Kulvinder Ghir (born 10 August 1965) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known as one of the cast members in the BBC

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

'' Goodness Gracious Me''. He is also known for playing Aslam in the 1987 Yorkshire-based film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too!'', alongside Michelle Holmes,

Siobhan Finneran Siobhán Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is a British actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'', and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation Str ...

and George Costigan.

Early life

Ghir was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian Punjabi parents of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...

heritage. Ghir grew up in the Chapeltown suburb of

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Ghir first began performing on stage at 13, going on to play comedy clubs between 15 and 17, thereafter enrolling in a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

drama school.

Career

Ghir made his first television appearance as a teenager in 1981 on the

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was prima ...

programme ''The Extraordinary People Show''. At the time, he was looking at going into animation, and was one of three teenagers chosen to question

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

about his techniques, and for general advice. His next TV appearance was in 1985, in the recurring role of Davy Malik in the BBC drama ''

Howards' Way ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business com ...

''. His breakthrough role came in 1987, in the controversial British film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too!''. Since then, he has worked extensively in film, television and theatre. He is best known as being one of four regular cast members in the BBC sketch comedy ''Goodness Gracious Me'', in both its radio and TV incarnation. Amongst the many characters Ghir played were "Chunky Lafunga", a sexy

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

"hero", the superhero Bhangra Man, and as one half of the "Bhangramuffins" duo (alongside series co-writer

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Two sketch comedy series '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and as the star of the sitcom '' The Kumars at No. 42''. ...

). He is also known for providing the voice of Ajay Bains in ''

Postman Pat ''Postman Pat'' is a British stop-motion animated television series first produced by Woodland Animations. The series follows the adventures of Pat Clifton, a postman who works for Royal Mail postal service in the fictional village of Greendal ...

''. His play ''Dusky Warriors'' premiered at the Theatre Royal,

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of C ...

, in 1995. He also lent his voice to a few animated series aside from ''

'', including ''

Chop Socky Chooks ''Chop Socky Chooks'' is a computer-animated action series produced by Aardman Animations, Decode Entertainment, and Cartoon Network Europe that ran on Cartoon Network from 7 March 2008 until 24 July 2009. It was created and directed by Se ...

'' and the 2015 reboot of ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along wi ...

''. In 2009, he was in the film '' 31 North 62 East'' as Tariq. From September 2009 to May 2011, Ghir was part of the cast of

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

comedy series '' Lunch Monkeys'', playing Mohammed Khan, father of Abdullah Afzal's character. The show lasted two series. In 2013, he appeared as one of the feuding brothers in the UK film, ''

Jadoo Jadoo or Jaadu () may refer to: * ''Jadoo'' (1951 film), a 1951 Indian Hindi-language film * '' Jaadu'', a 1995 Indian Hindi-language film * ''Jadoo'' (2013 film), the 2013 British film * ''Kedi'' (2006 film), the 2006 Indian film, released as ...

''. He also appeared in the final episode of British sitcom '' Big School'', as Mr. Rupesh the school bus driver. He also hosted the 2013

Brit Asia TV Music Awards The Brit Asia TV Music Awards, also known as Brit Asia TV World Music Awards or the abbreviation BAMA, is an awards show that is held annually in the United Kingdom since 2010 (except in 2016), usually in October. The awards show is produced by ...

. Since 2013, he has played Cyril in '' Still Open All Hours''. In 2019, he played the protagonist's father in ''

Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, a which first appeared on his 1973 debut album ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the ' ...

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
BBC interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghir, Kulvinder 1965 births Living people Writers from Nairobi British male actors of Indian descent British Sikhs British people of Indian descent British male television actors British male stage actors British male film actors British male voice actors British male musical theatre actors British male Shakespearean actors Royal Shakespeare Company members Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom Punjabi people 20th-century British comedians 21st-century British comedians