Jonathan Peter Culshaw (born 2 June 1968) is an English actor, comedian and
impressionist. He is best known for his work on the radio comedy ''
Dead Ringers'' since 2000.
Culshaw has voiced a number of characters for
ITV shows including ''
2DTV'' (2001), ''
Spitting Image'' (1994–96) and ''
Newzoids'' (2015–2016), as well as appearing in ''
The Impressions Show'' alongside
Debra Stephenson from 2009 until 2011.
Early life and career
Culshaw was born on 2 June 1968 in
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, and educated at
St Bede's Catholic High School and
St John Rigby College,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
.
Culshaw's radio career began in
hospital radio in Ormskirk. His first job was at
Red Rose Radio (now Rock FM) in
Preston in 1987, where, even then, he used to occasionally read the weather in the voice of
Frank Bruno. He did voice-over work, then was catapulted to prominence with ''
Spitting Image'', where he voiced around forty characters, including
John Major
Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British retired politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997. Following his defeat to Ton ...
in the 1990s, who was then the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
.
For around four years in the late 1980s, Culshaw was a DJ on commercial radio station
Viking FM, based in
Hull, and also had a breakfast show on
Pennine Radio (now the
Pulse of West Yorkshire) and
Radio Wave
Radio waves (formerly called Hertzian waves) are a type of electromagnetic radiation with the lowest frequencies and the longest wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with frequencies below 300 gigahertz (GHz) and wavelengths g ...
in
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
. It was a receptionist at Viking FM who persuaded Culshaw that he should go onstage with his impressions and make it his living. Culshaw later appeared on
BBC Radio 2's ''
It's Been a Bad Week'', appeared as a guest on the
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
''Star Trek Night'' quiz in August 1996, and was also a regular guest on the
Chris Moyles afternoon show on
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
from 1998 to 2002, where he would phone up commercial organisations such as a
Kwik-Fit garage in the voice of
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore's early interest in astro ...
or
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...
politely requesting whether they could service his
X-wing fighter and how much time it would take.
Career
Radio
Culshaw rose to fame in January 1998 while working with
Steve Penk on
Capital Radio
Capital London is an Independent Local Radio station owned and operated by Global Media & Entertainment as part of its national Capital (radio network), Capital Network.
As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Bri ...
, by impersonating
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague, Baron Hague of Richmond (born 26 March 1961) is a British politician and life peer who was Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2001 and Deputy Leader from 2005 to 2010. He was th ...
and succeeding in contacting
Number 10 Downing Street. He was put through to
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
who, despite instantly discovering the ruse, had a lengthy conversation with him until a member of Blair's staff ended the call.
Culshaw was one of the stars of the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
comedy series ''
Dead Ringers'', which ran from 2000 to 2007 as well as the
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
television series of the same name, from 2002 until 2007. The radio series of ''Dead Ringers'' made a return to
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
in 2014.
In 2018, Culshaw gave a rare dramatic performance as
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
in the BBC radio play ''The Final Take: Bowie in the Studio'', an imagined account of Bowie as he works on
his final album and looks back over his life.
Television
Between 2001 and 2002, Culshaw hosted a programme on
ITV called ''Alter Ego'', where he interviewed male celebrities in their own style of speaking, a form of simultaneous translation. Culshaw also appeared on ''
2DTV'', a cartoon version of ''Dead Ringers''. In early 2004, using the same production team, he had his own programme, ''
The Impressionable Jon Culshaw
''The Impressionable Jon Culshaw'' is a satire comedy, sketch show starring the Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist Jon Culshaw, made by Ronin Entertainment. A deal with ITV (TV network), ITV enabled Culshaw to make this while simultaneo ...
'' commissioned for
ITV.
In 2005, Culshaw was a celebrity contestant on ''
Comic Relief Does Fame Academy'' and was the fourth person to become eliminated. In the same year, he also appeared in the BBC General Election coverage, in the guises of
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
. In January 2006, Culshaw presented one series of the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
programme ''
Jon Culshaw's Commercial Breakdown''. In November 2007 and December 2008, Culshaw, a keen
amateur astronomer, appeared on ''
The Sky at Night'' impersonating a young
Sir Patrick Moore. In March 2011, he appeared again on the 700th episode of ''
The Sky at Night'', reading viewer questions to the panel of experts. Culshaw later appeared two months later reporting on the
Northern Lights.
In January 2008, he appeared on ''
Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack'', as part of a
pub-quiz team with
Chris Moyles. In May 2008, Culshaw appeared in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
documentary series ''
Comedy Map of Britain''.
Since 2009, Culshaw has starred in the
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
comedy sketch show ''
The Impressions Show'' alongside
Debra Stephenson.
On 13 March 2010, Jon was a guest judge on the
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
charity programme ''
Let's Dance for Comic Relief''. In 2013, he appeared as a contestant on the show, where he performed a routine to "
Praise You" by
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...
. However, he was eliminated by the public vote.
In 2010, Culshaw appeared in the television series, ''
Missing'' as Des Martin. In November 2013, Culshaw appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage ''
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
''The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot'' is a 2013 comedy spoof and homage to the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It appeared on the BBC Red Button service after the broadcast of "The Day of the Doctor", the official 50th ann ...
''.
Since 2015, he has voiced a number of characters alongside
Debra Stephenson for the
ITV sketch show ''
Newzoids''. A second series aired in 2016.
In 2017, Jon was one of the minor hosts of the
Channel 5 documentary series ''
Secrets of the National Trust''. In February 2021, Culshaw appeared on
Celebrity Mastermind, doing "Doctor Who – the Jon Pertwee Years" for his specialist subject.
In 2021, Jon appeared as a guest on Celebrity Yorkshire Auction House, series 1 episode 2. He entertained the auction company's staff when they collected his sale items, and the buyers that attended the auction. He also donated all of the proceeds of the sale to charity.
Until 2023, Culshaw narrated the Channel 4 property series 'Sun, Sea, and Selling Houses'.
Film
In film, Culshaw appeared as
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
in the 2004 film ''
Churchill: The Hollywood Years'' and voiced Piston Pete in the 2008 film ''Agent Crush''.
Impressions
Some of Culshaw's most famous impressions include former British Prime Ministers
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
and
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
,
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi () is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalke ...
(as portrayed by
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. In the BFI, British Film Institute listing of 1999 of BFI Top 100 British films, the 100 most important British films of the 20th century ...
),
Russell Crowe, Presidents
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
and
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
,
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
, comedian
Michael McIntyre, presenter
Dale Winton
Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows '' Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show '' In It to Win It' ...
, newsreader
Brian Perkins,
Sir Patrick Moore,
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
and
Les Dawson.
''Doctor Who''
Culshaw has appeared in numerous ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' related productions in various roles. This first came to fruition with his impersonation of
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for having played the Fourth Doctor, fourth and longest-serving incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television ...
's
Fourth Doctor for both the TV and radio versions of ''Dead Ringers''.
He has also appeared in the webcast "
Death Comes to Time" and audio drama ''
The Kingmaker''. In the latter, he got to perform his Tom Baker impression "for real" (voicing tape recordings of the fourth Doctor), although his nominal part was that of
Earl Rivers. In 2019, he appeared in a trilogy of Doctor Who audio dramas alongside Fifth Doctor
Peter Davison
Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...
, playing the shape-shifting android
Kamelion. He later started playing
Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart alongside
Tim Treloar as the Third Doctor.
Awards and honours
In 2006, Culshaw received an
honorary fellowship from the
University of Central Lancashire in
Preston. In December 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by
Edge Hill University. In July 2013 he was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Laws degree from the
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...
. In March 2019, Culshaw sat for British impressionist artist Sherree Valentine-Daines for a portrait painted to mark the opening of the Clarendon Fine Art Gallery in Hampstead, London.
Charity
Culshaw is a celebrity ambassador for the charity Trekstock.
Culshaw also supports
the Starlight Children's Foundation.
Culshaw regularly presents Gold
Duke of Edinburgh's Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...
s as part of his support for the charity.
In 2016 he participated in the
Great North Run to raise funds for the Jon Egging Trust, a charity set up in memory of the
Red Arrows flight lieutenant who died while flying at the Red Arrows Display at the
Bournemouth Air Festival.
Filmography
;Film
;Television
;Guest appearances
*''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (2007, 2013)
*''
Celebrity Are You Smarter than a Ten Year Old?'' (2008)
*''
Hotel Babylon'' (2008)
*''
Celebrity Mastermind'' (2008)
*''Heston's Eighties Feast'' (2010)
*''
The Sky at Night'' (2011)
*''
Stargazing Live'' (2012)
*''
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'' (2012)
*''
Britain's Secret Treasures'' (2012)
*''
Pointless Celebrities'' (2012, 2014)
*''
The Chase: Celebrity Special'' (2013)
*''
Tipping Point: Lucky Stars'' (2014)
*''
Holiday of My Lifetime'' (2014)
*''Bruce Forsyth's Hall of Fame'' (2014)
*''
Get Your Act Together'' (2015)
*''
All Star Family Fortunes''
(2015)
*''
This Week'' (2015)
*''
Sunday Brunch'' (2015)
*''
The Paul O'Grady Show'' (2015)
*''
Celebrity Money for Nothing'' (2017)
*''The Hairy Bikers Home for Christmas'' (2017)
References
External links
*
Alter Ego.Article in ''The Stage''BBC Dead Ringers.
Audio clips
Prank call.The Time Lord contacts terrestrial organisations by telephone.Voice over work.Viking FM jingleTalking about his work on ''Dead Ringers''.Interviewed on Radio Lancashire in July 2006Helping out with Budget 2005 on Radio Five Live''Would You'' featuring celebrity vocalsTalking on Danny Baker's programme.This is the Radio Four News with Brian Perkins.Are you sitting comfortably? It's time for Dead Ringers to begin.
Video clips
Receiving his honorary degree in Preston (YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culshaw, Jon
1968 births
Living people
20th-century English comedians
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English comedians
21st-century English male actors
English impressionists (entertainers)
English male comedians
English male film actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Male actors from Lancashire
People from Ormskirk
Comedians from Lancashire
Actors from the Borough of West Lancashire