Stephen Frederick Eustace Frost (born 28 December 1955) is an English actor and comedian, best known for his work on ''

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 ...

'' as well as several projects with comedy partner Mark Arden.

Early life

Frost was born in

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and is the son of the abstract artist

Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...

and brother of painter

Anthony Frost Anthony Frost (born 1951) is a British painter noted for his abstract art, abstract works consisting of brightly coloured prints and collages. Biography Frost was born in St. Ives, Cornwall, the son of Terry Frost, Sir Terry Frost. From 1970 t ...

. He joined Banbury School (now

Wykham Park Academy Wykham Park Academy is a coeducational Academy (English school), academy school situated on Ruskin Road, in the Easington, Banbury, Oxfordshire, Easington ward of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. The school has a sixth form. Formerly Banbury Schoo ...

) in north

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, part of Stanbridge Hall, in September 1967. The school had become comprehensive that term, but only in name; the buildings largely remained. The school transitioned over years. He played rugby for his county at age 16, and badminton locally, and athletics, in the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

five star scheme. His brother Simon was also athletic. He took part in many school drama productions, in the sixth form, with his brothers Simon and Matthew. In the sixth form he grew a beard, and worked with the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and charity in London, created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world ...

. He won a playwright award from the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

. The head of the school drama group was Brian Derbyshire; the teacher left the school at the same time as Stephen, in July 1974. He passed two O-levels, Geography and Physics. He passed one A level, Geography. His headteacher was Harry Judge. He lived at 2 Old Parr Road from 1963 to 1974. In 1974 family moved to Newlyn in Cornwall. He attended the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

with Art Malik (and his wife Gina Rowe), Mark Arden and actors

Jeremy Gittins Philip Jeremy Gittins (born 30 January 1956) is a British actor from Manchester, England, who is known for his role as Michael the 'dishy' Church of England vicar in the successful BBC One sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' from 1990 to 1995. ...

and Robert McCulley.

Career

Work with Mark Arden

Frost is known for his work in the 1980s with Mark Arden as part of the

double act A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act, often highlighting differences in their characters' ...

The Oblivion Boys on '' Saturday Live''. Veterans of the

alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...

scene, he and Arden appeared in '' The Young Ones'', and later had their own

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

'' Lazarus and Dingwall'' on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air 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 matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

. They played the lead roles in the 1987 revival of Tom Stoppard's play, ''

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ''Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead'' is an absurdist, existential tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966. The play expands upon the exploits of two minor characters from Shakespeare's ''Hamle ...

'' at the

Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at the junction of Denman Street and Sherwood Street, near Piccadilly Circus, in the City of Westminster, London. It opened in 1928. In its early years the theatre presented a wide range of ...

. They also played two robbers in 'Big Deal' series 2, in the episode 'Popping Across The Pond'. In 1994 the Oblivion Boys starred opposite the comedy duo Raw Sex ( Simon Brint and

Rowland Rivron Rowland John Rivron (born 28 September 1958) is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality. Early career Rivron played the comic character 'Dr Martin Scrote' on the Jonathan Ross chat show ''The Last Resort'', and also played S ...

) in the partially-improvised comedy film '' There's No Business...''. The duo appeared in a series of British TV advertisements ending with the catchphrase "I bet he drinks Carling Black Label". One spoofed the " launderette" commercial for

Levi's Levi Strauss & Co. ( ) is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's ( ) brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, ...

in which

Nick Kamen Ivor Neville "Nick" Kamen (15 April 1962 – 4 May 2021) was a British singer, songwriter and model of mixed Burmese, Irish, Dutch and French descent. He was best known for the singles "Each Time You Break My Heart" from 1986 and "I Promised My ...

stripped to his underwear; in their

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

, Arden and Frost played launderette customers who were stripped entirely, with just strategically placed books maintaining their modesty.Ad
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Solo work

Without Arden, Frost has appeared on

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 ...

's ''

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 ...

'', and the

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

show ''

''. He has appeared on three episodes of ''

Have I Got News for You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

'' (there was a 13-year gap between his second and third appearance) and on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

''. He also appeared as Dirk in Tony Bagley's series ''

Married Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

''. He played two small roles in ''

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four Period piece, period British sitcoms - ''The Black Adder'', ''Blackadder II'', ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' - plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 19 ...

'': a prison guard in the first-series episode "Witchsmeller Pursuivant", and the overly cheerful head of a

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

in the episode "Corporal Punishment" of ''

Blackadder Goes Forth ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' is the fourth series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC One, BBC1. The series placed the recurring characters of Captain B ...

''. He also appeared in the comedy series ''

Mr. Bean ''Mr. Bean'' is a British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, produced by Tiger Aspect Productions and starring Atkinson as the title character. The sitcom consists of 15 episodes that were co-written by Atkinson alongside ...

'', starring

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and in the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003– ...

, in the episode entitled "Mr. Bean Rides Again" in one of the skits where Mr. Bean is on a train. In 2003 he appeared in a production of '' 12 Angry Men'' alongside

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' (2000–2004), and for his regula ...

. Frost appeared alongside

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 ...

and

Angus Deayton Gordon Angus Deayton (; born 6 January 1956) is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. Deayton was the original presenter of two successful British comedy panel shows, ''Have I Got News for You'' (1990–2002) and ''Woul ...

in the 2012 feature film '' Playing the Moldovans at Tennis''.

Currently

Frost is a regular on the London comedy circuit. He is also a veteran of 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 ...

and

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. Frost still appears regularly with

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 ...

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.Malcolm Hardee Malcolm Hardee (5 January 1950 – 31 January 2005) was an English comedian and comedy club proprietor. His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunts and on the help and advice he gave to successful British Alte ...

& John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ;

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Stephen 1955 births Living people Actors from Banbury Actors from Redruth Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Comedians from Cornwall Comedians from Oxfordshire English male television actors English male comedians Male actors from Cornwall 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors