Lee Evans
Areas of Interest
Honorary Award
Honorary Doctor of Arts, 2009Biography
There's something about Lee Evans that makes him one of the best UK comedians of all time. And then he shines as a musician, writer and a character actor too. He is a top name in arts and entertainment, and is someone whose career has become a highly successful business. Despite his success in comedy, Lee refuses to be typecast and has gone to incredible lengths to create his own extended persona, risking his reputation in such high profile moves.
Lee was born in Avonmouth, Bristol. He went to secondary school in Billericay and, after a spell as a boxer and two years in art school, decided to follow his father into the entertainment business.
During the 1980s Lee performed on the club circuit, moving onto the Comedy Store and broadening his experience with work around the festivals including Edinburgh and Montreal, fitting in television and tours to his fast-moving lifestyle. His popularity continued to grow during the 1990s - he won the Perrier Comedy Award for his work at the 1993 Edinburgh Comedy Festival - as did his ability to pull the crowds. His Lee Evans - Big - UK Tour 2008 was a runaway success. During this series of shows, he performed in front of over 500,000 people on 59 arena dates. The follow-up DVD Lee Evans - Big - Live at The 02 went on to sell over 1.3 million copies and is still in the top 10 of the comedy charts.
Lee has made a number of film appearances, most notably in Funny Bones, MouseHunt, There's Something About Mary, The Fifth Element, The Ladies Man, The Martins and Freeze Frame. His burgeoning movie-career has seen him play many and varied roles, perhaps the nation's best-loved being the tweedy English academic who is trying to woo the lovely Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary. TV work has included The World of Lee Evans, Lee Evans: So What Now? and The History of Mr Polly. He has also appeared in the award winning West End productions of The Producers (with Nathan Lane), Endgame (with Michael Gambon) and The Dumb Waiter (with Jason Isaacs).
To this is added his talent as a singer and a musician as demonstrated in his arena tours during 2002, 2005 and 2008. Lee also has his own production company called Little Mo Films Ltd which is a tribute to his daughter Mollie. Lee most recently appeared as Malcolm Taylor, a Welsh scientist, employed by UNIT in a Doctor Who 2009 Easter Special entitled Planet of the Dead. He is honoured for his outstanding contribution to arts and entertainment.
Citation
"Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Lee Evans for the award of Honorary Doctor of Arts.
There's something about Lee Evans that makes him one of the best UK comedians of all time. And then he shines as a musician, writer and a character actor too. He is a top name in arts and entertainment; and someone whose career has become a highly successful business. Despite his success in comedy, he refuses to be typecast and has taken incredible risks to create his own extended persona, risking his reputation in such high profile moves.
Lee Evans was born in 1964 in Avonmouth, Bristol, England, the son of Dave Evans, a nightclub performer which gave him a very early introduction to show business. He went to secondary school in Billericay and after a spell as a boxer and two years in art school, he decided to follow his father into the entertainment business.
During the 1980s he performed on the club circuit moving onto the Comedy Store and broadening his experience with work around the festivals including Edinburgh and Montreal, fitting in television and tours to his fast-moving lifestyle. His popularity continued to grow during the 1990s - he won the Perrier Comedy Award for his work at the 1993 Edinburgh Comedy Festival - as did his ability to pull the crowds. In stand-up terms, he was matched in comedy perhaps only by Eddie Izzard and Billy Connolly. He is a firm family favourite who has all the ingredients required to entertain and he does so by just 'appearing' on stage with his many trademark intros.
When performing live and on television, we all know him as the loveable young 'fool' who combines dizzy, nervy and incompetent; with huge amounts of slapstick, energy, humour and charm. He has every audience in hysterics with his very physical brand of comedy and natural talent for playing the underdog. He makes people laugh uncontrollably and has won himself a sheer army of dedicated fans as a result.
In 2005, his agency Off The Kerb promoted a show that set a world record for a solo act, performing to the biggest comedy audience ever when he was on stage at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This broke the previous record set by Eddie Izzard.
His Lee Evans - Big - UK Tour 2008 was a runaway success. During this series of shows he performed in front of over 500,000 people on 59 arena dates. The follow-up DVD Lee Evans - Big - Live at The 02 went on to sell over 1.3 million copies and is still in the top 10 of the comedy charts.
He is indeed a comedy icon.
Lee Evans is a man who cannot believe his own popularity. He is genuinely self-effacing but coming to terms with the fact that he is an unstoppable, one-man industry who has made it big through determination, drive and an overwhelming hunger to succeed.
Lee Evans has made a number of film appearances, most notably in Funny Bones, MouseHunt, There's Something About Mary, The Fifth Element, The Ladies Man, The Martins and Freeze Frame. His burgeoning movie-career has seen him play many and varied roles, perhaps the nation's best-loved being the tweedy English academic who is trying to woo the lovely Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary.
TV work has included The World of Lee Evans, Lee Evans: So What Now? and The History of Mr Polly. He has also appeared in the award winning West End productions of The Producers (with Nathan Lane), Endgame (with Michael Gambon) and The Dumb Waiter (with Jason Isaacs).
To this is added his talent as a singer and a musician as demonstrated on his 2002, 2005 and 2008 arena tours.
He also has his own production company called Little Mo Films Ltd which is a tribute to his daughter Mollie.
Lee Evans most recently appeared as Malcolm Taylor, a Welsh scientist, employed by UNIT in a Doctor Who 2009 Easter Special entitled Planet of the Dead.
He is now with us today as a role model to demonstrate to graduates who are moving from education into the uncertain world of work, that they can grow and develop in just one career strand or change direction as and when they want to. This world-acclaimed comedian has done exactly that by pushing his own personal and professional boundaries to the point where he should now be extremely proud of his entrepreneurial success.
For achieving acclaim in every arts and entertainment venture he undertakes, we are delighted to honour Lee Evans today. Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Lee Evans for the award of Honorary Doctor of Arts, honoris causa."