Peter Serafinowicz
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Peter Serafinowicz (born July 10, 1972) is an English comic actor, voice artist and composer of Polish descent.
He made his broadcasting debut in 1993 on Radio 1 show The Knowledge, a spoof documentary about the music industry. From there he went on to perform in Radio 4 shows Weekending, Harry Hill's Fruit Corner, Grievous Bodily Radio and The Two Dannys. In 1998 he appeared on TV in Comedy Nation, following that up with a role in Simon Nye written sitcom How Do You Want Me?. Also in 1998 he starred in You are Here, where he met Robert Popper, with whom he was to create Look Around You.
In 1999 he made a number of appearances in Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, playing principal character Tim Bisley's (Simon Pegg) arch-nemesis Duane Benzie.
In 2000 he had a memorable appearance in an episode of the first series of the Channel 4 sitcom Black Books as Hywel Granger, a character with an abnormally deep and silky voice who worked as a radio announcer, perhaps a joke about Serafinowicz's career as an in-demand voice artist.
In 2001 Serafinowicz took the lead in BBC2 sitcom World of Pub, playing the same character as he had done in the show's run on Radio 4. He was also in The Junkies, the world's first internet sitcom.
In 2002 Look Around You debuted on BBC2. A series of 10 minute 70s school science video spoofs, they were critically acclaimed. Serafinowicz wrote the show alongside Popper, and appeared as a scientist in it. The show returned in 2005 as a spoof of 80s Tomorrow's World, with Serafinowicz playing Peter Packard, one of the presenters.
In 2003 he appeared in another Nye-written sitcom, Hardware, in which he played the affable Kenny. The series returned for a second series in 2004. Also in 2004 he appeared in British rom-zom-com Shaun of the Dead, playing the tidy flat-mate Pete of principal characters Shaun (Simon Pegg) and Ed (Nick Frost). He also appeared in boxing movie The Calcium Kid.
His most high profile role as a voice artist was as Darth Maul in the film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, which was referenced in his appearance during the second series of Spaced. His voice overdubbed that of Ray Park, who portrayed Darth Maul in costume. Serafinowicz has done many adverts and voice-overs and is a talented impressionist. He impersonated Terry Wogan in a 2003 Comic Relief spoof of Blankety Blank, and he regularly utilises his array of impressions when performing. He also provided the voice of Captain Ardias in THQ's Warhammer 40,000: Firewarrior.
In the week before the 2006 Academy Awards a video circulated on the Internet of a fake news item (called "O! News", a parody of E! News) about a new Oscar statue, in which Serafinowicz imitated Alan Alda, Paul McCartney and Al Pacino. A second O! News video later appeared, parodying the 2006 Apple Corps v. Apple Computer lawsuit.
He also provided the voice for Darth Chef in an episode of South Park in 2006, as a parody of his Star Wars role.
Serafinowicz had also made a number of guest appearances on television, including the comedy shows Smack the Pony and Hippies (both 1999), Black Books (2000), I'm Alan Partridge (2002) and Little Britain (2003), comedy drama Murder Most Horrid (1999) and ITV Drama series Miss Marple (2005). He has made a number of guest appearances on both television and radio panel shows. He regularly appeared on The 99p Challenge and appeared on Have I Got News For You in 2005 and 2006, 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2005, and QI in 2003.
He plays 'Uncle Jimmy' in British film Sixty Six, a true story about a Jewish boy whose Bar Mitzvah is scheduled for the same day as the 1966 World Cup final. He is currently filming a new comedy series, "The Peter Serafinowicz Show", for BBC2.
[edit] Personal life
Serafinowicz was born in Liverpool. He is brother-in-law to Graham Linehan, co-writer of Father Ted.
He is in a relationship with Smack the Pony and Green Wing actress, Sarah Alexander.
His brother James is the DVD Director for Peep Show Series Three.
[edit] Work credits
On television:
- Spaced
- Look Around You (which he co-wrote and produced)
- World of Pub
- Ted and Alice
- Black Books
- Hardware
- South Park (voicing Darth Chef)
On radio:
- The 99p Challenge
- Lee and Herring
- Harry Hill's Fruit Corner
- The Two Dannys
On film:
- Shaun of the Dead, where he played Shaun and Ed's flatmate, Pete.
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, in which he voiced the Sith Lord Darth Maul.
- Sixty Six in which he plays "Uncle Jimmy"
