Originally posted by sasguru
No mention of that in his Wikipedia entry but fsck me, the guy owns half of Celador. No wonder he doesnt need to get on telly anymore.
Jasper Carrott OBE (born Robert Davis, March 14, 1945) is an English comedian (declaring himself "world famous in Birmingham").
Born in Acocks Green, Birmingham, he was educated at Moseley School. He started his own folk club at 16 called "The Boggery" in Solihull, where he would perform folk songs as well as MC. Before long, his banter with the audience overtook the actual songs and he became known more as a comedian than a singer. He also worked as a musical agent (in partnership with Harvey Andrews), as Finger-Me-Gig.
He had a surprise UK top 5 chart hit in 1975 with a novelty record called "Funky Moped" written by Chris Rohmann. The B-Side to this single was a risqué monologue parodying the animated children's TV series The Magic Roundabout.
His break into television was with Carrott's Lib, a Saturday night comedy show broadcast live on the BBC. This was followed by a string of different shows, most notably Carrott's Commercial Breakdown, which broadcast weird and wonderful adverts from around the world, and the sketch and stand-up shows Carrott Confidential, 24 Carrott Gold, The Jasper Carrott Trials and Canned Carrott, some of which also gave TV exposure to the comedy partnership of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.
Canned Carrott also featured a regular police drama spoof called The Detectives, co-starring Robert Powell, which was spun off into its own series. In 2002 and 2003, he starred in the sitcom All About Me.
He performed in several of the Secret Policeman's Ball charity concerts for Amnesty International, and returned to the stage in 2004 for several sell out shows at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham featuring classic routines from his career. He returned to a singing role for the musical "Go Play Up Your Own End" (written by Malcolm Stent, songs by Harvey Andrews) in 2005.
He is part owner of the production company Celador, which makes Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. His daughter, Lucy Davis, is an actress best known for playing Dawn in The Office.
He is a proud supporter and director of the football club Birmingham City and was made an OBE in 2002. The University of Birmingham awarded him a honorary doctorate in 2004.
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