| Angus Deayton |
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| english television presenters | |
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Gordon Angus Deayton (born January 6 , 1956 ) is an English comic Actor and Television presenter. He is best-known as the presenter of the satirical panel game '' Have I Got News For You '', a job from which he was sacked in October 2002 after a second round of Tabloid revelations about his personal life. EARLY LIFE Brought up in Surrey and attending Caterham School , Deayton showed early promise as a Football er, and had a trial with Crystal Palace . A sporting career was not to be, and he read languages at New College , Oxford , where he was recruited into a satirical revue for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This led to the creation of the parody band the Hee Bee Gee Bees in 1980. Their best selling single ''Meaningless Songs'' (plus the B-side ''Posing in the Moonlight'') was a parody of the Falsetto style of countless disco hits from pop group the Bee Gees . The parody songs were written by Richard Curtis and Philip Pope . COMEDY CAREER The foundation of Deayton's career was the parody of commercial/local British radio stations '' Radio Active '' transmitted on BBC Radio 4 between 1981 and 1987, which he both co-wrote and performed in. It transferred to television as '' KYTV '' between 1989 and 1993. During this period, Deayton was also frequently seen appearing as a straight man alongside Rowan Atkinson ; and starred with Atkinson in two separate roles (a pool attendant and a man on a park bench) in one of the earliest episodes of ''Mr Bean''. He also appeared opposite Atkinson in The Black Adder episode ''Born To Be King'' ( 1983 ) as one of the Jumping Jews of Jerusalem, a kind of Medieval variety act. He also appeared regularly in comedy sketches on '' Alexei Sayle's Stuff .'' In 1990 Deayton was cast as the Meldrews' neighbour Patrick Trench in the British suburban Sitcom '' One Foot In The Grave '' and was selected as the host of the show that would make him a household name, ''Have I Got News For You''. Deayton's suave manner as host of ''Have I Got News For You'' and a tabloid kiss-and-tell story by an ex-girlfriend led to him being nicknamed "TV's Mr Sex" in 1993. He formerly lived with the Seventies singer/songwriter Stephanie De Sykes . He was much in demand as a presenter of television specials including the BBC 's New Year's Eve show and the BAFTA Awards. He also featured in a series of advertisements for credit cards and the films ''Savage Hearts'' and ''Elizabeth''. SCANDAL In May 2002 he was embarrassed by tabloid revelations of a relationship with a Prostitute and Cocaine use, and his salary was reduced by the BBC . In October there were further reports of a long-standing affair, and he was asked to step down as the quizmaster of " Have I Got News For You " on October 29 . The BBC said his position as a Satirical commentator on the week's news had become untenable, though some observers suggested that—as his position was essentially that of an actor reading a script—he should have been allowed to continue. Many took the view that the two regular panelists on " Have I Got News For You ", Paul Merton and Ian Hislop , contributed to his downfall – even if only by failing to offer Deayton support. When Merton was asked by Michael Parkinson whether he had stabbed Deayton in the back he replied "no, I stabbed him in the front", though this may only have been for comic effect. Other panelists, such as Stephen Fry have supported Deayton by refusing to appear on the show again. He continues to work on other projects including a new episode of ''Radio Active'' which was broadcast in December 2002. In 2003, he guest-starred as Downing Street 's top spin doctor in an episode of the BBC comedy Absolute Power , starring Stephen Fry and John Bird . He recently starred in BBC comedy '' Nighty Night '' which was shown from January 2004. A few months later, he made a return to presenting with ITV 's cookery reality show ''Hell's Kitchen'' and then the light-hearted quiz '' Bognor Or Bust ''. Most recently he has hosted an ITV show based upon Self-help Videos, screened in January 2006, called Help Your Self . |
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