Steve Delaney is an English comedian and character actor, best known for the fictional comedy character Count Arthur Strong, whom Delaney created and whom he plays, most notably in Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!. Count Arthur is an elderly, pompous, mostly out-of-work deluded thespian from Doncaster, Yorkshire who appears to suffer from attention deficit disorder and memory loss. He is apt to use malapropisms in his attempts to sound educated.
Delaney created the Count in the 1980s, when he was a drama student at Central School of Speech and Drama in London and performed him at the end-of-term show, having drawn inspiration from characters he met during his childhood. However he put him to one side for several years during which he worked as an actor, appearing on television in dramas such as Juliet Bravo, The Flying Lady, Casualty, The Bill, All Creatures Great and Small and Agatha Christie's Poirot.
In 1997 Delaney, at the suggestion of a former tutor from CSSD, L B Watson (now a successful TV writer), resurrected Strong for his stand-up comedy routine in clubs. The character was performed at the Edinburgh Festival for several years and BBC Radio 4 launched a series for him in 2005 entitled Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!. A second radio series was recorded between September 2006 and January 2007 at the Komedia theatre, Brighton, and started to broadcast on Radio 4 at the end of February 2007. A third series began in late December 2007, still on Radio 4. A fourth began recording in the autumn of 2008, and began transmission in the 11.30am slot from January 7, 2009. A fifth was recorded in autumn 2009 airing from December of that year and series six will begin recording autumn 2010. A seventh records from November 2011 for broadcast early 2012. The series won the SONY GOLD Comedy Award, the highest accolade for radio comedy, at the Radio Academy Awards in 2009.
In 2008 he finished a second tour and Count Arthur Strong the Musical was released on DVD in 2008.
In 2009 and 2010 he again toured twice with Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Smile (the banner behind him on stage, due to printing errors that often occur when he orders publicity material, displaying 'The Man Behind the Slime').
From February to April 2011 he tours with his new show, Count Arthur Strong's Command Performance. He'll also re-tours 'Command Performance from March 2012.
The character has appeared on Mark Radcliffe's BBC Radio 2 show, the TV series Terrorville for Play UK, The Stand Up Show for BBC 2 and 2 series of Comedy Cuts for ITV 2 and can be seen on YouTube supporting Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out! campaign, and on BBC Radio 4 show The Remains of Foley & McColl. He recently completed a television pilot for BBC 2 of his own vehicle, Count Arthur Strong's Entertainment Game, written by Steve Delaney, Jeremy Dyson and Graham Linehan. Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan are currently working on a tv sitcom together for the BBC.
Within Strong's fictional world, he claims to have an illustrious history, and lots of celebrity friends, most notably Anita Harris. He appears frequently frustrated to have been overlooked for the lead role in what he calls Bridge Up The River Kwai, and as James Bond in Dr Dolittle.