Hugh Dennis
{{short description|British comedian and actor (born 1962)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox comedian
| name = Hugh Dennis
| image = Hugh Dennis (38166341085) cropped.jpg
| honorific_suffix = FRGS
| caption = Dennis in December 2017
| birth_name = Peter Hugh Dennis
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1962|2|13}}
| birth_place = Kettering, Northamptonshire, England
| alma_mater = University of Cambridge
| active = 1989–present
| genre = Political satire, impressionism, improvisational comedy, insult comedy
| subject = British politics, family, current events
| spouse = {{ubl
| {{marriage|Miranda Carroll|1987|1993|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Kate Abbot-Anderson|1996|2015|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Claire Skinner|2022}}
}}
| children = 2
| parents = John Dennis (father)
| relatives = John Dennis Jr. (brother)
}}
Peter Hugh Dennis {{postnominals|country=GBR|FRGS}} (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, impressionist and writer. He was a panellist in every episode of the comedy show Mock the Week (2005–2022) and is one half of the double act Punt and Dennis alongside Steve Punt.
Dennis has also played Dr Piers Crispin in the sitcom My Hero (2000–2006), Pete Brockman in the sitcom Outnumbered (2007–2014, 2016, 2024), Toby in the sitcom Not Going Out (2014–2023), and the Bank Manager in the first season of the comedy-drama series Fleabag (2016). He presents the community archaeology television show The Great British Dig (2020–present).
Early life
Peter Hugh Dennis was born in Kettering on 13 February 1962,{England and Wales Birth Index 1916–2005} the son of schoolteacher Dorothy Mary (née Hinnels)Dod's Parliamentary Companion 1995, Dod's Parliamentary Companion Ltd, p. 297 and Anglican priest John Dennis.{{cite news|title=Hugh Dennis: My family values|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/16/hugh-dennis-my-family-values|work=The Guardian|date=16 January 2015}} His older brother, John Jr., is a diplomat who has served as the British Ambassador to Angola{{Cite news|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-angola--2|title=Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Angola|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=3 May 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-her-majestys-ambassador-to-angola|title=Change of Her Majesty's Ambassador to Angola|publisher=Government of the United Kingdom|access-date=3 May 2018}} and the British Representative to Taiwan.{{cite news |title=Hugh Dennis: My family values |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/16/hugh-dennis-my-family-values |work=The Guardian |access-date=21 September 2019 |date=16 January 2015 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20201014151533/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jan/16/hugh-dennis-my-family-values |archivedate=14 October 2020 |url-status=live }} He grew up in the Mill Hill suburb of London as his father was appointed vicar of the local John Keble Church soon after his birth.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mmlx5 "Hugh Dennis"] Who Do You Think You Are? Episode 5 of 10, Series 9. Broadcast 12 September 2012. His father later became the Bishop of Knaresborough and then the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.{{cite news|title=Hugh Dennis on working with the kids of Outnumbered|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-interviews/2009/12/26/hugh-dennis-on-working-with-the-kids-of-outnumbered-86908-21923416/|work=Daily Record|date=26 December 2009}}
Dennis was educated at private University College School in London. During his time at UCS, he played rugby with Will Self and was head boy in his final year.{{cite episode|series=Have I Got News for You|series-link=Have I Got News for You|network=BBC Two|date=25 April 1997|season=13|number=2}} He went on to read for the Geographical Tripos as an exhibitioner at St John's College, Cambridge. His thesis was titled "The Spatial Distribution of Elementary Education in 19th-century Wakefield".{{cite news|title=Hugh Dennis: I'm a happy rambler|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-02-16/hugh-dennis-i%27m-a-happy-rambler|work=Radio Times|date=16 February 2012}} He also joined the Footlights, where he first met Steve Punt and club president Nick Hancock, and the trio collaborated on a number of projects besides the annual revue.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} In 2016, Dennis said that he was approached by MI5 agents whilst at Cambridge University and attended a preliminary interview to join them; he decided that he did not want to take the option any further, particularly after being told during the interview that the job would require him to "do people over".{{Citation|title=Dara O Briain And Hugh Dennis Talk 150 Episodes Of Mock The Week {{!}} This Morning|date=14 June 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emuTpAq2-L0|access-date=27 July 2017}}
After graduating with a first class honours degree,{{cite web |title=Outnumbered's Hugh Dennis: 'It's not good for my image but I like cardigans |url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/555170/Hugh-Dennis-interview |website=Daily Express |access-date=18 September 2019|date=February 2015 }} Dennis worked for Unilever for six years in the marketing department while performing comedy with Punt at venues including The Comedy Store in London at weekends.{{cite news|title=Why Footlights is a breeding ground for double acts|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11927226|publisher=BBC|date=6 December 2010}}{{cite news|title=In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/show-people-in-your-funnybone-rather-than-your-face-punt-and-dennis-1411396.html|work=The Independent|date=3 July 1994}} Whilst at Unilever, Dennis became a brand manager of Lynx deodorant. His time at Unilever came to an end when he and Punt had their BBC Radio 1 show The Mary Whitehouse Experience, which they had created alongside David Baddiel and Rob Newman, commissioned for BBC Two. Dennis was put on sabbatical by Unilever, as rehearsals for the show were to take place on a weekday, but he never returned to the company and instead chose to pursue comedy full-time as a result of the show's success.{{Citation |title=Hugh Dennis On Spitting Image, Not Going Out And Starring In James Bond | date=23 June 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAUGhOKY2pk |language=en |access-date=28 June 2022}}
Dennis uses his middle name Hugh as his stage name because the actor Peter Dennis was already a member of the performing arts union Equity.{{cite news |last=Hardwick |first=Viv |date=7 April 2007 |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/1314944.headline-act |title=A headline act |work=The Northern Echo (Newsquest North East) |page=26}}
Career
File:Now Show 2005 Hugh Dennis.jpg, 2005]]
As an impressionist, Dennis did voices for Spitting Image{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/may/17/broadcasting.uknews|title=Spitting Image plans TV comeback | work=The Guardian | location=London | first=Jason | last=Deans | date=17 May 2004 | access-date=4 May 2010}} and appeared with Punt as resident support comics on two TV series hosted on the BBC by Jasper Carrott.{{cite news | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/show-people-in-your-funnybone-rather-than-your-face-punt-and-dennis-1411396.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=James | last=Rampton | title=Show people: In your funnybone rather than your face: Punt and Dennis | date=3 July 1994}}{{cite news|title=Impressions are back in fashion: The great pretenders|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/sep/30/comedy?INTCMP=SRCH|work=The Guardian|date=30 September 2003}} Dennis also appeared twice as a contestant on the topical panel show Have I Got News for You, including one opposite former schoolmate Self.
Punt and Dennis's radio career includes over a decade of performing Punt and Dennis, It's Been a Bad Week, The Party Line and the satirical radio comedy show, The Now Show. On The Now Show, Dennis was originally in a line-up including Punt, Mitch Benn, Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes and Marcus Brigstocke. He is friends with Chris Morris and has had cameos on Brass Eye as well as doing the narration for the CBBC show Sam and Mark's Guide to Dodging Disaster.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}
In December 2009, Dennis joined Oz Clarke in presenting the 60-minute Christmas special Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas broadcast on BBC Two.{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pk6gy | title=Oz And Hugh Drink To Christmas |publisher=BBC |date=20 December 2009 | access-date=5 January 2010}} In December 2010 the pair returned for a four-part series called Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar, which puts them in a competition to create a bar featuring only local British food and drinks.{{cite web |author=The BBC | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00x334f | title=Oz and Hugh Raise the Bar | publisher=BBC |date=21 December 2010 | access-date=26 December 2010}}
Dennis has starred in a number of sitcoms, including My Hero, in which he played obnoxious GP Piers Crispin. From 2007 to 2014, he starred in Outnumbered, a semi-improvised sitcom based around family life{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/08_august/17/outnumbered.shtml|title=Outnumbered Press Pack|publisher=BBC|date=17 August 2007|access-date=22 December 2009}} and won a BAFTA nomination in the comedy category for the 2009 Christmas special.{{cite web|url=http://www.bafta.org/awards-database.html?award=false&category=Television&pageNo=3&year=2009|title=BAFTA Awards 2009|publisher=Bafta.org|access-date=2 May 2014}} On Radio 4 he also featured in the sitcom Revolting People which, like Outnumbered, was co-written by Andy Hamilton.
Besides his regular television work, Dennis was a panellist on Mock the Week and appeared in every episode since its premiere in 2005, with the exception of a special episode of the programme that was broadcast as part of David Walliams' 24 Hour Panel People.{{cite web|url=http://www.mocktheweek.tv/thecast/|title=The Show|publisher=Mock the Week|access-date=28 December 2007}} He is a regular guest on various BBC-broadcast comedy panel game shows such as They Think It's All Over, Would I Lie To You?, QI and has guest hosted Have I Got News for You. In 2011, Dennis hosted the short-lived improvisational comedy series Fast and Loose.
Beginning on 16 February 2012, Dennis and Julia Bradbury hosted a four-part BBC One documentary series The Great British Countryside. From October 2014 to December 2023, Dennis played Toby in the long-running sitcom Not Going Out.
In 2016, Dennis appeared as the Bank Manager in the BBC Three series Fleabag, acting alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the first, fourth, and final episodes of series 1.{{cite web |title=Hugh Dennis |url=https://rts.org.uk/person/hugh-dennis |website=Royal Television Society |access-date=17 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217103841/https://rts.org.uk/person/hugh-dennis|archive-date=17 February 2024}}
In February 2021, Dennis started presenting The Great British Dig on More 4.[https://www.channel4.com/press/news/hugh-dennis-present-great-british-dig-history-your-back-garden-more4 Hugh Dennis to present The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden on More4 ]; Channel 4
In the September 2021, Bond film No Time to Die, Dennis cameoed as a scientist in an MI6 laboratory.{{Cite web|date=2 October 2021|title=Bond fans surprised by 'unlikely' cameo from British comedian in No Time to Die|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/james-bond-no-time-to-die-hugh-dennis-b1930666.html|access-date=24 October 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}}
Personal life
Dennis lives in London, having previously lived near Chichester.{{Cite web |last=Heath |first=Jacob |date=23 August 2021 |title=TV star Hugh Dennis' life in Chichester and how he almost became an MI5 spy |url=https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/sussex-news/hugh-dennis-outnumbered-chichester-star-5820398 |access-date=19 August 2022 |website=sussexlive |language=en}} He married Miranda Carroll in 1987 and they divorced in 1993. He married Catherine Abbot-Anderson in 1996, and they had a son and a daughter before divorcing in 2015.{{Cite web|url=http://www.findmypast.com/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp|title=Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005|website=Findmypast.com|access-date=23 October 2021|archive-date=28 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228000620/http://www.findmypast.com/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/royalmarsden/status/621235948924366848|title=Image for Father and Son Day for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity|website=twitter|access-date=12 May 2023}} In June 2018, it was confirmed that he was in a relationship with his Outnumbered co-star Claire Skinner.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/outnumbered-hugh-dennis-claire-skinner-relationship_uk_5b388823e4b0f3c221a18ada|title='Outnumbered' Actor Hugh Dennis Confirms Relationship With On-Screen Wife Claire Skinner|date=1 July 2018|website=HuffPost|access-date=1 July 2018}} In 2025, it was revealed that the couple had married in 2022.{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/02/outnumbered-couple-hugh-dennis-claire-skinner-secretly-married-real-life-three-years-ago-22653501/|title=Outnumbered couple Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner secretly married in real life three years ago|last=Bashforth|first=Emily|date=2 March 2025|access-date=11 May 2025|newspaper=Metro}}
Dennis is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society{{Cite web |url=http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/Our+members.htm |title=Our members |access-date=20 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513135229/http://www.rgs.org/AboutUs/Our%2Bmembers.htm |archive-date=13 May 2012 |url-status=dead }} and in 2008 he received an Honorary fellowship from the University of Northampton.[http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/release/?id=UON8251 Hugh Dennis welcomed to The University of Northampton] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080718080458/http://www.northampton.ac.uk/news/release/?id=UON8251 |date=18 July 2008 }} Northampton.ac.uk In 2024 he became the Chancellor of the University of Winchester.{{cite web | url=https://www.winchester.ac.uk/News-and-Events/Press-Centre/Media-Articles/Chancellor-Hugh-makes-his-graduation-debut.php | title=Media Articles - University of Winchester }}
In 2007 he took part in the L'Étape du Tour, cycling an open stage of the Tour de France for amateurs, which was held in the mountains two weeks before the main event, and completed it in 11 hours and 7 minutes.{{cite web |url=https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/2847-punt-and-dennis/ |title=Punt and Dennis – The right stuff |work=Edinburghfestival.list.co.uk |date= 8 August 2007 |access-date=27 December 2018}} In 2011 he completed the Great South Run in Portsmouth, for the Alzheimer's Society.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15514161 |title=Great South Run: £3m raised at Portsmouth event |work=BBC News |date=30 October 2011 |access-date=27 December 2018}} He is a supporter of Arsenal FC.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-06-16/hugh-dennis-on-being-a-complete-idiot-around-hugh-laurie|title=Hugh Dennis on being a 'complete idiot' around Hugh Laurie|work=Radio Times|date=16 June 2013}}
Filmography
Accolades
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| scope="col" style="width:1em;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Award ! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Category ! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Nominated work ! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Result ! scope="col" style="width:1em;"class="unsortable"| {{Abbr|Ref.|References}} |
|---|
| 1994
| Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards | Light Entertainment | {{won}} | |
| 2010
| Best Male Comedy Performance | Outnumbered: The Christmas Special | {{nom}} | |
| 2011
| {{nom}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline}}
- {{IMDb name|0219465}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Hugh}}
Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Category:English comedy writers
Category:English male comedians
Category:English male film actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:People educated at University College School
Category:Actors from Kettering
Category:20th-century English comedians
Category:21st-century English comedians
Category:Comedians from Northamptonshire
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Barnet
Category:People from Mill Hill
Category:Comedians from the London Borough of Barnet
Category:Male actors from Northamptonshire
Category:People associated with the University of Winchester