Andy Secombe Explained

Birth Name:Andrew James Secombe
Birth Date:26 April 1953
Birth Place:Mumbles, Wales
Alma Mater:Central School of Speech and Drama
Years Active:1975-present
Father:Harry Secombe
Relatives:Fred Secombe (uncle)

Andrew James Secombe (born 26 April 1953) is a Welsh actor and author.

Early life and education

Born in Mumbles, in south Wales, Secombe is son of comedian/singer Harry Secombe (whom he later impersonated in a Goon Show special).He attended the City of London Freemen's School in Ashtead, Surrey.

Career

Acting

Andy Secombe is an award-nominated stage, screen and radio actor. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama after which he spent several years criss-crossing the country both touring and in rep. His early career included seasons at both the Old Vic (King Lear, The Rivals) and the Young Vic (Hamlet, Stags and Hens, Coriolanus and What a Way to Run a Revolution). Other theatrical performances includes Godspell, Guys and Dolls, Around the World in Eighty Days, Long Days' Journey into Night, Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Live! tour and The Invisible Man in the West End. He was recently Offie-nominated for playing Mr Gillie in the play of the same name at the Finborough Theatre.

On television he was a regular on both Playschool and Playaway and also appeared in the BBC TV children's sketch show Fast Forward and played Rover the Dog in Chips' Comic. He was one of the five in Five Alive and a regular on The Brian Conley Show. Other television appearances include Star Cops, Amnesty Beausire, Executive Stress, The Legend of Robin Hood, The Bill, Casualty, The Detectives, Unreported Incident, Britannia and Killing Eve.

In film, he is best known for providing the voice of Watto in the Star Wars prequels and in tie-in media relating to the Star Wars franchise. He also voiced Quello, another Toydarian, in .

He has contributed vocals to a number of video games, including Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl Fleet and two entries in the Broken Sword series of games. For Penguin Audiobooks, he has recorded four novels by Mexican author Oscar de Muriel: The Strings of Murder, A Fever of the Blood, A Mask of Shadows and Loch of the Dead. He also regularly reads books for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and has also performed in radio productions, recently playing Reverend Wavering in the internet radio series Wooden Overcoats.

In March 2017, he starred in four episodes of the third series of The Missing Hancocks for BBC Radio 4; episodes that were originally aired in 1955 in the second series of Hancock's Half Hour starring his father Harry, after Tony Hancock had disappeared.[1] [2]

Writing

In the 2000s, Secombe focused on writing. He has penned five fantasy novels, including Limbo, Limbo Two: The Final Chapter and The Last House in the Galaxy. Looking for Mr Piggy-Wig (2008), about a post-nuclear Britain after the 'New Battle of Britain' is described by The Guardian as "best taken as a spoof on the genre".[3] Endgame (2009) was criticised by Publishers Weekly for its "two-dimensional, clichéd characters and the tiresomely predictable story line".[4]

In 2010 he published the book Growing Up with the Goons which is a memoir about growing up in the shadow of his father.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975I Don't Want to Be Born Delivery Boy
1976Adventures of a Taxi Driver Third Kidnapper
1999 Watto
(voice)
2002
2016The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Show Live Max Quordlepleen / Benjy Mouse (voice)

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975The Legend of Robin HoodBrettPart 3
1980FoxDonEpisode: "The Perfect Scapegoat Syndrome"
1981Prisoners of ConscienceDINA manEpisode: "William Beausire"
1983Chips' Comic
1984Aladdin and the Forty ThievesThiefTV film
1984–1986Fast ForwardHimself / Various characters
1986What a Way to Run a RevolutionTV film
Five AliveVarious characters13 episodes
1987Star CopsBrian LincolnEpisode: "An Instinct for Murder"
1988The Play on OneSimonEpisode: "Unreported Incident"
The BillD.S. DouganEpisode: "Light Duties"
Executive StressPierre de SavarinSeries 3 Episode 3
1989-1990This Way Up13 episodes
1994–1995Insektors Godfrey / Bentley / Fugg / Queen Katheter
(voices)
1996CasualtyRay HyamsEpisode: "Relative Valueso"
1997Peak PracticeAlan Stark
2010The Unforgettable Harry SecombeHimselfTV movie documentary
2014Spike Milligan: Love, Light and PeaceTV movie documentary
2015Supreme TweeterGeraldEpisode: "#TheRedScare"
2019 Killing Eve Eric Episode: "Smell Ya Later"
BritanniaTribal ElderSeason 2 Episode 1
2020Coronation StreetJudgeEpisodes: 9970, 9971
2022Kate & KojiTwitcher 4Episode: "Memories"

Short films

Yearwidth=99TitleRoleNotes
1978Twenty Times More Likely
2012Watto (voice)TV Short
2015The RoaringFrank
2017Captain Baylety's Heir Himself / John Tall

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
1999Star Wars: Episode I - RacerWatto (voice)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
2002Star Wars: Racer Revenge
2003Flap / Alphonse (voices)
2004Quello (voice)
2005Watto (voice)Uncredited, archival audio
2006(voice)
2007Watto (voice)Uncredited, archival audio
2012Kinect Star Wars
2016Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl FleetDr Periwig (voice)
2022Watto (voice)[5]

Writing credits

YearTitleNotes
1999The Three Friends... and JerryEpisode: "Dirty Älgers/Överlevnadslägret" (storyline)
2000–2002Bob the Builder2 episodes: "Spud and Squawk" & "Bob and the Bandstand"

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Secombe replaces 'Tony Hancock'. Chortle. 2 December 2016. 29 November 2017.
  2. Web site: How Radio 4 is bringing Tony Hancock back to life. Radio Times. 14 March 2017. 29 November 2017.
  3. News: Looking for Mr Piggy-Wig. . 9 August 2008. 29 November 2017.
  4. Web site: Endgame. Publishers Weekly. 17 November 2008. 25 February 2016.
  5. WingedRobot #BlackLivesMatter . WingedRobot . 1511759111637114884 . 6 April 2022 . Started Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga last night. My partner and I wanted to know who voices young Anikin, so we decided to watch the credits. Fast forward what felt like 15 minutes or so later, and this is what we got. What the hell, @wbgames, @TTGames, @Disney? https://t.co/5rVjChULBc . en . 15 December 2022.