Ralf Little

Ralf Little
Born	Ralf Alistair J.B. Little (1980-02-08) 8 February 1980 Oldham, England, UK
Occupation	Actor, Writer, Footballer

Ralf Alistair J. B. Little (born 8 February 1980) is an English actor, writer and semi-professional footballer, working mainly in television comedy. He is best known for playing Antony Royle in The Royle Family and Jonny Keogh in the first six series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps.

Early life and work

Little was born in Oldham. He attended Bolton School (Boys' Division). He is the son of two qualified accountants.^[1] Some of his early television roles included minor roles in various programmes such as Elidor, Children's Ward,^[2] Sloggers,^[2] Bostock's Cup, Always and Everyone, and a production of Aladdin.

The Royle Family

Ralf's big break came when he was offered the role of Antony Royle in the BBC sitcom, The Royle Family. He took three months out of his 'A' Level studies to record the series, after which he returned to school and got the grades he needed to get into his chosen course at university. Shortly after starting his medical studies degree at university, the first series of The Royle Family began to air and offers to audition started coming Little's way, as many as five per week. This prompted him to abandon his studies and focus on his acting career.^[2] The original run of the series was from autumn 1998 to December 2000, and after a one-off special in 2006 returned for a series of Christmas specials from 2008, with Little returning to the role of Antony in 2006 and from 2009.

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps

After the original run of The Royle Family, he was cast in another sitcom, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (or Two Pints), as Jonny Keogh. The first series ran from February 2001, and has been running for nine series so far. During an interview for This Morning in September 2007 Little said that he would not be returning for the next series due to an overwhelming schedule, and his character was therefore killed off screen in the first episode of the seventh series although mentioned throughout the rest of the series.

Other work

Little was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance in Notes on Falling Leaves at the Royal Court Theatre.

In 1999 Little played a Star in the ITV comedy drama The Flint Street Nativity which also starred Frank Skinner, Jane Horrocks, Mark Addy, Josie Lawrence, Neil Morrissey, Stephen Tompkinson and Julia Sawalha.

In 2000 Little played Wishee Washee in the ITV Panto Aladdin, while in 2004 he played the title character in Billy Liar at the Theatre Royal in Windsor.^[3] He appeared in Juliet McKoen's 2005 ghost story/murder mystery film Frozen, set in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

Between November 2002 and January 2003 He hosted three hour long episodes of the Ralf Little Show on BBC3 along with co-host Elizabeth Bower. Ralph Little was the lead writer, and additional writers include Simon Blackwell, Colin Simon Blackwell, Ed Dyson, Robin Ince and Will Smith. Regular features for this show included celebrity interviews and comedy routines by Ralph Little. Guests for this show included Peter Davison, Kevin Eldon, Rowland Rivron, Richard Blackwood and musical guest Vega 4.

His other film credits include 24 Hour Party People (playing Joy Division and New Order bass player Peter Hook^[2]) and Al's Lads. Little also starred as Stephen, alongside Anne-Marie Duff, in Oscar-nominee Roger Goldby's film The Waiting Room,^[4] released throughout the UK in June 2008.

In television, he also appeared in Paradise Heights alongside Neil Morrisey and Charles Dale.^[2][5] In October 2007, he appeared in the one man show, Stacy, written by Jack Thorne at the Trafalgar Studios in London and on TV in Robin Hood as a sinister scientist Joseph, in the episode "The Angel of Death".

In August 2007 he released his first online novel (co-written with Stephen Morris), The Golden Generation, a coming of age tale about a recently single man who is taken under the wings of two city traders who show him the trappings of big money in the big city but that it comes at a price. Money taken from the sale of the novel went to the charity Shelter.^[6]

Little was a member of the cast of KateModern, a web series which is a spin-off of the more well-known lonelygirl15. The series started in July 2007 and posted its final video in June 2008. In early 2008 he appeared in adverts for McVitie's digestive biscuits, did the voiceover for SMA baby formula adverts and the 2009 Asda Rollback adverts.^[7] He also provided the narration for series two to seven of Monkey Life.

In July 2008 he appeared in 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, a new play at the Bush Theatre which was revised as 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover at Christmas later that year, while in September of the same year he starred in Massive, a BBC comedy about an indie record label. Also in 2008 he narrated the second series of Last Man Standing.

In 2009 he had role of Clint in the ITV comedy drama series Married Single Other alongside Miranda Raison^[8] He also worked on the film Powder.^[9]

In the autumn of 2010, he starred in The Aliens, a British premier of a new play by Annie Baker, again at the Bush Theatre alongside Mackenzie Crook and Olly Alexander.^[10]

In 2011, he appeared as Richard Dickens in the comedy series The Café, shown on Sky 1, which he co-wrote with Michelle Terry and which was directed by Craig Cash.

In 2013, he appeared in Death in Paradise series two, episode six. As of April 2013, he was appearing at the Liverpool Playhouse as the father of a girl with cerebral palsy, in a new production of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg.^[11][12]

Football career

Little, a supporter of Manchester United,^[3] is a keen footballer and has played for a number of semi-professional clubs when other commitments allow. In March 2003 he played for Maidstone United against AFC Wimbledon, having previously been training with Staines Town.^[13] He joined Isthmian League side Edgware Town in October 2004, making his debut in the FA Vase game against Waltham Abbey.^[14]

He played for Chertsey Town during the 2007-08 season and on 8 July 2008 signed for North West Counties League side Stone Dominoes.^[15] He has also on a few occasions played celebrity football matches for charity^[16][17] and played with members of Hollywood United while in the district for acting career purposes. He also plays for the Arsenal Ex-Pro and Celebrity XI.^[18] On 6 June 2010, he participated in Soccer Aid game for England on the left wing.

On 9 August 2011, he played in the John Kennedy testimonial match for Manchester United against Celtic which resulted in a 5-2 win for Celtic.^[19]

In May 2012, he appeared for the Sealand national football team in a match against the Chagos Islands as captain. The match was held at the grounds of Godalming Town.^[20] In August 2012 and March 2013 he played in 2 games against Alderney, a 1-1 draw and 2-1 win respectively.

References

External links

• Ralf Little at the Internet Movie Database
• "How We Met: Jemima Rooper & Ralf Little". The Independent on Sunday. 24 August 2008.