Jim Sweeney
Encyclopedia
Michael James Dominic Sweeney (born 7 February 1955; Bournemouth
, England
), best known as Jim Sweeney, is an English
actor
and comedian
, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen
.
When Sweeney was 11 years old, he moved to London
with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending Clapham College
, an all-boys Roman Catholic school.
Sweeney spent the 1970s in theatre
productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school. The pairing's first television work as a duo came on the ITV
children's show CBTV
, followed by the Channel 4
comedy Little Armadillos
and resident support comic slots on Rory Bremner
's first sketch show for the BBC
.
In 1987, Sweeney played Samuel Taylor Coleridge
in an episode of Blackadder the Third
, with Steve Steen alongside him as Lord Byron
. He then appeared in commercials and radio comedies before acquiring a semi-regular slot as a contestant on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
from 1991 to 1993. Comedy partner Steen would later join him frequently in these appearances.
Sweeney has been in a number of radio plays and sitcoms, including a lead role in Any Bloke alongside Caroline Quentin
and Steve Steen
. He adapted his award-winning play Danny's Wake into a radio series All The Young Dudes
in which he (and Steen) co-starred. Sweeney has authored a number of plays in addition to Danny's Wake, namely Sick Transit, Cabin Fever
, and My MS and Me.
Sweeney has been involved with the Comedy Store
's Comedy Store Players
team since 1992, performing with Paul Merton
, Josie Lawrence
, Neil Mullarkey
, Lee Simpson
, Andy Smart
and Richard Vranch
. He has also appeared in numerous radio series', including the improvised faux drama show, The Masterson Inheritance
and BBC Radio 4
's Just a Minute
. He made guest appearances in sitcoms Kiss Me Kate and One Foot In The Grave
(the latter as a computer
salesman memorably humiliated by Victor Meldrew
).
Since 1985, Sweeney has multiple sclerosis
, something which has required use of a walking stick
and, from 2005, a wheelchair
. Sweeney wrote about his experiences of multiple sclerosis in My MS and Me, a play he performed for BBC Radio 4 after a successful Edinburgh Festival
run. In 2008, the disease meant he gave up appearing on stage, although he continues to be listed as a member of the Comedy Store Players.
In 2007, Jim made two series of BBC Radio 4's improvised sketch show "The Lawrence Sweeney Mix" with Josie Lawrence
.
Sweeney lives in Wimbledon
with his girlfriend and two daughters and now has 24 hour care for his condition. He has an optic nerve condition leading to blurred vision
.
In 2010, a documentary film about Jim sold out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and had a number of public showings across the UK.
He is an avid contributor to Twitter.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
), best known as Jim Sweeney, is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen
Steve Steen
Steve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
.
When Sweeney was 11 years old, he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending Clapham College
Clapham College
-Background:It opened in 1897 and closed in 1989. Its history falls into three phases: for half a century it was a private school, for three decades it was a publicly supported grammar school and for more than a decade it was a comprehensive school...
, an all-boys Roman Catholic school.
Sweeney spent the 1970s in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school. The pairing's first television work as a duo came on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
children's show CBTV
CBTV (Thames)
CBTV was a Thames TV magazine programme for younger viewers, in the 1980s.Its main presenters were the comedy duo Jim Sweeney & Steve Steen who at the start of each show would have to sneak past the security guard on the gates of Teddington Studios to get their rooftop studio. Other presenters...
, followed by the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
comedy Little Armadillos
Little Armadillos
Little Armadillos was an alternative comedy sketch show in sitcom format that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 1984. Set in a nightclub run by the psychotic brothers Wayne and Donny Armadillo, the show ran for seven 30-minute episodes from 13 September to 25 October 1984 and has never...
and resident support comic slots on Rory Bremner
Rory Bremner
Roderick "Rory" Keith Ogilvy Bremner, FKC is a Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian, noted for his work in political satire...
's first sketch show for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
In 1987, Sweeney played Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
in an episode of Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
, with Steve Steen alongside him as Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...
. He then appeared in commercials and radio comedies before acquiring a semi-regular slot as a contestant on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...
from 1991 to 1993. Comedy partner Steen would later join him frequently in these appearances.
Sweeney has been in a number of radio plays and sitcoms, including a lead role in Any Bloke alongside Caroline Quentin
Caroline Quentin
Caroline Jones known by her stage name Caroline Quentin, is an English actress. Quentin became known for her television appearances in Men Behaving Badly, playing Dorothy, and playing Maddy Magellan in Jonathan Creek for three years.-Early life:...
and Steve Steen
Steve Steen
Steve Steen is a British actor and comedian best known for his improvisation partnership with Jim Sweeney.The pair met at school in London and joined a theatre club in 1972. The two then wrote and starred in a show which parodied much of the other shows being held in London that year...
. He adapted his award-winning play Danny's Wake into a radio series All The Young Dudes
All the Young Dudes
All the Young Dudes is an album by Mott the Hoople, released in 1972. Their initial album for the CBS Records label , it was a turning point for the then-struggling British band. They were about to break up when David Bowie stepped in and gave them the song "All the Young Dudes"...
in which he (and Steen) co-starred. Sweeney has authored a number of plays in addition to Danny's Wake, namely Sick Transit, Cabin Fever
Cabin fever
Cabin fever is an idiomatic term for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do, for an extended period...
, and My MS and Me.
Sweeney has been involved with the Comedy Store
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.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard had visited the previous year...
's Comedy Store Players
The Comedy Store Players
The Comedy Store Players is a group of improvising comedy performers known for their performances at The Comedy Store in London. The group first came into being in October 1985.Members of the group have included:*Dave Cohen*Jeremy Hardy*Kit Hollerbach...
team since 1992, performing with Paul Merton
Paul Merton
Paul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
, Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
, Neil Mullarkey
Neil Mullarkey
Neil Mullarkey is an English actor, writer and comedian.Mullarkey studied at Robinson College, Cambridge; while he was there he was Junior Treasurer of the Cambridge Footlights in the academic year 1981 to 1982 and was president in the year ending 1983...
, Lee Simpson
Lee Simpson
Lee Simpson is a British actor and comedian best known as a member of the improvisational group The Comedy Store Players.He has appeared in a number of roles, including the sitcoms Terry and Julian and Drop The Dead Donkey, the films Paper Mask and Nuns On The Run, and played a key role in...
, Andy Smart
Andy Smart
Andy Smart is an English comedian, actor, and TV panel show participant.Andy has been performing as a guest with The Comedy Store Players for 13 years now and a permanent member since 1995. Before joining the Players he was one half of the Vicious Boys with Angelo Abela...
and Richard Vranch
Richard Vranch
Richard Leslie Vranch is a British comedian, actor and musician.Vranch improvises comedy on stage with the Comedy Store Players every Wednesday and Sunday at The Comedy Store in London. He has voiced British Airways TV and radio commercials since 2003, and he narrates TV documentaries...
. He has also appeared in numerous radio series', including the improvised faux drama show, The Masterson Inheritance
The Masterson Inheritance
The Masterson Inheritance was an improvised comedy series broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 1993 to 1995 billed as "an improvised historical saga of a family at war with itself." There were three series and two Christmas specials...
and BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Just a Minute
Just a Minute
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....
. He made guest appearances in sitcoms Kiss Me Kate and One Foot In The Grave
One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000...
(the latter as a computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
salesman memorably humiliated by Victor Meldrew
Victor Meldrew
Victor Meldrew was a fictional character in the popular BBC One sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Created by David Renwick and played by Richard Wilson, the character was the archetypal grumpy old man...
).
Since 1985, Sweeney has multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, something which has required use of a walking stick
Walking stick
A walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing while walking.Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes, and can be sought by collectors. Some kinds of walking stick may be used by people with disabilities as a crutch...
and, from 2005, a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. Sweeney wrote about his experiences of multiple sclerosis in My MS and Me, a play he performed for BBC Radio 4 after a successful Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
run. In 2008, the disease meant he gave up appearing on stage, although he continues to be listed as a member of the Comedy Store Players.
In 2007, Jim made two series of BBC Radio 4's improvised sketch show "The Lawrence Sweeney Mix" with Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence
Josie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....
.
Sweeney lives in Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
with his girlfriend and two daughters and now has 24 hour care for his condition. He has an optic nerve condition leading to blurred vision
Blurred vision
-Causes:There are many causes of blurred vision:* Use of atropine or other anticholinergics* Presbyopia -- Difficulty focusing on objects that are close. The elderly are common victims....
.
In 2010, a documentary film about Jim sold out at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and had a number of public showings across the UK.
He is an avid contributor to Twitter.
External links
- Jim Sweeney at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Jim Sweeney's official website
- Official website of The Sweeney documentary film.
- Masterson Inheritance Episode Guide