Michael Fenton Stevens

Michael Fenton Stevens (born 12 February 1958) is an English actor and comedian. He was a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and sang the lead on the ''Spitting Image'' 1986 number 1 hit " The Chicken Song". He also starred in '' KYTV'', its Radio 4 predecessor '' Radio Active'','' Benidorm'', and was an anchor on '' 3rd & Bird'' on CBeebies. Stevens also appeared as a diner in an episode of the original series of Mr Bean, entitled ‘Room 426’.

Career

Radio and broadcasting

Fenton Stevens was one of the principal performers in the Radio 4 comedy series ''Radio Active'' during the 1980s, alongside Helen Atkinson-Wood, Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins and Philip Pope, which later led to the television series ''KYTV''.

He also appeared in various roles in the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases of the '' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' radio series. In 2007, he played the similarly named Michael Wenton Weeks in ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency''. He plays the eponymous '' Inspector Steine'' in Lynne Truss' long-running Radio 4 comedy series.

He has also played a long-running role in the radio soap ''The Archers''.

In 2020, Fenton Stevens released the first of a podcast series, ''My Time Capsule'', produced by his son John Fenton Stevens. The show involves guests choosing four memories they would preserve in a time capsule, and a fifth memory they would wish to bury in the ground and never think about again. Guests have included Stephen Fry, Rebecca Front, Rick Wakeman, Mark Gatiss, Rufus Hound, David Mitchell, Anthony Head, Chris Addison, Rev Richard Coles, Griff Rhys Jones, Richard Herring and David Baddiel. In June 2023, it celebrated its 300th episode.

Television

Fenton Stevens featured in regular roles as Hank in the 1996 series ''The Legacy of Reginald Perrin'', and as Ralph in Andy Hamilton's 2003 television sitcom ''Trevor's World of Sport'', as well as in the Radio 4 version of the latter which was broadcast in 2004. He had previously appeared in a guest role in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'', another television comedy series written by Hamilton, and appears regularly in various roles in Hamilton's Radio 4 sitcom ''Old Harry's Game''. He has also featured in Ian Hislop's sitcom ''My Dad's the Prime Minister'' as the Home Secretary.

From 2004 until 2005 he appeared in two series of Julia Davis's dark comedy series ''Nighty Night'' as the Reverend Gordon Fox.

He has provided the voice of Mr Beakman, a toucan, in the CBeebies show '' 3rd & Bird'', and has a recurring role in the sitcom ''My Family'' as Mr Griffith, the boss of the dental corporation Cavitex. He has played Sir Henry in ''Benidorm'' since series four, which was first broadcast in 2011.

Notable guest appearances have included the next door hotel guest in " Mr. Bean in Room 426", and the brother-in-law of Hee Bee Gee Bees bandmate, Angus Deayton's character in an episode of ''One Foot in the Grave''. He played Alan Perkins, a holiday rep in Spain in " The Unlucky Winner Is" episode of ''Only Fools And Horses''. He also played a guest role in ''Coronation Street'' in November 2004. In 2006, he guest-starred in the ''Doctor Who'' audio adventure '' The Kingmaker''. He appeared in Series 3 Episode 3 of '' Outnumbered'', as a substitute player called 'Lance' in a tennis match, and in the "Music 2000" episode of '' Look Around You'' as the chairman of the Royal Pop and Rock Association. In 2022 he appeared as Tony Vanoli in a fourth season episode of ''Ghosts.''

Stage

Fenton Stevens has appeared as a Pantomime Dame in a number of pantomimes. From December 2006 until January 2007, he starred in and wrote the Cambridge Arts Theatre pantomime version of ''Aladdin'' in the role of Widow Twankey. In 2015, Stevens appeared as Dr. John Radcliffe in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's '' Queen Anne''.

Personal life

In 2014, his mother, Olive Stevens, was accidentally killed while out driving when another motorist attempted to help her turn her vehicle around after fly-tipped rubbish blocked her path. She fell and hit her head which caused a bleed on the brain causing her death in hospital.

Filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Michael Fenton
1958 births
Fenton Stevens, Michael
Fenton Stevens, Michael
The Hee Bee Gee Bees members
English male radio actors
English male comedians
Comedians from London
Male actors from London
English comedy musicians