Lee Evans
Evans in 2004
Born	Lee John Martin Evans (1964-02-25)25 February 1964 (age 61) Bristol, England
Occupations	Comedian actor musician singer writer
Years active	1994–2014, 2017-2018
Spouse	Heather Nudds ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	1

Lee John Martin Evans (born 25 February 1964) is a British former comedian, actor, musician, singer, and writer. He co-founded the production company Little Mo Films withAddison Cresswell, who was also his agent prior to Cresswell's death in December 2013.^[1] Evans became one of the United Kingdom's most popular stand-up comedians, with hisRoadrunner tour grossing £12.9 million.^[2]

He made his cinema debut with theJerry Lewis comedyFunny Bones (1995), earning theParis Film Festival Award for Best Actor, and went on to appear in the Hollywood filmsThe Fifth Element (1997),Mouse Hunt (1997),There's Something About Mary (1998),The Ladies Man (2000), andThe Medallion (2003). He lent his voice to Zipeau theTroodon in theEmmy-nominated miniseriesDinotopia (2002) and made a notable departure from comedy with a leading role in the Irish thriller filmFreeze Frame (2004).

In 2008, the DVD of Evans'sBig – Live at the O2 show became the highest-selling Christmas DVD in the United Kingdom, only to be surpassed by his ownMonsters Tour DVD in 2014. In November 2014, he announced his retirement from stand-up comedy. In 2017, he briefly came out of retirement to star in a run ofWilliam Shakespeare andHarold Pinter plays. Evans is also a singer and musician, as shown on his arena tours; he can play the guitar, bass guitar,keyboards, piano, turntables,mandolin,ukulele, and drums.

Lee John Martin Evans^[3] was born in theAvonmouth suburb ofBristol on 25 February 1964,^[4][5][6] to Irish mother Shirley Hunt and Welsh father Dave Evans (died June 2019).^[7] He has an older brother.^[8][4] His father was a comedian, musician and impressionist.^[9] The family left Bristol in 1975, moving toEssex,^[10] where Evans attendedThe Billericay School. After a spell as aboxer and two years at Thurrock Art College in Essex, he followed his father into entertainment. During his teenage years, he moved toScarborough, North Yorkshire, where he was a drummer in apunk rock band called the Forgotten Five.^[11]

Evans rose to fame during the 1990s with his energetic stage performances and physicalobservational comedy. Hisslapstick humour has led to comparisons withNorman Wisdom, though Evans does not regard Wisdom as an influence.^[12] In 1993, he won thePerrier Comedy Award for his work at theEdinburgh Festival.^[13]

Evans's sweat drenches him on stage. During most of his headlining performances, he often takes an intermission, during which he has a quick shower and changes into a different suit. He has also said that his suits are regularly thrown away after three performances, mainly because of the sweat, with dry-cleaners refusing to handle them.^[14] In November 2005, Evans broke the world record for a solo act performing to the biggest comedy audience, performing to 10,108 people at theManchester Arena.^[15]

Evans toured the UK in autumn 2008 with his stand-up act entitled "Big". During his "Big" tour he performed in front of over 500,000 people on 59 dates.^[16] This was scheduled to involve the first-ever performance by a comedian at theO2 Arena in London untilChris Rock announced dates that would take place at the venue prior to Evans. The DVD was filmed at the O2 Arena, and was released on 24 November 2008. It became the best-selling comedy DVD in the UK for Christmas 2008, selling over 1,000,000 copies.^[17][18] Evans appeared on theChannel 4's Comedy Gala forGreat Ormond Street Hospital on 30 March 2010. He was the last act on stage and he received a comedy award and auctioned it to the audience for charity.

Evans toured the UK again in 2011 with a new stand-up act entitled "Roadrunner", with 50 dates starting inBournemouth in August, running until November inCardiff. He appeared at theWyvern Theatre,Swindon, on 10 June to test his new material for the "Roadrunner" tour. He then sold outBristol'sColston Hall for three nights to perfect his routine in July. The tour visited most of the UK's major cities, plus two nights inDublin, and included four nights inWembley Arena and four in the O2 Arena, meaning around 100,000 seats in London alone. Tickets went on sale 15 October 2010 at 9 am.^[19]

Evans sold £7 million worth of tickets the first day they went on sale. Due to popular demand, there were a further 17 dates added to the tour in theBournemouth International Centre,Brighton Centre,Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Wembley Arena, theNational Indoor Arena, The O2 London,Liverpool Arena,Motorpoint Arena Cardiff,Odyssey Complex Belfast andThe O2 Dublin. This brought the tour up to 67 dates in 14 cities which is eight more than the record-breaking tour of 2008.^[20] In 2010, Evans received an Honorary Doctorate of the Arts at theUniversity of East London's graduation ceremony. In 2011, he was honoured by the British Comedy Awards with the Channel 4 Award for Special Contribution to Comedy. In November 2014, Evans announced onThe Jonathan Ross Show that he was retiring from stand-up comedy to spend more time with his wife and daughter.^[21][22]

Evans has made a number of film appearances, such as inFunny Bones,Mouse Hunt,There's Something About Mary (where he played an American posing as English),The Fifth Element,The Ladies Man,The Martins,The Medallion andUndertaking Betty. Evans provided thevoice for Zippo in the 2002 TV miniseriesDinotopia and Train in the 2005 filmThe Magic Roundabout. From 1993 to 1994, Evans appeared in the Channel 4 late-night showViva Cabaret!, both as a host and as a guest performer. In 1995, he starred in Channel 4 series,The World of Lee Evans.

In 2004, he starred as a paranoid murder suspect in his first non-comic role in the filmFreeze Frame. Although warned they may never grow back, he shaved his eyebrows (as well as his hair). In 2004, Evans appeared in Samuel Becket'sEndgame, and from 2004 to 2005, he playedLeo Bloom in theLondon production ofThe Producers along withNathan Lane, with whom he also starred inMouse Hunt. For his role inThe Producers, Evans received a nomination for theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical; Lane won the award.^[23] In 2007 he appeared in the 50th anniversary production ofThe Dumb Waiter. May 2007 saw him star in a television adaptation of the bookThe History of Mr. Polly.

Evans appeared as Malcolm Taylor, a Welsh scientist, in the 2009Doctor Who Easter special "Planet of the Dead".^[24] Between September 2013 and January 2014, Evans starred in the playBarking in Essex at London'sWyndham's Theatre.^[25] In October 2017, Lee Evans came out of retirement to perform scenes fromShakespeare's plays in a one-off fundraiser along withJack Whitehall in the play "Whither Would You Go?" at theHarold Pinter Theatre.

In 2001, he co-wrote and starred in the sitcomSo What Now? for the BBC; eight episodes were written in total. He also has his own production company that produces his stand-up DVDs called Little Mo Films, named after his daughter, whom he often refers as "Little Mo".

Evans met Heather Nudds when they were both 16; they were married on 22 September 1984,^[26] and live inBillericay, Essex.^[27] They have a daughter.^[21][22]

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