Eddie Izzard (born February 7, 1962 as Edward John Izzard) is a British stand-up comedian and actor. He has a very individual style of rambling, surreal monologue. He has turned his attention to acting as well as maintaining his demanding touring schedule.

Izzard describes himself as an 'executive' or 'action' transvestite and as 'a male tomboy'. He regularly cross-dresses both on and off stage and makes it clear that cross-dressing is, for him, not a sexual thing – he simply enjoys wearing make-up and clothing which is traditionally perceived in the West as female-only. He dismisses claims that he is homosexual, saying he is either a straight transvestite or a lesbian trapped inside a man's body.

He was born in Aden, Yemen, as the youngest son of John and Ella Izzard. In 1963, shortly before Britain abandoned the capital of Aden the Izzards moved to Northern Ireland. He lived up in Belfast untill 1967, when troubles started brewing there as well, and the family moved to Skewen (Wales), and Bexhill-on-Sea (East Sussex, England). His mother died in March, 1968, of cancer.

Eddie Izzard briefly attended the University of Sheffield. He has engaged in campaigning work, including opposing the closure of the departments of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and Translation at the University of East Anglia and supporting the further integration of the UK into the European Union. As part of his integration campaigning, he was one of the first people to spend a Euro in London. This pan-European aspect has influenced his work as well; he regularly performs in French, an acquired language, in addition to English. In July 2003, he was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England for 'pro-Europe campaigning', 'his contribution to promoting modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles' and for having 'transcended national barriers' with his humour.

After the death of his mother, Eddie found some degree of solace in comedy, particularly the works of Monty Python, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and the early Benny Hill. He began to toy with stand-up at college and, after being ingloriously kicked out of school, he took his act to the streets. Having spent a great deal of the 1980's working as a street performer in Europe and the United States, Izzard moved his act into the standup comedy venues in Britain, first appearing at The Comedy Store in London in 1987. He refined his material throughout the '80's, and in the early '90s, he finally began earning some measure of recognition, though originally he did not perform in women's clothing. His stand-up work brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 ( for Live at the Ambassadors ) and 1996 for "Definite Article"). After the British leg of the tour, he took "Definite Article" to major cities outside the UK including a successful stint in New York City. However, his US breakthrough did not really come until 1998, when "Dress to Kill", which was shown on American television channel HBO, went on to earn Izzard two Emmy Awards in 2000.

Running themes in his comedy are an impression of James Mason which represents a hapless, dithering God, an impression of Sean Connery whose character, which has ranged from Noah to Henry VIII, usually interacts with Mason's God. There is also a Scottish woman called Mrs Badcrumble. He usually manages to mention jam in various bizarre contexts, the name 'Jeff' (as in "Jeff Jeffty-Jeff", whose computer password is 'JEFF'), and he also has a mannerism of saying "so... yeah", when thinking what to say next - a fact noted subtly on the back of the 'Glorious' video box. So 'So... yeah' could perhaps be said to be his catchphrase.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Stand-up

• Sexie (2003)
• Circle (2002)
• Dress to Kill (1999)
• Glorious (1997)
• Definite Article (1996)
• Unrepeatable (1994)
• Live at the Ambassadors (1993)

Film roles

• Ocean's Twelve (2004)
• Romance & Cigarettes (2004)
• Five Children and It (2004)
• Blueberry (2004)
• Revengers Tragedy (2002)
• All the Queen's Men (2001)
• The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin
• Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
• Circus (2000)
• The Criminal (1999)
• Mystery Men (1999)
• The Avengers (1998)
• Velvet Goldmine (1998)
• The Secret Agent (1996)

TV appearances

• 40 (2003) - Channel 4
• Python Night (1999) - BBC
• Pythonland (1999) - BBC
• Dennis Miller Live (1999) - HBO
• Rex the Runt (1998) - BBC
• Inspector Derrick (1997)
• Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)
• Have I Got News For You (from 1994)
• Open Fire (1994)

See also

• Observer's 50 funniest

External links

• Official site
• Official Biography
• Interview with Izzard - The Observer, October 3, 2004