Stephen Fry

Sir Stephen John Fry is an English actor, comedian, writer, and broadcaster born on 24 August 1957. He initially gained recognition as part of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, starring in sketch comedy and sitcoms such as A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. He is also known for his extensive work in film, theatre, television, and radio, as well as his roles as a documentary presenter, author, and voice actor.

Fry was born in Hampstead, London, to historian Marianne Eve Fry and physicist and inventor Alan John Fry. He grew up in Norfolk and attended various schools, including Uppingham School, Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, and City College Norwich. He earned a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge, where he joined the Footlights comedy group, read English Literature, and met future collaborator Hugh Laurie before graduating with an upper second-class honours BA degree in 1981.

His early career began in the early 1980s with the sketch comedy series Alfresco and his adaptation of the 1930s musical Me and My Girl for the West End. He went on to star as Lord Melchett and General Melchett in the sitcom Blackadder, played Jeeves in Jeeves and Wooster, and created radio material for BBC Radio 4. In film, he debuted in The Good Father (1985) and appeared in Peter's Friends (1992).

Fry earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Oscar Wilde in the 1997 film Wilde. His subsequent film credits include A Fish Called Wanda, Gosford Park, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Love & Friendship, the Alice in Wonderland films, and The Hobbit trilogy. On television, his roles include Kingdom, Bones, and It's a Sin. Fry served as the original host of the comedy panel show QI from 2003 to 2016, earning six BAFTA TV Award nominations, and hosted the BAFTA Film Awards 12 times between 2001 and 2017.

In theatre, Fry's adaptation of Me and My Girl transferred to Broadway, earning him a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical. He later played Malvolio in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe, the West End, and Broadway, securing a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He has also starred as Lady Bracknell in a National Theatre production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

As a writer and broadcaster, Fry has authored four novels, including The Liar and The Hippopotamus, three autobiographies, and non-fiction works such as The Ode Less Travelled. His documentary projects include Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, which won an Emmy Award, and Stephen Fry in America. He has narrated the audiobooks for all seven Harry Potter novels and the Paddington Bear books. In 2025, Fry was knighted for services to mental health awareness, the environment, and charity, having served as president of the mental health charity Mind since 2011.