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Michael Fenton Stevens

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Michael Fenton Stevens
Fenton Stevens in "Mr. Bean in Room 426" (1993)
Born
Michael Stevens

(1958-02-12) 12 February 1958 (age 66)
London, England
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian

Michael Fenton Stevens (born 12 February 1958)[1] is an English actor and comedian. He was a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and sang the lead on the Spitting Image 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song".[2] He also starred in KYTV, its Radio 4 predecessor Radio Active, Benidorm, and was an anchor on 3rd & Bird on CBeebies.

Career

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Radio and broadcasting

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Fenton Stevens was one of the principal performers in the Radio 4 comedy series Radio Active during the 1980s, alongside Helen Atkinson-Wood, Angus Deayton, Geoffrey Perkins and Philip Pope, which later led to the television series KYTV.[3][4]

He also appeared in various roles in the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series.[5] In 2007, he played the similarly named Michael Wenton Weeks in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.[6] He plays the eponymous Inspector Steine in Lynne Truss' long-running Radio 4 comedy series.[7]

He has also played a long-running role in the radio soap The Archers.[8]

In 2020, Fenton Stevens released the first of a podcast series, My Time Capsule, produced by his son John Fenton Stevens.[9] The show involves guests choosing four memories they would preserve in a time capsule, and a fifth memory they would wish to bury in the ground and never think about again. Guests have included Stephen Fry, Rebecca Front, Rick Wakeman, Mark Gatiss, Rufus Hound, David Mitchell, Anthony Head, Chris Addison, Rev Richard Coles, Griff Rhys Jones, Richard Herring and David Baddiel.[10] In June 2023, it celebrated its 300th episode.

Television

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Fenton Stevens featured in regular roles as Hank in the 1996 series The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, and as Ralph in Andy Hamilton's 2003 television sitcom Trevor's World of Sport, as well as in the Radio 4 version of the latter which was broadcast in 2004. He had previously appeared in a guest role in Drop the Dead Donkey, another television comedy series written by Hamilton, and appears regularly in various roles in Hamilton's Radio 4 sitcom Old Harry's Game. He has also featured in Ian Hislop's sitcom My Dad's the Prime Minister as the Home Secretary.

From 2004 until 2005 he appeared in two series of Julia Davis's dark comedy series Nighty Night as the Reverend Gordon Fox.[11]

He has provided the voice of Mr Beakman, a toucan, in the CBeebies show 3rd & Bird, and has a recurring role in the sitcom My Family as Mr Griffith, the boss of the dental corporation Cavitex. He has played Sir Henry in Benidorm since series four, which was first broadcast in 2011.

Notable guest appearances have included the next door hotel guest in "Mr. Bean in Room 426", and the brother-in-law of Hee Bee Gee Bees bandmate, Angus Deayton's character in an episode of One Foot in the Grave.[12] He played Alan Perkins, a holiday rep in Spain in "The Unlucky Winner Is" episode of Only Fools And Horses.[13] He also played a guest role in Coronation Street in November 2004. In 2006, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure The Kingmaker. He appeared in Series 3 Episode 3 of Outnumbered, as a substitute player called 'Lance' in a tennis match, and in the "Music 2000" episode of Look Around You as the chairman of the Royal Pop and Rock Association. In 2022 he appeared as Tony Vanoli in a fourth season episode of Ghosts.[14]

Stage

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Fenton Stevens has appeared as a Pantomime Dame in a number of pantomimes. From December 2006 until January 2007, he starred in and wrote the Cambridge Arts Theatre pantomime version of Aladdin in the role of Widow Twankey.[15] In 2015, Stevens appeared as Dr. John Radcliffe in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's Queen Anne.[16]

Personal life

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In 2014, his mother, Olive Stevens, was accidentally killed by her own car when another motorist attempted to help her turn her vehicle around after fly-tipped rubbish blocked her path. She fell and hit her head which caused a bleed on the brain causing her death in hospital.[17]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Riddle Alistair Forsyth M.P.
2007 Lady Godiva: Back in the Saddle Roger Tompkins
2016 Mob Handed The Police Spokesman
2017 Carnage Peter Smithball
2022 Rogue Agent Richard Archer
2023 Harvey Greenfield Is Running Late Jason Mason

References

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  1. ^ Stevens, M F (2011) "random pictures - bloody internet", Mike's Yes Prime Minister Tour 2011, accessed 5 September 2014
  2. ^ "Hee Bee Gee Bees page on Fenton's website". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  3. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 1983-10-20. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  4. ^ "Michael Fenton Stevens - In Conversation". Beyond The Title. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  5. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 2005-06-21. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  6. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  7. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 2008-09-24. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  8. ^ "Michael Fenton Stevens on Paul – lover or controller?". BBC. 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  9. ^ "Michael Fenton-Stevens interviewed By Alex Wiseman". Iceni Magazine. 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  10. ^ "Celebrities line up to take part in Michael's new podcast - My Time Capsule". 6 May 2020.
  11. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  12. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 1995-01-22. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  13. ^ "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 1989-01-29. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  14. ^ Ghosts - Series 4: 4. Gone Gone, retrieved 2022-09-23
  15. ^ BBC. "Life as a dame..." www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  16. ^ "Cast and creative | Royal Shakespeare Company". Archived from the original on 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  17. ^ Winchester, Levi (2014-11-10). "Elderly mother of Michael Fenton Stevens killed by her own car in bizarre accident". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
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