Mackenzie Crook

Crook was born on 29 September 1971 in Maidstone, Kent, and grew up in Dartford, Kent. He is the son of Michael Crook, a British Airways employee, and Sheila Crook, a hospital manager. As a child he received a course of hormone therapy for three years to treat a growth hormone deficiency. Crook attended Sutton-at-Hone Primary School and then Wilmington Grammar School for Boys. As there was no drama department at his grammar school, he joined a local youth theatre. He has said that he failed his A-levels because he "completely lost interest" after his GCSEs. In the summers, he spent time at his uncle's tobacco farm in northern Zimbabwe, where he developed a love for painting. Crook's first jobs included working at a Pizza Hut restaurant and at Halfords where he felt he was "waiting for real life to start". After moving to London when he was in his early twenties, Crook worked on the comedy circuit, appearing as two characters he created, Mr Bagshawe and Charlie Cheese. He went on to appear in shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, where he was spotted by Bob Mortimer.