Rhys Thomas (comedian)
| Rhys Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Rhys Thomas 12 December 1978 Basildon, Essex, England |
| Residence | Los Angeles, USA |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, director, producer |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Montgomery |
| Children | 2 |
Rhys Thomas (born 12 December 1978 in Basildon, Essex) is a British director, producer, actor and writer. He is most famous for his roles in Star Stories, The Fast Show, Sirens and Nathan Barley. He is also the voice of Gary Bellamy on Radio 4's Down the Line. He was nominated for the Breakthrough Talent Award at the 2013 BAFTA Awards for producing and directing the acclaimed feature-length documentary Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender and subsequently won Best Arts Documentary in both the 2013 Rose D'Or and International Emmy Awards. He created, writes, produces, directs and co-stars in the critically acclaimed spoof music documentary The Life of Rock with Brian Pern on BBC Four and BBC Two.
While in the sixth form at Beauchamps High School in Wickford, Essex, Thomas made comedy videos with friends, forming a comedy group called Stay Alive Pepi with Stephen Burge, Tony Way and Glynne Wiley.
Thomas phoned the production company for Shooting Stars to ask for studio audience tickets and when they told him that they did not have any he asked if he could be given work experience. They happened to need a runner and employed him, sometimes filling in for George Dawes on the drums during rehearsals for the show. His breakthrough came when he showed Charlie Higson and Bob Mortimer some of his comedy tapes and Higson recruited Thomas as a supporting cast member on The Fast Show, in which he made recurring appearances, notably as the young assistant to the Charlie Higson character, oily used-car-dealer "Swiss Toni". He filmed a BBC Two pilot with Ulrika Jonsson called It's Ulrika written by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in 1997 and he has since appeared in several comedy series, including Fun at the Funeral Parlour, Happiness, Monkey Trousers and Nathan Barley, as well as co-writing and performing in the Fast Show spin-off Swiss Toni, and script editing the later series of Shooting Stars. He currently plays the host of BBC Radio 4's spoof late-night phone-in, Down the Line, and writes for and appears in the Channel 4 sketch show Blunder. Thomas has also appeared in the Channel 4 comedy Star Stories playing Jude Law, Andrew Ridgeley, Warren Beatty, Gary Glitter, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kiefer Sutherland and The Fonz amongst others.
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