Stephen James Merchant is an English comedian, actor, director, and writer. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series The Office (2001–2003), and co-writer, co-director, and co-star of both Extras (2005–2007) and Life's Too Short (2011–2013) alongside Ricky Gervais. With Gervais and Karl Pilkington, he hosted The Ricky Gervais Show in its radio, podcast, audiobook, and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He also provided the voice of the robotic "Intelligence Dampening Sphere" Wheatley in the 2011 video game Portal 2. Merchant co-developed the Sky One travel documentary series An Idiot Abroad (2010–2012) and co-created Lip Sync Battle (2015–2019).
Stephen James Merchant was born in the Hanham suburb of Bristol on 24 November 1974, the son of nursery nurse Jane Elaine (née Hibbs) and plumber and builder Ronald John Merchant. He attended Hanham Secondary School and later the University of Warwick in Coventry from 1993 to 1996, where he graduated with a BA in Film and Literature with a 2:1. He worked as a film reviewer on the student radio station Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career. His group there included film critic James King. A number of tapes of The Steve Show were rediscovered and have been published on various Merchant fan sites.
Merchant was inspired to get into comedy by John Cleese. In 2019, he said that he had never met Cleese, but that his parents had recently met him on a cruise and asked him to sign a book for Merchant; they also recorded a voicemail message on the phone in their cabin, which consisted of Cleese saying: "Hello there, Mr and Mrs Merchant, I'd be more than happy to sign your book. I was just wondering is your Stephen Merchant the same Stephen Merchant who collaborated with Ricky Gervais on The Office? Because I'm an enormous fan and please pass on my best regards." On hearing this, Merchant said, "I don't feel I need to meet him now. That's all I needed."
| Date of Birth | 24th November 1974 |
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| Age | 49 Years |
| Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Birth Place | Bristol |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Reference | IMDB |
| Height | 204.3 |
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| Education |
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| University of Warwick, Hanham Woods Academy |
| Occupation | actor, comedian, screenwriter, radio personality, film actor, stand-up comedian, director, film director, television director, television actor, television producer |
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| Career Start | 1998 (26 years ago) |
| Awards |
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