Neil Fitzmaurice
Encyclopedia
Neil Fitzmaurice is an English
actor
, comedian
and writer
.
, for which he received a British Comedy Award, and the critically acclaimed Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights
, in which he also appeared as "Ray-Von".
Neil has also written two feature films Going Off Big Time in 1999 which was nominated for four BIFA awards and is part of Film Fours Best of British and more recently Charlie Noades R.I.P
comedy series Peep Show
, and starred in the prison drama series Buried
. He appeared on the first episode of The Office
as the applicant whom David Brent
interviews for the warehouse position. He plays the same character in the sixth episode, only this time Brent is giving him redundancy notice. Fitzmaurice has also performed alongside Paul O'Grady
in the BBC
comedy Eyes Down
, had guest roles in the long-running police drama The Bill
and on the Casualty
spin-off Holby City
. Neil also had a recurring role as Janet's Dad in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
In 2007, he played a lead role in the ITV
drama Mobile
, as an ex-telecoms worker suffering from a terminal brain tumour. Since 2000 he has been working on the film Charlie Noades RIP with his brother Tony. The film was in development hell
due to funding not being available. Work finally began in 2007, despite the full budget not being in place. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
Around the time of the premiere, Fitzmaurice returned to the stage for the first time in ten years, playing Shaun in On the Ledge at the Royal Court Theatre
.
Fitzmaurice played "Les" in an episode of BBC One miniseries Moving On
, "Dress To Impress", as well as the film Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World
as the Liverpool
manager Rafa Benitez
.
He recently starred in the hit play 'one night in istanbul' at The Liverpool Empire and Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre.
In 2011, Fitzmaurice starred in British school drama Waterloo Road
as Dave Dowling, who is a parent with very strong views towards people not of British origin. In 2011 he also starred in the fourth series of Benidorm as Lucky Kev who lived in the same caravan campsite as Madge Harvey. He later appeared in the fifth episode of the series repriseing the role of Lucky Kev who works at a bar in benidorm which Madge Harvey was interested in buying.
Neil has just completed filming on Sky 1's new comedy drama Mount Pleasant playing the part of 'Fergus' the show is due to begin on August 21st 2011.
He is currently working on two separate comedy scripts and is resident MC at The Laughterhouse comedy club in Liverpool.
, however, due to extensive film and television commitments, he left this position on 4 March 2011.
Fitzmaurice is a Hillsborough survivor
and was featured in the Sky documentary, Hillsborough Remembered, on 15 April 2009, the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
, 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...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Writing
Fitzmaurice's writing projects include That Peter Kay ThingThat Peter Kay Thing
That Peter Kay Thing was a series of six spoof documentaries shown on Channel 4 in January 2000. Set in and around Bolton, these followed the lives of different characters and starred Peter Kay as the subject of each documentary. All of the episodes displayed Kay's penchant for nostalgic humour and...
, for which he received a British Comedy Award, and the critically acclaimed Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights was a BAFTA-nominated English sitcom about The Phoenix Club, a working men's club in the northern English town of Farnworth, Greater Manchester. The show was written by Neil Fitzmaurice, Peter Kay and Dave Spikey, produced by Goodnight Vienna Productions and Ovation...
, in which he also appeared as "Ray-Von".
Neil has also written two feature films Going Off Big Time in 1999 which was nominated for four BIFA awards and is part of Film Fours Best of British and more recently Charlie Noades R.I.P
Acting
As an actor, Fitzmaurice has appeared in Going off Big Time (which he also wrote), played Jeff in the Channel 4Channel 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 series Peep Show
Peep Show (TV series)
Peep Show is a British sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. The television programme is written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb themselves, amongst others. It has been broadcast on Channel 4 since 2003. The show's seventh series makes it...
, and starred in the prison drama series Buried
Buried (TV series)
Buried is a British television drama series, produced by World Productions for Channel 4 and originally screened in 2003. The programme starred Lennie James as Lee Kingley, who is serving a long prison sentence in order to protect a member of his family from a violent criminal...
. He appeared on the first episode of The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
as the applicant whom David Brent
David Brent
David Brent is a fictional character in the BBC television mockumentary The Office, as well as a recurring character in the NBC series of the same name, portrayed by co-writer and director Ricky Gervais. Brent is a white-collar office middle-manager and the principal character of the BBC series...
interviews for the warehouse position. He plays the same character in the sixth episode, only this time Brent is giving him redundancy notice. Fitzmaurice has also performed alongside Paul O'Grady
Paul O'Grady
Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as...
in 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...
comedy Eyes Down
Eyes Down
Eyes Down is a comedy starring Paul O'Grady as Ray Temple, the manager of a bingo hall in Liverpool, England called The Rio, although the series was filmed in Rayners Lane in London. Although it had moderate ratings, the programme only lasted for two series until it was cancelled by the BBC in 2004...
, had guest roles in the long-running police drama The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
and on the Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
spin-off Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
. Neil also had a recurring role as Janet's Dad in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps was a BBC sitcom created and written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England, and initially revolves around the lives of five twenty-somethings, played by Ralf Little , Sheridan Smith , Will Mellor , Natalie Casey and...
In 2007, he played a lead role in 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...
drama Mobile
Mobile (TV series)
Mobile is a 3-part British television drama series with an interweaving plot based around a fictional mobile phone operator and the adverse-effect of mobile phone radiation to health. The series was screened by ITV in the UK, during March 2007. The cast includes Jamie Draven, Neil Fitzmaurice,...
, as an ex-telecoms worker suffering from a terminal brain tumour. Since 2000 he has been working on the film Charlie Noades RIP with his brother Tony. The film was in development hell
Development hell
In the jargon of the media-industry, "development hell" is a period during which a film or other project is trapped in development...
due to funding not being available. Work finally began in 2007, despite the full budget not being in place. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
Around the time of the premiere, Fitzmaurice returned to the stage for the first time in ten years, playing Shaun in On the Ledge at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool
The Royal Court Theatre is a theatre at 1 Roe Street, Liverpool, England. It was built in 1938 in an Art Deco style.-History:Built in the 12th Century, the site of the current Royal Court Theatre was originally a water well...
.
Fitzmaurice played "Les" in an episode of BBC One miniseries Moving On
Moving On (TV series)
Moving On is a British television series consisting of standalone contemporary dramas first shown on daytime BBC One. Although originally broadcast in an early-afternoon slot, less than a month after the initial airing the first series was repeated to an evening audience...
, "Dress To Impress", as well as the film Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World
Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World
Fifteen Minutes That Shook the World is a film written by Dave Kirby about Liverpool's Champions League win in 2005 in Istanbul, known as "The miracle of Istanbul". It stars Neil Fitzmaurice as Rafa Benitez and has cameos by Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Dietmar Hamann...
as the Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
manager Rafa Benitez
Rafael Benítez
Rafael "Rafa" Benítez Maudes is a football manager, and former player. He is currently unemployed, after leaving as manager of Internazionale in December 2010....
.
He recently starred in the hit play 'one night in istanbul' at The Liverpool Empire and Dublin's Grand Canal Theatre.
In 2011, Fitzmaurice starred in British school drama Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
as Dave Dowling, who is a parent with very strong views towards people not of British origin. In 2011 he also starred in the fourth series of Benidorm as Lucky Kev who lived in the same caravan campsite as Madge Harvey. He later appeared in the fifth episode of the series repriseing the role of Lucky Kev who works at a bar in benidorm which Madge Harvey was interested in buying.
Neil has just completed filming on Sky 1's new comedy drama Mount Pleasant playing the part of 'Fergus' the show is due to begin on August 21st 2011.
He is currently working on two separate comedy scripts and is resident MC at The Laughterhouse comedy club in Liverpool.
Other
On 16 February 2009, Fitzmaurice started presenting the drivetime show on Liverpool's Radio City 96.7Radio City 96.7
Radio City 96.7 is a British Independent Local Radio station, based in Liverpool, that serves Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales...
, however, due to extensive film and television commitments, he left this position on 4 March 2011.
Fitzmaurice is a Hillsborough survivor
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
and was featured in the Sky documentary, Hillsborough Remembered, on 15 April 2009, the 20th anniversary of the tragedy.