John Sparkes
| John Sparkes | |
|---|---|
| Born |
9 January 1954 Swansea, Wales |
| Occupation | Comedian, actor, voice actor, english teacher |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Notable work |
Barry Welsh is Coming Fireman Sam Peppa Pig |
| Spouse(s) | Married |
| Children | 2 |
John Sparkes (born 9 January 1954) is a Welsh comedian, actor, voice actor and former English teacher and is more commonly known on Welsh television as Barry Welsh, in the award-winning (Best Light Entertainment, Welsh Baftas, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004) series Barry Welsh is Coming. He also had major roles in Naked Video, Absolutely, Pub Quiz, and Jeff Global's Global Probe, and is the narrator of children's TV show Peppa Pig.
Sparkes was born in Swansea, Wales. He began his working life at Lloyds Bank in Mumbles. After a time as an English teacher, in the 1980s, he turned to comedy and moved to London, becoming an established performer in the first years of London’s alternative cabaret circuit alongside Alexi Sayle, Jo Brand, Paul Merton and Rick Mayall.
Sparkes starred in the sketch show Naked Video, where he played Siadwel, the geeky bedsit poet who wore an anorak and glasses. The character also appeared when Sparkes was part of the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme Bodgers, Banks & Sparkes. After killing off Siadwel in Naked Video, Sparkes revived the character in 2014 for a new series of radio shows for BBC Radio Wales, which was recommissioned a year later.
He was one of the team behind the Channel 4 sketch show Absolutely, which ran for four years between 1989 and 1993. Following an award-winning radio special, a new series for BBC Radio 4 was commissioned for broadcast in September 2015.
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