James Dreyfus | |
---|---|
Born | James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus 9 October 1968 London, England |
Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1995–present |
Television | The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996) Absolutely Fabulous (1995–1996) Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999–2001) The Sarah Jane Adventures (2011) Mount Pleasant (2012–2017) |
James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms The Thin Blue Line as Constable Kevin Goody, and Gimme Gimme Gimme as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Reverend Roger in Mount Pleasant .
In London's West End, Dreyfus starred in The Producers in 2004 as Carmen Ghia. In 2006, he starred as the Emcee in Cabaret .
James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus was born on 9 October 1968 in Islington, London. [1] His parents divorced when he was very young. [2] [3] His mother, Margo de Zoghels, was a model. [4] She and his maternal grandparents were from Egypt. [5] [ non-primary source needed ]
He was educated at Harrow School. [6] He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. [7]
In 1998, Dreyfus won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical Olivier Award for his work in The Lady in the Dark at the National Theatre. In the same year, Dreyfus won Second Prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 1997 performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep. [8]
Dreyfus's first television break came with the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous . [9] followed by roles as Constable Kevin Goody in Ben Elton's sitcom The Thin Blue Line and Tom Farrell, the gay flatmate of Linda (Kathy Burke) in Gimme Gimme Gimme . Dreyfus played opposite Bette Midler in the short-lived American sitcom Bette .
Known for portraying "camp, endearing characters," Dreyfus (in a Sheengate Publishing interview) compared the character Frank Spencer from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em , whom he described as a campy but married heterosexual, to Dreyfus's character Kevin Goody from The Thin Blue Line. Regarding his character Tom Farrell from Gimme Gimme Gimme, Dreyfus hypothesized that, even if the character were heterosexual, the actor would still portray Tom as camp and flamboyant. [10] Furthermore, Dreyfus said that he felt that he became typecast due to his portrayals of "flamboyant" characters. [10]
He played Thermoman in the BBC One comedy My Hero , a role he took over in the sixth series from Ardal O'Hanlon. Although the same character, he used the name George Monday, as opposed to Ardal O'Hanlon's character's name, George Sunday. After disappointing ratings, the show was cancelled.
Dreyfus also starred as Mr Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film Churchill: The Hollywood Years .
From 2012 to 2017, Dreyfus appeared as Reverend Roger in the Sky Living series Mount Pleasant .
In 2017, he voiced an incarnation of The Master from Doctor Who in the Big Finish Productions release The First Doctor Adventures Volume One, [11] going on to appear as the character in 2019's 'The Home Guard', [12] 2020's 'The Psychic Circus' [13] and 2022's 'Blood of the Time Lords'. In an interview on SpectatorTV, Dreyfus claimed he was dismissed from the role following comments made on Twitter in support of author JK Rowling. [14]
Dreyfus is gay and a member of the "anti-trans" [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] group [21] [22] [23] [24] LGB Alliance. [25]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1995 | Thin Ice | Greg | |
1995–96 | The Thin Blue Line | Constable Kevin Goody | TV series (14 episodes) |
1995–96 | Absolutely Fabulous | Christopher | TV series (2 episodes) |
1996 | Boyfriends | Paul | |
1999 | Notting Hill | Martin | |
1999–2001 | Gimme Gimme Gimme | Tom Farrell | TV series (19 episodes) |
2000 | Gormenghast | Professor Fluke | TV |
2000–2001 | Bette | Oscar | U.S. TV series (18 episodes) |
2004 | Fat Slags | Fidor Konstantin | TV |
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London | Gordon | ||
The Producers | Carmen Ghia | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | |
Waking the Dead | Raymond Carstairs | ||
2005 | Willo the Wisp | All voices | Revival to original 1981 series |
2006 | Colour Me Kubrick | Melvyn Prescott | |
My Hero | George Monday / Thermoman | TV series (8 episodes) | |
2006–07 | Cabaret | Emcee | Lyric Theatre, London |
2007 | Double Time | Lawrence Nixon/George McCabe | |
Nina and the Neurons | Felix (voice) | ||
2009 | Casualty | Rory | TV |
2011 | The Sarah Jane Adventures | Harrison | Episode: "The Man Who Never Was" |
2012 | Midsomer Murders | Ralph Ford | Episode: "A Rare Bird" |
Holby City | Felix | TV | |
Whitechapel | Charlie Cross | TV series, 2 episodes | |
2012–2017 | Mount Pleasant | Reverend Roger | TV series |
2013 | Dandelion & Burdock | Dandelion | TV |
2013–14 | Candide | Dr Pangloss | Menier Chocolate Factory, London |
2013 | Shameless | Edward Clayhill | Episode: "An Inspector Calls" |
2015 | Father Brown | Binkie Cadwaller | Episode 3.10 "The Judgment of Man" |
Scottish Mussel | Headmaster | ||
2019 | Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal | Sir Leonard Briggs | TV movie |
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance | Lath'N | ||
Agatha Raisin | Harry Witherspoon | S3 E1 Episode: "Agatha Raisin and The Haunted House" | |
2020 | Supernova | Tim | |
The Hollow | TV movie | ||
The Harbour | Robert | Short | |
2021 | The Kindred | Mr. Mulvaney | |
2022 | Lips | Michael | Short [26] |
2023 | One Foot in the Grave - 30 Years Of Laughs | Himself | Documentary |
2024 | House of the Dragon | Lord Gormon Massey | TV series, 6 episodes |
TBA | Cara | Greg Wilson | Pre-production |
Ardal O'Hanlon is an Irish comedian, actor, and author. He played Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted (1995–1998), George Sunday/Thermoman in My Hero (2000–2006), and DI Jack Mooney in Death in Paradise (2017–2020). His novel The Talk of the Town was published in 1998.
My Hero is a British television sitcom, created by Paul Mendelson, and produced for the BBC between 2000 and 2006. The series follows the exploits of an alien superhero known as "Thermoman" - a multi-powered superhero who originates from the planet Ultron - during his time between missions after falling in love with a British nurse he rescued. Although incredibly intelligent amongst his kind, Thermoman is unfamiliar with human life, which not only leads others to consider him dim-witted and idiotic, but also causes problems due to his many misunderstandings.
Sarah Ann Ludford, Baroness Ludford is a British-Irish Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for London from 1999 until 2014.
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1995 to 1996. It was created and written by Ben Elton, and starred Rowan Atkinson. The series was popular with viewers, though it suffered in critical reviews due to "inconsistent character development" and an "overly broad plot line". It was ranked number 34 in a poll for Britain's Best Sitcom. In September 2021, the series became available on BBC iPlayer.
Gimme Gimme Gimme is a BBC television sitcom by Tiger Aspect Productions that was first aired in three series from 1999 to 2001. It was written by Jonathan Harvey, who developed the series with Kathy Burke, who stars as loudmouthed Londoner Linda La Hughes, with James Dreyfus co-starring as her gay flatmate, actor Tom Farrell.
Anthony Ian Young, Baron Young of Norwood Green, is a British politician and Labour Party life peer in the House of Lords.
Doctor Who Unbound is a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions. Free from the constraints of continuity, the Doctor Who Unbound audios present a series of "What if...?" scenarios, and cast new actors in the role of the Doctor.
Anjli Mohindra is an English stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for her television roles as Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) and would-be suicide bomber Nadia Ali in Bodyguard (2018). Her other television roles include Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty in Vigil (2021), Detective Constable Josie Chancellor in Dark Heart (2016–2018) and Archie in The Lazarus Project (2022–2023).
Rebecca Root is an English actress, comedian and voice coach. She is most well-known for playing the leading role in the 2015 BBC Two sitcom Boy Meets Girl. She has performed the role of Siobhan in the National Theatre's touring production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
The Eighth Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It sees the return of Paul McGann reprising his role as the Eighth Doctor from the 1996 television movie.
In 2012, Big Finish Productions began producing audio dramas featuring Doctor Who's fourth Doctor, as portrayed by Tom Baker. Baker had previously declined to feature in any Big Finish releases, but after recording a trilogy of full cast audio boxsets for BBC Audiobooks, he decided to participate. This was also part of a spin off series of the Monthly range.
The First Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the British television programme Doctor Who. It sees David Bradley and Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor, a role originated by William Hartnell from 1963 to 1966, as well as by Bradley on television in the episodes "The Doctor Falls", "Twice Upon a Time", and "The Power of the Doctor".
The Ninth Doctor Adventures, announced in August 2020, is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who. It sees the return of Christopher Eccleston reprising his role as the Ninth Doctor and will span four boxsets comprising an entire audio season that was released between May 2021 and February 2022. A second audio season of four more boxsets followed in 2022 and 2023; a third audio season of four followed in 2023 and 2024.
The Seventh Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who. It sees the return of Sylvester McCoy reprising his role as the Seventh Doctor.
The Sixth Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who. It sees the return of Colin Baker reprising his role as the Sixth Doctor.
The Fifth Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who. It sees the return of Peter Davison reprising his role as the Fifth Doctor.
The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group and registered charity founded in 2019 in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders are Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann Sinnott. The LGB Alliance describes its objective as "asserting the right of lesbians, bisexuals and gay men to define themselves as same-sex attracted", and states that such a right is threatened by "attempts to introduce confusion between biological sex and the notion of gender". The group has opposed a ban on conversion therapy that includes trans people in the UK, opposed the use of puberty blockers for children, and opposed gender recognition reform.
The Second Doctor Adventures is a Big Finish Productions audio play series based on the television series Doctor Who. Michael Troughton, son of the original actor Patrick Troughton, voices the role of the Second Doctor.
LGB Alliance (2019) (a UK trans-exclusionary LGB organization) argued the NRS proposal 'would suggest that other sexual orientations exist beyond attraction to the opposite sex, same sex or both sexes' (p. 2) and requested that the census not include the term 'Other sexual orientation' as a response option
The case of the LGB Alliance charity is of note. The trans-exclusionary position of the organization engendered significant debate among the LGBT+ community in Scotland.
some trans‐exclusionary LGB movements have begun to form around TERF ideology (for example, the LGB Alliance in the United Kingdom and the Red LGB movement in Spain).
LGB Alliance is an anti-trans campaign group...