Steven James Pemberton (born 1 September 1967) is a British actor, comedian, director and writer. He was a writer and actor for BBC's ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a British surreal comedy horror series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives ...

'' with Reece Shearsmith,

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and starred in the black comedy '' Psychoville'' and the anthology series ''

Inside No. 9 ''Inside No. 9'' is a British black comedy Anthology series, anthology television programme written and created by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. It aired on BBC Two from 5 February 2014 to 12 June 2024, running for 9 series and 55 episo ...

''. His other notable television performance credits include ''

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 ...

'', '' Benidorm'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Shameless'', ''

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

'', '' Happy Valley'' and '' Mapp & Lucia''. He also appeared in feature films such as '' Lassie'', ''

The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse ''The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse'' is a 2005 disaster horror comedy film based on the British television series ''The League of Gentlemen''. It is directed by Steve Bendelack at his directorial debut and written by the series' cast alon ...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' is a Science fiction comedy, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), radio sitcom broadcast over two series on BBC ...

, Mr. Bean's Holiday and Better Man.''

Early life

Steve Pemberton was born in Blackburn,

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 ...

on 1 September 1967 and grew up around

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

, attending Saint Michael's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

High School in the town. He trained as an actor at Bretton Hall College of Education where he met Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith.

Career

Film and television

Pemberton's television performance credits include ''

'', ''

'', '' Benidorm'', '' Under the Greenwood Tree'', '' Hotel Babylon'', '' The Last Detective'', '' Randall and Hopkirk'', ''

'' and '' Shameless''. In 2004, he portrayed Dr Bessner in ''

Death on the Nile ''Death on the Nile'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at ...

'' and Harry Secombe in '' The Life and Death of Peter Sellers''. He also appeared in the film '' Lassie'' (2005). Steve Pemberton

Pemberton is best known as being a member of the sketch comedy team ''The League of Gentlemen'', along with fellow performers

, Reece Shearsmith, and co-writer Jeremy Dyson, all of whom he met at Bretton Hall College in his late teens. ''The League of Gentlemen'' initially began as a stage act in 1995, then transferred 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 ...

as ''On the Town with the League of Gentlemen'' in 1997, and finally arrived on television on

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 ...

in 1999. The latter has seen Pemberton and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and a Golden Rose of Montreux. From 2007 to 2015, Pemberton appeared as Mick Garvey in '' Benidorm''. Pemberton appeared in 43 episodes. In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film '' Free Jimmy'', Pemberton voiced Mattis, a heavy-set and bizarrely-dressed biker member of the Lappish Mafia. In June 2009, '' Psychoville'' aired and marked Pemberton's return to BBC Two. It was co-written by Pemberton and his fellow League of Gentlemen member, Reece Shearsmith. Both of them play numerous characters in the series, similar to the format of ''The League of Gentlemen''. Pemberton portrayed Rufus Drumknott in 2010's ''

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal ''Terry Pratchett's Going Postal'' is a two-part television film adaptation of ''Going Postal'' by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Kurti & Doyle, Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle and produced by The Mob (film company), The Mob, which was first broadcast ...

''. He appeared as Vice Principal Douglas Panch in the Donmar's 2011 production of '' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee''. In 2014, he played Georgie Pillson in an

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

of E. F. Benson's '' Mapp and Lucia''. He also wrote the

, which featured his ''League of Gentlemen'' colleague Mark Gatiss. It was broadcast during Christmas 2014. Since 2014, he has starred as various characters in the

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

series ''Inside No. 9'', which he co-created with Shearsmith, airing on BBC Two. The series ran for 10 years ending with series 9 on 12 June 2024 with a documentary aired on 22 December 2024 titled "The Party's Over". Pemberton reunited with his ''The League of Gentlemen'' colleagues in 2017 for three special episodes, transmitted in December 2017 on BBC2. He appeared as himself in the 2018 short film To Trend on Twitter in aid of young people with cancer charity CLIC Sargent with fellow comedians David Baddiel, Reece Shearsmith, Helen Lederer and actor Jason Flemyng. In October 2021, Pemberton was nominated for Best Outstanding Comedy Actor at the inaugural National Comedy Awards for Stand Up to Cancer for his appearances in series 6 of ''Inside No. 9''. Pemberton was a contestant on the seventeenth series of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

show '' Taskmaster'' in 2024. Pemberton portrayed Peter Williams, the father of

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

in the singer's

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

biopic film ''Better Man'', directed by Michael Gracey which was released in late 2024.

Theatre

Pemberton's early work centred mainly around

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fr ...

; he was a founding member of the 606 Theatre with Gordon Anderson, Tom Hadley, and producer Shane Walter. He has produced, performed in, and directed various stage productions. In 2020 it was announced that Pemberton would join Aaron Taylor-Johnson on West End stage in

Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...

's '' The Pillowman'', directed by Matthew Dunster. However, due to the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

situation, the run was postponed until 2021. Pemberton said, "It's been a dark time for the performing arts and I can't wait to have the theatres open again. Unfortunately, The Pillowman has to be put to bed for now, but I very much hope that we'll be able to bring

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

's dazzling play to the West End before too long." The play was staged from 10 June 2023 to 2 September 2023 at the Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End with Lily Allen, Paul Kaye, Pemberton, and Matthew Tennison. ''The Guardian'' praised Pemberton's performance as "unfailingly excellent", although other reviews of the play were mixed. On 3 May 2024, it was announced that Pemberton and Shearsmith would write and star in a stage adaptation of ''

'' called '' Stage/Fright'' which will open at the Wyndham's Theatre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's West End from 18 January 2025 for a limited run until 5 April, directed by Simon Evans. Tickets for the 85 shows were released on 8 May 2024. Due to the success of the London run, the show will also tour the UK in autumn 2025.

Other

Pemberton has written for '' Variety'' and was the assistant editor of the ''International Film Guide'' from 1991 to 1998.

Personal life

Pemberton lives in North London, with his partner, Alison Rowles, and their three children. He also speaks German and French. The University of Huddersfield awarded Pemberton an Honorary Doctorate of letters in 2003 alongside Mark Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith and Jeremy Dyson. In July 2024 he received two Honorary Fellowships which are from the University of Central Lancashire and

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

(alongside with Reece Shearsmith). Pemberton is a football fan and a supporter of Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage credits

Awards and nominations

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pemberton, Steve Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Bretton Hall College Best Male Comedy Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners British radio writers English comedy writers English male comedians English male film actors English male radio actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from Blackburn Actors from Chorley, Lancashire The League of Gentlemen Comedians from Lancashire 1967 births British television show creators