Colin Sell (born 1 December 1948)Roberts, Jem. ''The Clue Bible: The Fully Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue from Footlights to Mornington Crescent''. Preface, 2009. is a British

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

who has appeared on the radio panel games ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. The three major versions of the show are the original 1988 British radio programme (from which all subsequent versions are ada ...

'' and ''

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by the host. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of ...

''. He has become famous mostly for his long service on the latter show, where he is frequently the butt of the host's jokes about the supposedly poor quality of his playing.

Personal life

Colin Sell was born in

Purley, Surrey Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, England, south of Charing Cross, with a history going back at least 800 years. It was originally granted as an estate from holdings at Sanderstead and until as a district of Surrey ...

and grew up in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, attending Trinity School. He gained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

in 1971.

Career

Sell wrote music for the

's revues in the early 1970s, leading to performances at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, where

Simon Brett Simon Anthony Lee Brett Order of the British Empire, OBE Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL (born 28 October 1945 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England) is a British author of detective fiction, a playwright, and a producer-writer for ...

saw Sell perform and offered him the pianist position on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. He also appeared with the

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre is a theatre located in Guildford, Surrey, England. Named after the actress Yvonne Arnaud, it presents a series of locally produced and national touring productions, including opera, ballet and pantomime. The theatre ...

TIE company in the early 1970s, which also included two other well-known names,

Elizabeth Estensen Elizabeth Estensen (born 10 August 1949) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Diane Sugden on the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' from 1999 to 2021, with a guest stint in 2022. She has also made appearances in various British t ...

and

Clive Hornby Clive William Hornby (20 October 1944 – 3 July 2008) was an English actor, best known for his role as Jack Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. He first appeared in the programme (then named ''Emmerdale Farm'') in 1980, and remained in ...

, both long-standing members of the ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

'' cast. He became Head of Music at

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School, sometimes known simply as East 15, is a drama school based in Essex, England. It provides vocational training in acting, specialist performance disciplines, theatre directing, stage management, and creative producing. Th ...

, Essex in 1998, and remained on staff until at least April 2015. Until 1998 he was Head of Music at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a higher education institution in the London Borough of Bexley. Bruford has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various ...

, Sidcup, and was instrumental in the creation of the BA (Hons) Actor-Musician course there. He occasionally provides live musical accompaniment for

The Comedy Store Players The Comedy Store Players are a group of improvisational comedians who perform at The Comedy Store in London. The group first came into being in October 1985. The Players Members of the group have included: *Dave Cohen *Jeremy Hardy * Kit Holle ...

, a comedy improvisation group based in

The Comedy Store, London The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'' as a pianist, and composed the score for the 1984

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...

production of Shakespeare's ''

The Life and Death of King John ''The Life and Death of King John'' (also ''King John''), by William Shakespeare, is a history play about the reign of John, King of England (r. 1199–1216), the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the father of Henry III. ''Kin ...

''. He has accompanied

Barry Cryer Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory B ...

and

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, comedian actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 at 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, ...

in their stage show ''Two Old Farts in the Night''. After the interval he played (and sang) a solo: "We are the Boys in the Band". In 2013 he appeared with

Richmond, Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 census was 8,413. The t ...

, as part of the

Swaledale Festival The Swaledale Festival takes place over two weeks in May and June each year, in churches, chapels, castles, ‘Literary Institutes’, pubs, fields and village halls scattered around Swaledale, Arkengarthdale and Wensleydale. The largest venues s ...

, performing jazz and blues and songs of his own composition. He has arranged and directed music for radio plays such as ''Born to be Wilde: An Ideal Husband'' in 2018.

References

External links

BBC - I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - Colin Sell Interview

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sell, Colin Living people 1948 births British keyboardists British male pianists British radio people I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Musicians from the London Borough of Croydon People from Purley, London