STEVE COOGAN
Date of Birth: October 14, 1965
Born and raised in Manchester, England, Steve Coogan trained as an actor at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre. While studying, he gave standup comedy a shot in order to get his Equity card. It turned out that he was quite adept at this form of entertainment—he was soon discovered by a talent scout and offered a spot on a television show called First Exposure.
He was immediately successful, landing appearances on many television shows. In 1994, he helped created the TV series The Day Today, basing his character, Alan Partridge, on a radio host who interviewed him just as he was becoming famous. He reprised the character in various TV series, winning British Comedy awards for Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994); I'm Alan Partridge (1997) and I'm Alan Partridge (2002). He also won a BAFTA TV award for I'm Alan Partridge (1997).
His film debut came playing "Man at Bonfire" in Resurrected (1989), but he eventually worked his way up to larger roles in films such as The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Coffee and Cigarettes (2003). Although he has played starring roles in films such as The Parole Officer (2001), his portrayal of Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (2004) opposite Jackie Chan marked his biggest role to date in a major, big budget feature (US$110 million). Since then he's starred in films such as Hamlet 2 (2008) and provided a voice for Marmaduke (2010).
Coogan married Caroline Hickman in 2002 but they were divorced by July 2005. He has a daughter from a previous relationship.