Mick Miller (born 25 February 1950 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England) is an English

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

who has had a long career on the live comedy circuit, and has a trademark haircut of a bald head with long hair down the sides.

Early days

Miller was born as Michael Lawton on 25 February 1950 in Liverpool, England. Miller's first ambition was to be a footballer. He played as a goalkeeper, and as a boy he signed for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

when Sir

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

was the club's general manager and had a trial for the England youth team. When he left

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, he began performing at

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

, where he became interested in stand-up comedy. After being chief comedian at various Pontins venues, he moved to the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

and embarked upon a career in the clubs.

Stand-up career

Having won his heat on the talent show ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: 1973 ...

'', Miller was then signed to support

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

on tour. Since then, he has been a regular at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

s, cruises and after dinner speeches. His shows have been released on DVD, and he has made many TV appearances.

Television appearances

Miller was a regular on the 1970s stand-up show '' The Comedians'', co-presented ''The Funny Side'', regularly appeared on ''Today With Des and Mel'' and has been a guest on ''

Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which started in 1979 and is still running today, albeit with some sizeable gaps. The original series ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC1, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 un ...

'', ''

They Think It's All Over "They think it's all over" is a quote from Kenneth Wolstenholme's BBC TV commentary in the closing moments of the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, when England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time to win the FIFA World Cup. In the final few second ...

'' and ''Des O'Connor Tonight''. He acted in

Alan Bleasdale Alan George Bleasdale (born 23 March 1946) is an English screenwriter, best known for social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people. A former teacher, he has written for radio, stage and screen, and has also written novels. ...

's 1978

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

''Scully's New Year''. In it he played the part of a wannabe stand-up comedian. In 1993, Miller guested for Chester City in the Granada football ''Go for Goal'' quiz show, alongside

Arthur Albiston Arthur Richard Albiston (born 14 July 1957) is a Scottish former football player. Albiston played for Manchester United for most of his career, making almost 500 appearances for the club. He also made 14 international appearances for Scotland an ...

and Joe Hinnigan. Chester City reached the final before losing to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

. In 2005, he took part in the reality TV show ''Kings Of Comedy'' alongside

Stan Boardman Stanley Boardman (born 7 December 1937) is an English comedian. Early life and career Boardman was evacuated with his family to Wrexham during the Second World War, and after the family returned to their Merseyside home mistakenly thinking the ...

Janey Godley Janey Godley (born Jane Godley Currie, January 1961) is a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress and writer from Glasgow. Early life Jane Godley is the youngest of four children born to Annie and Jim Currie. She was raised on Kenmore Street in S ...

Andrew Maxwell Andrew Maxwell (born 3 December 1974) is an Irish comedian and narrator, known for narrating the MTV reality series ''Ex on the Beach''. Career In 1992, Maxwell tried stand-up comedy for the first time at the Comedy Cellar at The Internationa ...

Boothby Graffoe Boothby Graffoe is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 223. It is situated approximately south from the city and county town of Lincoln, ...

and

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

. In 2008 and 2009, he made several appearances on the BBC3 sitcom ''

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...

'', as the father of

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

's Moz. In 2011, he appeared on the ITV show ''Comedy Rocks'' with

Jason Manford Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC an ...

and, in December, he appeared on the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

. In 2015, he appeared in the first series of ''

Peter Kay's Car Share ''Peter Kay's Car Share'' is a British sitcom set around supermarket assistant manager John Redmond (Peter Kay) and promotions rep Kayleigh Kitson (Sian Gibson), and their participation in a company car-sharing scheme. The first series was fil ...

'' playing the character Tony in Episode 6 which was shown on BBC 1. As of April 2018, Miller was appearing in ITV's ''Last Laugh in Vegas''.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mick 1950 births Living people English male comedians English footballers Association football goalkeepers Port Vale F.C. players English television personalities Comedians from Liverpool