Eddie Izzard won two Emmy Awards in 2000 for Best Acting by a Single Performer in a Comedy, Musical, or Variety Special and Best Writing in a Comedy, Musical, or Variety Special for "Dress to Kill" which aired on HBO throughout 1999. He won over such competition as Chris Rock and the writing team from The Late Show with David Letterman.
Born in Yemen while his parents were there on business.
Regularly dresses as a woman in his acts
Eddie's mum died when he was six years old.
Eddie has a brother named Mark.
Was nominated for Broadway's 2003 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for a revival of "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg."
Suffers from being "partially" Dyslexic.
Auditioned for the role of Rodney Skinner (The Invisible Man) in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), but lost out to Tony Curran.
His comedy routines frequently contain the following elements: references to jam, banjos, bananas, and the names Jeff and Steve; world history; the Bible, using an impression of James Mason to portray God; pantomime; mumbling; and foreign languages, sometimes actually performing in French or German for English-speaking audiences.
Speaks French fluently.
Was touring in New Zealand during the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He heard about the filming and, being such a big fan of the books, asked if he could make an appearance in the films. He was declined.
Uses 3 distinct voices in most of his one-man shows - God (James Mason), Sean Connery (several, including Noah) and Mrs Badcrumble (Scottish clarinet teacher). Undetermined as to whether the latter actually exists.
Sarah Townsend has composed the music for all of his stand-up routines
Eddie Izzard Detailed Biography
Eddie Izzard is an award-winning performer whose many diverse stage and film roles complement his already formidable reputation as an exceptionally talented stand-up comedian. This versatile actor and comic has been awarded the Time Out Award (1991) and the British Comedy Award for Top Stand-Up Comedian (1993, 1996), as well as the Jury Award for Best One-Man Show in the Aspen Comedy Festival (1998). Most recently, for his show Eddie Izzard: Dressed to Kill, he received an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Music, Variety or Comedy Program and a second Emmy Award for Best Individual Performance in a Music, Variety of Comedy Program (2000). Among his other television comedy appearances are Eddie Izzard: Unrepeatable, Eddie Izzard: Definite Article, The Unseen Frank Skinner TV Show and 30 Years of Monty Python: A Revelation.
On the big screen Izzard's credits include the Academy Award nominated SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE; THE CRIMINAL; CIRCUS; MYSTERY MEN; THE AVENGERS; VELVET GOLDMINE and THE SECRET AGENT. His London stage credits include Lenny, Edward II, Cryptogram and Oneonta.
