Jim Tavaré

Life and career

Tavaré was born in Essex, England and moved to Cheshire with his family when he was 7, and he attended art school as a teenager in Northwich.

He then moved to London, where he was taken under the wing of Corin Redgrave who coached him in acting. As a result, he successfully auditioned for and attended RADA.

He branched out into stand-up comedy with a unique act which featured his double bass, an instrument he had learned to play during his childhood. He always donned a tailcoat and a white tie, as worn by classical musicians, when performing his act, though he only played the bass in short bursts for comic effect.

At the beginning of his stand-up career, he toured as an opening act for The Stranglers. He also opened for the Macc Lads.

Tavaré's first film appearance was as a student in Another Country (1984) with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth. Although uncredited, he was a featured extra appearing in numerous scenes throughout the film. Tavaré was Colin Firth's stand-in for the duration of the film. Charles Spencer, Diana, Princess of Wales's brother, was also an uncredited extra.

After many years working the stand-up circuit and making fleeting television appearances as a guest comic, Tavaré wrote and starred in a series of short, silent films for BBC2 titled Jim Tavaré Pictures Presents... . He also had a skit series of his own on Channel Five, co-written with Ricky Gervais, called The Jim Tavaré Show.

He appeared three times in the Royal Variety Performance and subsequently worked for Prince Charles for several private engagements, including a private Christmas party for Prince Charles and a gala held at Highgrove in front of Her Majesty the Queen and 13 crowned heads of state. He became renowned in the UK as Prince Charles's favourite comedian.

Following an appearance at the Montreal Just For Laughs festival, CBS commissioned a special episode of the American series Wings based on and written entirely around his comedy act. Tavaré starred in this episode, which was called "Take My Life Please".

He won International Starsearch in the US.

Tavaré co-wrote and appeared in the BAFTA-winning ITV series The Sketch Show, alongside Lee Mack, Tim Vine, Ronni Ancona, Karen Taylor and Kitty Flanagan. The Sketch Show went on to syndicate worldwide, and has been re-made for audiences in eight different countries.

Tavaré played Tom the Innkeeper in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In 2004 he supported Michael Bublé on a 13-date UK tour, which included a performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

In 2008 he was a finalist on Last Comic Standing 6 and the only overseas act ever to have reached the final show. On 31 July he was voted into the top five. He finished in fourth place. He performed a 63-date national tour with the other four Last Comic Standing finalists throughout the USA.

He is a regular headliner at the Laugh Factory, in Hollywood, California, USA.

He appears in the fifth series of the David Duchovny comedy-drama Californication, as an English butler to a hip-hop mogul played by Wu-Tang Clan frontman RZA. He makes a guest-star appearance in series 5 of the NBC/Warner Bros comedy, spy drama Chuck, CBS TV show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and on Comedy Central's Tosh.0

He has appeared in several music videos: Roots Manuva – Too Cold; McFly – It's All About You (for BBC Comic Relief); Phoenix Foundation – Thames Soup; Letlive – Banshee; Joel Compass – Back to Me; and Florence and the Machine - What Kind of Man.

In September 2013 he began filming the role of The Dog Catcher in Syco Entertainment's feature film Pudsey: The Movie alongside David Walliams, Jessica Hynes and John Sessions.

In 2014, Tavaré appeared in Camp Abercorn, a web series that shows a fictional Boy Scouts of America camp and how one of its gay staff members deals with their exclusion policy.

In 2016, Tavaré appeared in the feature film The Cursed Man based on the cult novel by Keith Rommel. Tavaré played 'Terry', the groundskeeper at Sunnyside Mental Institution.

In March 2017, Tavaré was in an intensive care unit after being injured in a collision with a car.

Family and personal life

His cousin is retired English cricketer Chris Tavaré, who played for England in 31 Tests and 29 One Day Internationals from 1980 to 1989. Jim's brother is scientist Simon Tavaré.

He has two children and currently resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Laura.