Neil Simon Fitzmaurice (born 20 August 1969) is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his role as Jeff, the love rival of protagonist Mark Corrigan, in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. He has written for a number of other sitcoms, including Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and Benidorm; both of which he has also starred in.
Early life
Fitzmaurice was born and raised in Liverpool. He is the youngest of four brothers.
Career
Writing
Fitzmaurice's writing projects include That Peter Kay Thing, for which he received a British Comedy Award, and the critically acclaimed Phoenix Nights, in which he also appeared as "Ray Von". Around the time of the premiere, Fitzmaurice returned to the stage for the first time in ten years, playing Shaun in On the Ledge at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre.
On 16 February 2009, Fitzmaurice started presenting the Drivetime show on Radio City 96.7 in Liverpool. Due to film and television commitments, he left this position on 4 March 2011.
In 2011, Fitzmaurice starred in British school drama Waterloo Road as Dave Dowling, a parent with xenophobic and racist views. In 2011 he also starred in the fourth series of Benidorm as Lucky Kev who lived in the same caravan campsite as Madge Harvey. He later appeared in the fifth episode of the series reprising the role of Lucky Kev who works at a bar in Benidorm which Madge Harvey was interested in buying.
In 2013, he appeared in one episode of Truckers. In 2014 he starred as Dad in the BBC comedy series Hank Zipzer.
From 2011 to 2017 Fitzmaurice starred in the Sky comedy-drama Mount Pleasant, playing the part of office manager Fergus.
In 2023, it was announced Fitzmaurice would be re-joining Series 11 of Waterloo Road as history teacher Neil Guthrie. He has appeared as a series regular throughout the following three series. It has also been confirmed he will be resuming his role in Series 14 of the show.
Personal life
Fitzmaurice is a Liverpool FC fan and a survivor of the Hillsborough disaster, later being featured in the 2009 documentary Hillsborough Remembered.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1990–1991
| Brookside
| Greg Sinnott
| Recurring role, 13 episodes
|-
| 1994
| Coronation Street
| Electricity Man
| 1 episode
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| That Peter Kay Thing
| Various
|
|-
| Going Off Big Time
| Mark Clayton
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2001
| The Bill
| DC Phil Raven
|
|-
| The Office
| Alex
|
|-
| 2001–2002
| Phoenix Nights
| Ray Von
| Main cast
|-
| 2003
| Holby City
| Stas Andrews
|
|-
| 2003–2015
| Peep Show
| Jeff Heaney
| rowspan="3"| Main cast
|-
| 2003
| Buried
| Chris Russo
|-
| 2003–2004
| Eyes Down
| Bobby Rutt
|-
| 2005
| Pierrepoint
| Cliff the Scouser
| Film
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2006
| Doctors
| Timothy Graham
| rowspan="2"|Guest role
|-
| Vincent
| Eddie Price
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2007
| Mobile
| Eddie Doig
| Main cast
|-
| The Street
| DS Barns
|
|-
| Blue Murder
| Mark Turton
| Guest role
|-
| 2008
| Casualty 1907
| Thomas Hooley
| Main cast
|-
| rowspan="4"| 2009
| Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire
| Max The MC
|
|-
| Moving On
| Terry
| 1 episode
|-
| Nativity!
| Oakmoor Parent
| Film
|-
| Fifteen Minutes That Shook the World
| Rafael Benitez
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2011
| Waterloo Road
| Dave Dowling
| Guest role
|-
| Benidorm
| Lucky Kev
| Series 4
|-
| 2011–2017
| Mount Pleasant
| Fergus
| Main cast
|-
| 2013
| Truckers
| Vince
|
|-
| 2014–2016
| Hank Zipzer
| Stan Zipzer
| rowspan="2"| Main cast
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2016
| The Aliens
| Niall
|-
| Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe
| Stan Zipzer
| Television film
|-
| 2018
| Walk Like A Panther
| Cliff 'Edge' Morris
| Film
|-
| rowspan="2"|2019
| Clink
| Baldwin Flowers
| 1 episode
|-
| In the Long Run
| Dennis
| 2 episodes
|-
| 2019–2025
| Brassic
| Mr. Bishop
| 10 episodes
|-
| 2019–2020
| Semi-Detached
| Charlie
| 6 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2"|2020
| The First Team
| Darren Turner
| 3 episodes
|-
| Tin Star
| Taxi Driver
| 1 episode
|-
| 2023–present
| Waterloo Road
| Neil Guthrie
| Main cast
|-
| 2024
| The Responder
| D.I. Kennedy
| 1 episode
|}