Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours in 2013 for services to comedy and broadcasting, and for charitable services.
Brydon gained fame for his roles in the black comedy series Human Remains (2000), the mockumentary series Marion and Geoff (2000–2003), the chat show spoof The Keith Barret Show (2004–2005), and the comedy series Supernova (2005–2006). From 2007 to 2024, he played Bryn West in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey for which he received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance.
He has acted in a number of films with Steve Coogan for director Michael Winterbottom, starting with 24 Hour Party People (2002) and A Cock and Bull Story (2005). Brydon and Coogan then starred in The Trip (2010) followed by The Trip to Italy (2014), The Trip to Spain (2017), and The Trip to Greece (2020). He has also acted in the films Cinderella (2015), The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Holmes & Watson (2019) and Barbie (2023).
Since 2009, Brydon has presented the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? after previously playing himself as host of a fictional panel show in Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, which ran on BBC Three from 2006 until 2007. In addition to presenting his own late-night chat show, The Rob Brydon Show for two years, he hosted the 2014 Saturday-night game show The Guess List for BBC One.
Early life and education
Robert Brydon Jones was born on 3 May 1965 in Baglan, Glamorgan. His mother, Joy Jones (), was a school teacher, and his father, Howard Jones, was a car dealer. He grew up in Baglan, with his younger brother Peter (born 1973). He is also known for voice-over work in television advertising, including for Renault, Tango, The Times, Tesco, Abbey National, Sainsbury's, McDonald's, Pot Noodle, Domino's Pizza, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes, The Observer and Fairy Liquid. He has also provided voices in animated films such as The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child and Room on the Broom
thumb|[[Michael Winterbottom (left), Steve Coogan (middle), and Brydon (right) at the Ryerson Theatre in Toronto, Canada, 2005]]
In 2005 he portrayed a version of himself in the British comedy A Cock and Bull Story directed by Michael Winterbottom. Brydon starred opposite Steve Coogan. Dana Stevens of Slate wrote, "Rob Brydon, plays Tristram’s Uncle Toby, a blustering war veteran with a wound in an unspeakable place. In the modern-day scenes, Rob Brydon is, surprise, Rob Brydon, an actor with an ego even more pitifully in need of stroking than Coogan’s. The unscripted-sounding exchanges between these two are the funniest part of the movie".
From 2007 to 2010 Brydon gained prominence for his leading role as Uncle Bryn in the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey starring Matthew Horne, Joanna Page, and James Corden. In the 2009 Brydon was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Comedy Performance as Bryn. Starting in 2009 Brydon has hosted the game show Would I Lie to You?. Since these series Brydon has developed a career path as a character actor, in both comedic and serious roles. He portrayed controversial theatre critic Kenneth Tynan in the BBC Four film Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005), opposite Julian Sands as Laurence Olivier.
Also in 2006, Brydon first appeared on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. His singing voice earned the unprecedented accolade from the former host, Humphrey Lyttelton, of being "not bad". When the team went on a tour of non-broadcast stage shows, Brydon filled in as chairman when Lyttelton was in hospital to repair an aortic aneurysm. Lyttelton died in hospital after surgery. Brydon narrated a two-part programme on BBC Radio 4, The Pain of Laughter: The Last Days of Kenneth Williams. It explored the latter part of Williams's life, featuring many of the performer's friends and contemporaries. In other radio work Brydon sat in for Ken Bruce on BBC Radio 2 for one day only on 25 August 2008. On 1 April 2011, Brydon impersonated Bruce for the entire two-hour and thirty minutes show. Bruce came on the air at the end of the show to reveal the prank. Brydon has appeared on the TV comedy quiz QI. In his first appearance (Series A, episode 5), his talent for mimicry was displayed with impressions of Alec Guinness, James Dean, and Michael J. Fox. In the 2008 Christmas special, he provided impressions of Richard Burton and Tom Jones.
His character Bryn West in Gavin & Stacey, written by Ruth Jones and James Corden, allowed him to return to his South Wales roots. In this role Brydon performed the 2009 Comic Relief charity single, "(Barry) Islands in the Stream", with Ruth Jones (both actors appearing as their characters from Gavin & Stacey) and singer Tom Jones. It reached No.1 in the UK Singles Chart on 15 March 2009. In February 2009, it was announced that Brydon would be one of three people to replace Lyttelton as chairman of the 51st series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (the others being Stephen Fry and Jack Dee). Brydon has presented an episode of Have I Got News for You His impressions include Alec Guinness, James Dean, Michael J. Fox, Richard Burton, Tom Jones, Michael Caine, Mick Jagger and Ronnie Corbett. He is also noted for his "Small Man in A Box" impression.
In 2010 Brydon starred alongside Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's partially improvised BBC Two sitcom series The Trip, in which both actors played fictionalised versions of their public personas (Brydon, optimistic and always eager to do an impression; and Coogan, misanthropic and bitter that he's not the major international star he believes he should be).
Brydon's book Small Man in a Book (the title a play on his "small-man-in-a-box" impression) was published in November 2011. That same year he narrated The Chasers Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles, was a contestant on Celebrity Catchphrase, and voiced The Crow in Superworm alongside Olivia Colman and Matt Smith. The following year he voiced the Pied Piper in The Amazing Maurice (2022) alongside Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis and Hugh Bonneville. In 2023 he had a brief role as Sugar Daddy Ken in Greta Gerwig's comedy Barbie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
In 2022, Brydon appeared in Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends revue, including alongside Haydn Gwynne in "The Little Things You Do Together", the marital battle from Company. In 2026, Brydon hosted game show The Floor on ITV.
Personal life
Brydon was married to Martina Fitchie from 1992 to 2000. They had two daughters and a son.
A Swansea City football fan, Brydon is an ambassador to the club's 1912 foundation. In May 2013 he competed for Wales, alongside Craig Bellamy, in a Celebrity Golf tournament at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.
In August 2014, Brydon was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable"
|+Key
| style="background:#FFFFCC;"|
|Denotes works that have not yet been released
|}
Film
{| class="wikitable"
|- "
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
||1995
|First Knight
| Man in crowd
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|1998
|Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
| Bus driver
|
|-
|Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
| Traffic warden
|
|-
|2002
|24 Hour Party People
| Ryan Letts
|
|-
| rowspan="2" |2004
|The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
|Dustin Hoffman
|Scene deleted
|-
|Shaun of the Dead
| Football commentator/'Zombies from Hell!' presenter (voice)
| Uncredited
|-
|rowspan="2"|2005
|MirrorMask
| Morris Campbell/Prime Minister
|
|-
|A Cock and Bull Story
| Capt. Toby Shandy/himself
|
|-
| 2010
|The Trip
| Himself
|
|-
| 2013
| The Unbeatables
| Rico (voice)
| UK version
|-
| 2014
| The Trip to Italy
| Himself
|
|-
| 2015
| Cinderella
| Master Phineus
| Uncredited
|-
| 2016
| The Huntsman: Winter's War
| Gryff
|
|-
| 2017
| The Trip to Spain
| Himself
|
|-
|rowspan="3"|2018
|Early Man
| Message Bird, Brian and Bryan (voices)
|
|-
|Swimming with Men
|Eric Scott
|
|-
|Holmes & Watson
|Inspector Lestrade
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2019
| Blinded by the Light
| Matt's Father
|
|-
| Days of the Bagnold Summer
| Douglas Porter
|
|-
| 2020
| The Trip to Greece
| Himself
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2022
| The Amazing Maurice
| The Pied Piper (voice)
|
|-
| Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
| Himself
|Concert film
|-
| 2023
| Barbie
| Sugar Daddy Ken
|
|-
| 2025
| Stitch Head
| Professor (voice)
|
|-
| TBA
|
|
| Post-production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1989
|The Satellite Shop
| Himself (Presenter)
| BSkyB Infomercial
|-
||1994
|The Healer
| Sean
| rowspan="2" |Television film
|-
|rowspan="2"|1995
|Eleven Men Against Eleven
| Radio commentator
|-
|The Legends of Treasure Island
| Long John Silver (voice)
| Series 2
|-
|rowspan="2"|1996
|Cold Lazarus
| Karl
| Channel 4/BBC One
|-
|Lord of Misrule
| Cornish policeman
|Television film
|-
| rowspan="2"|2000
|The Baskervilles
| Brian Baskerville, Nicolas Lucifer II, others (voices)
|ITV
|-
|Human Remains
| Peter Moorcross, Gordon Budge, Stephen,<br />Tony, Barne Willers, Les
| rowspan="2"|BBC Two
|-
|2000–2003
|Marion and Geoff
| Keith Barret
|-
|rowspan="2"|2001
|The Way We Live Now
| Mr Alf
| BBC One
|-
|A Small Summer Party
| Keith Barret
|Television film
|-
|rowspan="5"|2002
|Murder in Mind
| Barry Coates
| BBC One
|-
|Black Books
| B Nugent
| Channel 4
|-
|Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe
| Prison Guard (voice)
|Television film
|-
|I'm Alan Partridge
| Baptist fan
| Episode: "Alan Wide Shut"
|-
|Cruise of the Gods
| Andy van Allen
|Television film
|-
|2003; 2008; 2018
|Top Gear
| rowspan="2" | Himself
| BBC One
|-
|2003–2013
|QI
| BBC Four/BBC One/BBC Two
|-
| rowspan="2" |2004
|Directors Commentary
| Peter de Lane
| ITV
|-
|Agatha Christie's Marple
| Inspector Awdry
| Episode: "What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!"
|-
|2004–2005
|The Keith Barret Show
| Keith Barret
| BBC Two
|-
|2004–2015
|The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
| Himself – panellist
| Channel 4
|-
|rowspan="3"|2005
|Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore
| Kenneth Tynan
|Television film
|-
|Little Britain
| Roman de Vere
|Series 3
|-
|Jack Dee Live at the Apollo
| Keith Barret
|BBC One
|-
|2005–2006
|Supernova
| Dr Paul Hamilton
|BBC Two
|-
|rowspan="2"|2006
|Have I Got News for You
| Guest Presenter
|BBC One
|-
|100 Greatest Funny Moments
| Narrator
| Channel 4
|-
|2006–2007
|Annually Retentive
| rowspan="2" | Himself
| BBC Three
|-
| rowspan="3" |2007
|Dawn French's Boys Who Do Comedy
| rowspan="3" | BBC One
|-
|Heroes and Villains: Napoleon
| Stanislas Fréron
|-
|Oliver Twist
| Mr Fang
|-
|2007–2010, 2019, 2024
|Gavin & Stacey
| Bryn West
| BBC Three/BBC One
|-
| rowspan="3" |2009
|Live at the Apollo
| Compere/stand-up
|BBC One
|-
|Horne & Corden
| Narrator to Olympic sketches
| BBC Three
|-
|The Gruffalo
| Snake (voice)
|Television film
|-
|2009–present
|Would I Lie to You?
| Presenter
|Since Series 3
|-
|2010
|Ronnie Corbett's Supper Club
| Himself (guest)
| Good Food
|-
|2010–2012
|The Rob Brydon Show
| Himself (host)
| BBC Two
|-
|2010–2020
| The Trip
| Himself
| BBC Two/Sky Atlantic
|-
|rowspan="3"|2011
|A Quiet Word With ...
| Himself (guest)
|-
| Zog and the Flying Doctors
| The King (voice)
|Television film
|-
|rowspan="4"|2021
|The Chasers Road Trip: Trains, Brains and Automobiles
|Narrator
|3 episodes
|-
|McDonald & Dodds
|Roy Gilbert
|Episode: "The Man Who Wasn't There"
|-
|Celebrity Catchphrase
|Himself (contestant)
|Episode: "2021 Christmas Special"
|-
|Superworm
|The Crow (voice)
|Television film
|-
|rowspan="3"|2022
|Green Eggs and Ham
|Philip Trousers (voice)
|Netflix
|-
|The Smeds and The Smoos
|Uncle Smoo (voice)
|Television film
|-
|The Tuckers
|Tony Perrot
|BBC One Wales
|-
|2023
|style="background:"| Tabby McTat
|Fred (voice)
|BBC One
|-
|rowspan="2"|2024
|style="background:"| My Lady Jane
|Lord Dudley
|Amazon Prime
|-
|style="background:"| Tiddler
|Voices of Fisherman, Whale, Starfish and Anchovy
|BBC One
|-
|rowspan="3"|2025
|style="background:"| Destination X
|Himself (host)
|BBC One
|-
|style="background:"| Rob Brydon’s Honky Tonk Road Trip
|Himself (host)
|BBC Two
|-
|style="background:"| The Scarecrows’ Wedding
| Reginald Rake (voice)
|BBC One
|-
|TBA
|Bill’s Included
|Bill Beam
|BBC One
|-
|2026
|The Floor
|Himself (host)
|ITV
|}
Radio
{| class="wikitable"
|- "
! Year
! Title
! Role
|-
||1992–1994
|Rave
| Himself – presenter
|-
||1994
|Satellite City
| rowspan="2" | Himself – radio show
|-
|1995
|The Treatment
|-
||2004
|Just a Minute
| rowspan="2" | Himself
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
|Just a Minute
|-
|Flight of the Conchords (radio series)
| Narrator
|-
||2006–2021
|I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
| Himself (host in 1 episode)
|-
||2009
|The Unbelievable Truth
| Himself
|-
||2011
|The Ken Bruce Show
| Ken Bruce (as an April Fool joke)
|-
||2012
|Best of Men
| Himself
|}
Other appearances
- Rob Brydon's Identity Crisis (March 2008)
- The One Show (December 2009)
- Desert Island Discs (May 2010), his favourite track was "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen
- TV advertising campaign for P&O Cruises (2014–)
- Script editor for a season 2 of Little Britain
Honours and awards
Brydon was made an honorary fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama where he previously studied.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Association
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
! class=unsortable|
|-
|2000 || rowspan=3|British Comedy Awards || Best Comedy Newcomer || Marion & Geoff || ||
|-
|2001 || rowspan="2" | Best TV Comedy Actor || Human Remains || ||
|-
|2003 || Marion & Geoff / Cruise of the Gods ||
|-
|2004 || BAFTA Award || Best Situation Comedy || Marion & Geoff || ||
|-
|2005 || British Independent Film Award || Best Supporting Actor || Tristham Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story || ||
|-
|2009|| BAFTA Award|| Best Comedy Performance
| rowspan="2" |Gavin & Stacey|| ||
|-
|2009 || rowspan="3" | British Comedy Award|| rowspan="2" | Best TV Comedy Actor ||
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2010 || rowspan="3" |The Trip || ||
|-
| Best New TV Comedy || ||
|-
| rowspan="3" |2011 || rowspan=2|BAFTA Award || Best Situation Comedy || ||
|-
|Best Entertainment Performance || The Rob Brydon Show || ||
|-
| British Comedy Award || Best Male TV Comic || Would I Lie to You ||
|
|-
|2018 || BAFTA Award || Best Male Performance in a Comedy Series || The Trip to Spain ||
|
|}
Discography
Singles
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 9pt; text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2"| Year
!rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="3" | Chart positions
|- style="font-size:90%;"
! style="width:4em;" | UK<br />
External links
- Official Rob Brydon site
- BAFTA Interview with Rob Brydon – April 2010
News items
- Scotsman October 2011 article
- Times February 2008 article
- Independent January 2006 article
- Telegraph June 2004 article
- Observer December 2002 article