Personal Info
Birth date
1936-11-22 (88 Years)
Day of death
2022-12-24
Gender
Male
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Nottingham, England, UK
Also known as
-John Bird
Biography
John Michael Bird was an English actor, director, writer and satirist.
Filmography
Midsomer Murders
7.5
Overview:
The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.Have I Got News for You
7.1
Overview:
Hilarious, totally-irreverent, near-slanderous political quiz show, based mainly on news stories from the last week or so, that leaves no party, personality or action unscathed in pursuit of laughs.Omnibus
7.2
Overview:
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.Play for Today
6.333
Overview:
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.The BBC Television Shakespeare
6
Overview:
The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC Television. It was transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to 27 April 1985 and spanned seven series. Development of the series began in 1975 when Messina saw that Glamis Castle would make a perfect location for an adaptation of Shakespeare's play As You Like It. On returning to London, he envisioned an entire series devoted exclusively to the dramatic works of Shakespeare. After encountering numerous problems trying to produce the series, Messina eventually pitched the idea to the BBC’s departmental heads and the series was greenlighted. The series as a whole received generally negative reviews from critics.One Foot in the Grave
7.561
Overview:
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series The series features the exploits of Victor Meldrew and his long-suffering wife, Margaret. The programmes invariably deal with Meldrew's battle against the problems he creates for himself. Living in a typical household in an unnamed English suburb, Victor takes involuntary early retirement. His various efforts to keep himself busy, while encountering various misfortunes and misunderstandings are the themes of the sitcom. The series was largely filmed on location in Walkford, near New Milton in Hampshire, although several clues show that the series may have been set in Hampshire – possibly Winchester. Despite its traditional production, the series supplants its domestic sitcom setting with elements of black humour and surrealism.Playhouse
7
Overview:
A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.Sooty & Co.
7.2
Overview:
Second incarnation of the childrens puppet show, picking up almost directly where "The Sooty show" left off Sooty, Sweep, Soo and little cousin Scampi continue their adventures with Matthew.Celebrity Mastermind
6
Overview:
Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long-running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master. Magnus Magnusson was quizmaster on the 2003/04 episodes featuring Jonathan Meades as winner.Murder Most Horrid
6.6
Overview:
A comedy that started in 1991 as a pilot, Murder Most Horrid stars Dawn French as various characters, as she embarks on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another she is involved with murder - either committing the crime herself or even getting bumped off herself!Inspector Morse
7.8
Overview:
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis, as well as a large cast of notable actors and actresses.Home to Roost
6.3
Overview:
Home to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew. The premise is that Henry Willows is forty-something, who has been divorced from his wife for seven years and is perfectly happy living alone in London. That is, until his youngest child, Matthew arrives to live with him, after being thrown out by his mother. The plots generally revolved around Henry's annoyance at having his solitude disturbed, and the age gap clash. Henry employed two cleaners throughout the show's life; first Enid Thompson, and, in the third season, Fiona Fennell.Filthy Rich & Catflap
6.6
Overview:
Richie causes trouble in his pursuit of TV fame with Eddie, his alcoholic minder, and Filthy, his sponging agent.Bremner, Bird and Fortune
6
Overview:
Bremner, Bird and Fortune is an award-winning satirical British television programme produced by Vera Productions for Channel Four, uniting the longstanding satirical team of John Bird and John Fortune with the satirical impressionist Rory Bremner, and to date has 16 series.Jonathan Creek
7.492
Overview:
Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.A Bit of Fry & Laurie
7.9
Overview:
A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
6.5
Overview:
A British television series based on the book of the same name written by Sue Townsend.Dick Turpin
7.286
Overview:
Richard O'Sullivan stars as Dick Turpin in this action-filled adventure series chronicling the exploits of England's most celebrated highwayman.Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
NYR
Overview:
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired during the winter of 1964–1965, in an attempt to continue and improve on the successful formula of his That Was The Week That Was, which had been taken off by the BBC because of the coming General Election. It too featured David Frost as compère, with two others, William Rushton and the poet P. J. Kavanagh joining him in the role. In addition to Saturdays, there were also editions on Fridays and Sundays. It saw the first appearances on television of John Bird, Eleanor Bron, Roy Hudd, Patrick Campbell and John Fortune. Michael Crawford also featured as 'Byron'. Whereas TWTWTW had had a dark nightclub atmosphere, the new programme used predominantly white sets. The programme lacked the impact of TW3 and lasted only one season before being replaced by the Robert Robinson-fronted BBC-3.The Dangerous Brothers
NYR
Overview:
The Dangerous Brothers was a stage and TV act by anarchic comedy duo Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson, performing respectively as "Richard Dangerous" and "Sir Adrian Dangerous". Originally appearing on stage in London at the comedy club 'The Comic Strip', the characters were well developed before appearing on TV. First appearing on television on a one off 1980 BBC TV show 'Boom Boom Out Go The Lights', they were also featured in a TV short 'documentary' film 'The Comic Strip', directed by Julien Temple, before they appeared in a number of brief sketches in the TV programme Saturday Live from 1985 on.In the Red
6.2
Overview:
A series of killings of bank managers has London in a turmoil, all the way up to Parliament. And the killer regularly calls about his handiwork, but only to a street-wise, and usually rather tipsy, radio reporter, about to be sacked for his habitual irreverence toward his station and the BBC. And while everything seems to point to a lead singer of a rock group famous for the "In The Red" music which has been connected to the killings, in typical British mystery fashion, there are also other sub-plots to be considered.El C.I.D.
NYR
Overview:
Two British police officers uproot themselves and move to Spain. They watch ex-pat British mobsters.The Galton & Simpson Playhouse
NYR
Overview:
Seven Hilariously comic situations from the fertile imaginations of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.The Secret Policeman's Ball
5
Overview:
A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years.Bremner, Bird and Fortune: Silly Money
NYR
Overview:
Rory Bremner takes a satirical look at the 2008 'credit crunch'. He spoofs politicians and other public figures to tell the story of the US and UK financial markets.Yes, Prime Minister
8.38
Overview:
James Hacker MP the Government's bumbling minister for Administrative Affairs is propelled along the corridors of power to the very pinnacle of politics - No. 10. Could this have possibly have been managed by his trusted Permanent Private Secretary, the formidably political Sir Humphrey Appleby who must move to the “Top Job” in Downing Street to support him, together with his much put upon PPS Bernard Wolley. What could possibly go wrong?Acting
TBARory Bremner: From Blair to Here as Interviewer
2009Famous, Rich and Homeless (2 Episodes) as Unknown
2008Bremner, Bird and Fortune: Silly Money (4 Episodes) as Various
2006The Real Dad's Army (3 Episodes) as Narrator
2003Celebrity Mastermind (1 Episode) as Unknown
2003Winter Solstice as Barry
2003Absolute Power (12 Episodes) as Martin McCabe
2003Between Iraq and a Hard Place as Unknown
2000Chambers (12 Episodes) as Unknown
1999Bremner, Bird and Fortune (89 Episodes) as Unknown
1999The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka as 1st Official
1998In the Red (3 Episodes) as Controller, Radio 4
1997Jonathan Creek (1, 2 Episode) as D.I. Nathan Gallo, Horace Greeley
1997Midsomer Murders (1 Episode) as St John Beachwood
1996Giving Tongue as Lord Jessop
1995Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook as Self
1994Anna Lee (1 Episode) as Adrian Wesley
1993Rory Bremner...Who Else? (62 Episodes) as Unknown
1993Sooty & Co. (1 Episode) as Self
1992After the Dance as John Reid
1991Murder Most Horrid (1 Episode) as Duncan Jupp
1991Performance (1 Episode) as John Reid
1991Bejewelled as Eustace
1990Have I Got News for You (3 Episodes) as Self
1990Cluedo (6 Episodes) as Professor Plum
1990Circles Of Deceit as George
1990El C.I.D. (19 Episodes) as Douglas Bromley
1990One Foot in the Grave (1 Episode) as Lewis Atterbury
1989Rory Bremner (24 Episodes) as Unknown
1989Shadow of the Noose (1 Episode) as Mr. Justice Hawkins
1989Joint Account (16 Episodes) as Unknown
1989A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1 Episode) as Unknown
1989The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball as Self
1988Scarfe's Follies as Unknown
1987The Children Of Dynmouth as Commander Abigail
1987A Little Princess (6 Episodes) as Mr. Carmichael
1987Filthy Rich & Catflap (1 Episode) as Dingo Wucker
1987Inspector Morse (1 Episode) as George Linacre
1986A Very Peculiar Practice (4, 7 Episode) as Unknown, Ernest Hemingway
1986Yes, Prime Minister (1 Episode) as Unknown
1986The Dangerous Brothers (2 Episodes) as Unknown
1985Mrs. Capper's Birthday as Maurice
1985The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (6 Episodes) as Unknown
1985Home to Roost (2 Episodes) as FG Fielding
1985Blue Money as Harry Diamond
1985Lytton's Diary (1 Episode) as Jacko
1984Oxbridge Blues (1 Episode) as Clive
1983The Falklands Factor as Lord North
1982Educating Marmalade (10 Episodes) as Mr Atkins
1982King Lear as Duke of Albany
1982The Secret Policeman's Other Ball as Self - Various Roles
1981Timon of Athens as Painter
1981Fothergill as HG Wells
1980The Taming of the Shrew as Pedant
1980A Walk in the Forest as Desmond Hughes
1980High Tide as Cyril
1979Red, White, and Zero as Man on Train
1979The Last Window Cleaner as Captain Wigmore
1979Blue Remembered Hills as Raymond
1979Dick Turpin (1 Episode) as Gooch
1978The BBC Television Shakespeare (1, 1 Episode) as Pedant, Painter
1978Armchair Thriller (3, 1 Episode) as Cyril, Cyril (uncredited)
1977Jabberwocky as 1st Herald
1977The Galton & Simpson Playhouse (1 Episode) as Unknown
1976The Seven-Per-Cent Solution as Berger
1976Well Anyway (7 Episodes) as Unknown
1976The Secret Policeman's Ball (15 Episodes) as Self
1975After That, This (6 Episodes) as Unknown
1974Playhouse (1 Episode) as H.G. Wells
1972The Alf Garnett Saga as Willis
1970Take a Girl Like You as Dick Thompson
1970Play for Today (1, 1, 1, 1 Episode) as Captain Wigmore, Lord North, Desmond Hughes, Raymond
1970The Breaking of Bumbo as Jock
1969A Promise of Bed as Taxi Driver
1969World in Ferment (6 Episodes) as Gerald Pikestaff
1969The Best House in London as Home Secretary
1968With Bird Will Travel (6 Episodes) as Unknown
1968A Dandy in Aspic as Unknown
196830 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia! as Herbert Greenslade
1967Omnibus (2 Episodes) as Self
1967A Series Of Bird's (8 Episodes) as Unknown
1967Piccadilly Palace (1 Episode) as Unknown
1966Alice in Wonderland as Frog Footman
1964Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (62 Episodes) as Unknown
Writing
TBARory Bremner: From Blair to Here ... Writer
1999Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1 Episode) ... Writer
1973Yellow Dog ... Dialogue
1967A Series Of Bird's (8 Episodes) ... Writer
Creator
1999Bremner, Bird and Fortune ... Creator