Eddie Izzard

Overview

He's an Englishman but speaks French fluently, has dyslexia and is a self-titled executive transvestite. Fair to say there aren't really that many people out there like Eddie Izzard.

After leaving an accounting degree at University, Izzard spent a decade or so crafting his stand up before getting his US breakthrough in 1999, when his show Dress to Kill was aired on the American television channel HBO. He subsequently earned two Emmy Awards for the show in 2000 (for performance and writing). That same year he began touring internationally, doing pit stops in the US, UK and France.

His comedic style takes the form of rambling, whimsical monologue and self-referential pantomime. With a signature stream-of-consciousness style of delivery, Izzard's comical wheelhouse is a thinking aloud through a series of absurd situations in real time. He's known for often interrupting himself in order to create meta-stories and meta-characters as well as coming up with new jokes.

When not doing stand up, Izzard can be found acting such films as Ocean's Twelve, Across the Universe, Valkyrie and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; as well doing charitable deeds. In 2009, he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief in spite of having no prior history of long-distance running.