Jim Sweeney (comedian)
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- This article is about Jim Sweeney the actor. For the coach, see Jim Sweeney (coach). For the football player of the same name see Jim Sweeney (football player).
Jim Sweeney (born Michael James Dominic Sweeney in Bournemouth, Hampshire, on 7 February 1955) is an English actor and comedian, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen.
He moved to London with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister, when he was 11 years old. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending an all-boys Roman Catholic school Clapham College.
Sweeney spent the 1970s in theatre productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school. The pairing's first television work as a duo came on the ITV children's show CBTV, followed by the Channel 4 comedy Little Armadillos and resident support comic slots on Rory Bremner's first sketch show for the BBC.
In 1987, Sweeney played Samuel Taylor Coleridge in an episode of Blackadder the Third, with Steen alongside him as Lord Byron. He then appeared in commercials and radio comedies before acquiring a semi-regular slot as a contestant on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? from 1991 to 1993, later joined frequently by Steen.
Sweeney has been involved with the Comedy Store's Comedy Store Players team since 1992, alongside the likes of Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and Richard Vranch. He has also appeared in numerous radio series', including the improvised faux drama show, The Masterson Inheritance and has had one-off roles in sitcoms One Foot In The Grave (as a computer salesman memorably humiliated by Victor Meldrew) and Kiss Me Kate
Since 1985, Sweeney has suffered from multiple sclerosis, something which has required use of a walking stick and, from 2005, a wheelchair. However, he continues to perform, write and act, often with Steen.
Sweeney wrote about his experiences of multiple sclerosis in My MS and Me, a play he performed for BBC Radio 4 after a successful Edinburgh Festival run.
As of August 2007 he is starring in the Radio 4's improvised sketches "The Lawrence Sweeney Mix" alongside Josie Lawrence.
Sweeney lives in Wimbledon with his girlfriend and two daughters.
