Filthy, Rich & Catflap (1987)
• Blackeyes by Dennis Potter (1989)
• Frankenstein's Baby (1990)
• Nicholas Craig - The Naked Actor (1990)
• Nicholas Craig's Interview Masterclass (1990)
• Nicholas Craig's Masterpiece Theatre (1992)
• The Nicholas Craig Masterclass (1992)
• Carry On Columbus (1992)
• The Magic Roundabout (English adaptation and narrator on previously unseen episodes)
• Sherlock Holmes (1993)
• Let's Get Divorced (1994)
• Wake Up! With Libby And Jonathan (1994)
• Blackadder the Third
• Yellowbeard
• French & Saunders
• Jonathan Creek
• The Grimleys (1997-2001)
• Wicked (2006-14th July 2007)

He has published several books including novels - The Right Man (2000) (ISBN 0-09-927227-X) and Faking It (2003) (ISBN 0-09-940986-0). , Nigel wrote A Good Enough Dad (1992) (ISBN 0-09-929661-6), after his first son was born, talking about coping with becoming a father. Shine on Harvey Moon is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV from 1982 to 1985. ... The Young Ones; Left to right: Jerzi Balowski (Alexei Sayle), Neil (Nigel Planer), Rik (Rick Mayall), Mike (Christopher Ryan) & Viv (Adrian Edmondson) The Young Ones was a British sitcom about four male students sharing a house. ... Singer at a modern Hippie movement in Russia A hippie or hippy is a member of a specific subgroup of the counterculture that began in the United States during the early 1960s, spread to other countries, and declined in the mid-1970s. ... This article is about the British comedy group; for the published art form, see comic strip. ... Filthy, Rich and Catflap was a BBC sitcom produced in 1987. ... Blackeyes was a 1989 BBC TV series, written and directed by British playwright Dennis Potter, starring Gina Bellman as the title character. ... Liber Amoris Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935—7 June 1994) was a controversial British dramatist who is best known for several widely acclaimed television dramas which mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. ... Carry On Columbus was a 1992 film, and the most recent in the Carry On films series. ... Le Manège Enchanté (known in English as The Magic Roundabout) was a childrens television programme created in France in 1963 by Serge Danot. ... Blackadder is the generic name that encompasses four series of an acclaimed BBC One historical sitcom, along with several one-off installments. ... Yellowbeard poster Yellowbeard is a 1983 comedy film, that was co-written and acted by Monty Python member Graham Chapman and David Sherlock, and directed by Mel Damski. ... French & Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, and also the name by which the performers are known on the rare occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act. ... Jonathan Creek is a British mystery television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. ... CD cover from The Grimleys soundtrack The Grimleys was a nostalgic comedy-drama set in Dudley, West Midlands, England in the mid-1970s. ... Wicked can be: Look up wicked in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ...

External links

• Nigel Planer Filmography and mini-biography from the Internet Movie Database.
• Wicked Biography Full Biography from official Wicked site.
• The Times Article September 2006 article about Nigel.