Neil Mullarkey is an English actor, writer and comedian.

Early life and education

From 1972 to 1979, Mullarkey was educated at Kingston Grammar School, an

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

for boys (now coeducational), in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

, followed by

Robinson College, Cambridge Robinson College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1977, it is one of the newest Oxbridge colleges and is unique in having been intended, from its inception, for both ...

, where he was a member of the

Cambridge Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

and was Junior Treasurer during Tony Slattery's term as president. He became president in 1982 with Nick Hancock, Steve Punt and

Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist and writer. He was a panellist in every episode of the comedy show ''Mock the Week'' (2005–2022) and is one half ...

as his contemporaries. Mullarkey formed ''Hancock & Mullarkey'' with Hancock, performing their act (which consisted of spoofing television shows' title sequences to that show's accompanying theme music) several times on television. This included ''

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 ...

'', ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American Action film, action Crime film, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theophilus "Theo" Kojak. Tak ...

'', and ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

''.

Career

Mullarkey has been in a double act with

Tony Hawks Antony Gordon Hawksworth Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 27 February 1960), known professionally as Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author. Early life Born in Brighton, Sussex, Hawks was educated at Brighton, Hove and Sussex Gr ...

called the Timid Twins. In the mid-1980s, he teamed up with

Mike Myers Michael John Myers, (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. His accolades include seven MTV Movie & TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywood W ...

as 'Mullarkey and Myers'. They would perform sketches based on their shared love of cartoons, B-movies and bad TV. They played around the burgeoning London pub circuit, particularly at the George IV in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, where they often shared the bill with the young

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. He has received List of awards ...

, then plying his trade in the ''Jockeys of Norfolk'' revue. As their fame increased, Mullarkey and Myers toured the UK, ending in a sold-out season at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...

. The two appeared as The Sound Asleep Club on TV-am's ''Wide Awake Club'', a children's TV show hosted at the time by

Tommy Boyd Timothy Leslie "Tommy" Boyd (born 14 December 1952) is a British television and radio presenter. He gained prominence in the 1970s and 1980s as host of the children's television programmes ''Magpie'', '' Wide Awake Club'', and ''The Saturday ...

. Myers eventually returned to Toronto, but Mullarkey would briefly join him to revive 'Mullarkey and Myers' in Canada. Later still, he appeared in Myers' début in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'', as the Customs Officer who freaks Austin out with his Swedish-made penis pump. (He also appeared again in '' Goldmember'' and helped

with uncredited rewrites of '' So I Married An Axe Murderer''). As a founding member of The Comedy Store Players, he is regularly performing on the UK comedy circuit.

Theatre

He is a founder member of The Comedy Store Players, and still appears with them regularly at London's

Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Com ...

. He has written and performed four one-man shows; *''A Bit of Quiet Fun'' *''Memoirs of Lord Naughty'' *''All That Mullarkey'' *''Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy'' ''Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy'' won the Fringe Report Award for Best Satire of 2002. In it, Mullarkey plays L. Vaughan Spencer, Life Coach, Self-Help Guru and Gangsta Motivator. The book ''Don't Be Needy Be Succeedy: The A to Z of Motivitality'' was published by Profile Books in November 2008. Mullarkey starred with

Eddie Izzard Suzy Eddie Izzard ( ; born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomi ...

in the sell-out West End run of ''One Word Improv'' and has guested with The Groundlings in Los Angeles and

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

in Toronto.

Television

On television, his appearances include: *''

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 ...

'' *'' The Manageress'' *''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' *'' Smith and Jones'' *'' Saturday Live'' *'' QI'' *'' Have I Got News For You'' *'' Carrott Confidential'' *'' Paul Merton: The Series'' *'' Absolutely'' *''

Colin's Sandwich ''Colin's Sandwich'' is a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC Two, BBC2 in 1988 and 1990. It starred Mel Smith as Colin Watkins, a British Rail administrator who aspired to be a horror writer. The show was written by Paul Smith (television w ...

'' He was a writer on

's show ''Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors'' and co-wrote (with Greg Proops) ''The Amazing Colossal Show'' for BBC2. He hosted ''American Freak'' for America's

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

network. He also does regular TV advert voiceover work.

Cinema

Mullarkey has acted feature films, including '' Leon the Pig Farmer'', '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'', ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third and final installment in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four different roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldme ...

'' and '' Spice World''.

Radio

Mullarkey hosted ''Missed Demeanours'' for BBC Radio 4, was a regular performer on '' Bits from Last Week's Radio'', co-wrote and starred in ''FAB TV'' and has appeared on ''

Just a Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

'', '' The News Quiz'', ''Quote...Unquote'', ''

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 ...

'', ''Loose Ends'', ''In Touch'' and '' ''The Unbelievable Truth''''. He wrote and presented the documentary ''Ten Years of the Comedy Store Players''.

References

External links

*
Profile
neilmullarkey.com
Details
improvyourbiz.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullarkey, Neil 1961 births Alumni of Robinson College, Cambridge English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors English radio personalities Living people People educated at Kingston Grammar School English male comedians Comedians from Hertfordshire Male actors from Watford