Lee Mack

Early life

Mack was born in Southport, Lancashire, and lived there above a pub until he was 12 when his parents separated and he moved to Blackburn. He went to Birkdale Primary Junior School (Bury Road), Stanley High School in Southport and Everton High School in Blackburn. Upon leaving school, Mack worked in a bingo hall and as a stable boy. After working at the stable of racehorse trainer Ginger McCain in Southport for three days, he asked if he could ride one of the horses, to which the trainer agreed. Without realising, Mack then chose Red Rum as the first horse he'd ever ridden. Mack then became one of the 'Blue Coat' entertainers for the Pontins holiday resort at Hemsby in Norfolk. After appearing on stage drunk one night, and calling an audience member an offensive name, he was sacked from the Hemsby team, and did six months at Pontins in Morecambe.

Mack went on to have various other jobs, and did his first "open mic" slot in 1994, while studying at Brunel University from which he graduated with a degree in drama. Within 18 months he was a full-time comedian.

Career

Mack first came to prominence by winning So You Think You're Funny at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then, Mack has played the part of Graham, the security guard in the original radio version of The Mighty Boosh, and also has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 called The Lee Mack Show, which features varying celebrities co-hosting the show.

Television

Mack was a cast member for ITV's The Sketch Show and featured in the American version of the same name.

In 2005, Mack presented They Think It's All Over, a sports based comedy panel game, formerly presented by Nick Hancock. However, it proved to be the show's final series. In 2007 he appeared on TV Heaven, Telly Hell.

His first sitcom Not Going Out for BBC One with Tim Vine (in which he plays Lee, the central character) premiered on 6 October 2006. The show has since returned for a second series (September 2007), a third series (January 2009), a fourth series (February 2011) and a fifth series (April 2012). It returned for a sixth series in the spring of 2013, a seventh, which aired in 2014 and an eighth in 2017. The show has won a Rose d'Or and RTS Award.

Since 2007, Mack has been a team captain on the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?. He has also been guest host on Have I Got News for You 5 times: 23 May 2008, 12 June 2009, 1 April 2010, 2 December 2010 and 28 October 2011. He has twice been guest host on Never Mind the Buzzcocks; 9 December 2010 and 22 October 2012.

Mack has contributed to Comic Relief and has appeared on Jack Dee Live at the Apollo.

In June 2011, he launched a new show entitled Lee Mack's All Star Cast for BBC One. It features members of the audience taking part in silly games to get a spot in a sketch at the end of the show. In June 2012, Mack was one of the compères at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace in London.

In March 2013, Mack appeared on the panel on an episode of Let's Dance for Comic Relief with Arlene Phillips and Greg James.

Since February 2014, he has presented Duck Quacks Don't Echo, a comedy-based panel show for Sky1.

Live tours

Mack went on tour in 2006 and filmed his first live DVD at the Bloomsbury Theatre, which was released the following year. In spring 2010 Mack embarked on his "Going Out" tour. Extra dates were added for autumn 2010 due to his spring tour being sold out well in advance. Going Out Live, his second live DVD, was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo and was released in November. In December 2010 he performed at the Royal Variety Performance.

Personal life

Mack has been married since 2005. The couple live in Surrey and have three children.

In February 2009, along with other British entertainers, Mack signed an open letter to The Times on the Bahá'í leaders then on trial in Iran.

Mack said in an interview with The Guardian that his first foray into comedy was doing Bobby Ball impressions at his school when he was 15. Mack is a keen supporter of Blackburn Rovers and occasionally visits Ewood Park to watch games. At one point, Mack shared a flat with Noel Fielding. In July 2012, Mack received an honorary doctorate from Brunel University. He published his autobiography Mack the Life (ISBN 0-552-16655-3) in the same year.

In 2012, Mack was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Mack is an outspoken darts fan and regularly plays with his friend Tim Vine. Both men appeared on the debut series of Let's Play Darts, facing each other in the final, with Mack and his partner Martin Adams beating Vine and his partner Darryl Fitton. He currently holds the Guinness World Records title for the most darts number twos in one minute. On the same day he also broke the record for the most darts in inner and outer bullseyes in one minute, a title which he held for a year and two months before it was broken by professional darts player James Wade.

Filmography

Awards

BAFTA TV Awards

British Comedy Awards

RTS Television Awards

Rose d'Or