Stephen Mangan

Family: Married to the actress Louise Delamere with whom he has two sons. Awards: Highly Commended in the 1994 BBC Radio Carlton Hobbs Award. Nominated for the 1999 Ian Charleson Award. Interests: Is a keen supporter of Tottenham Hotspur FC and has followed the England Cricket Team around the world watching their matches. Enjoys playing poker, ran... the London Marathon in 1999 in 3 hours 30 minutes and has achieved Grade 5 on the piano! Stephen Mangan was born to Irish parents in Winchmore Hill, North London in 1972. He attended Haileybury College, Hertfordshire and despite appearing in school plays there, he never imagined he could be an actor. "It wasn't an option as far as I could tell. I'd have put it in a category with astronaut or jockey." Therefore, after having a gap year in the United States, he went on to study Law at Gonville and Caius College Cambridge University, where his fellow students included Rachel Weisz, Sam Mendes, Jonathan Cake and Tom Hollander. He knew within two days of university that he didn't want to be a lawyer and spent most of his time taking part in drama productions, starring in 23 overall. After university, he took a year out to nurse his mother, Mary, who was dying of cancer. Weeks after her death, feeling he had nothing to lose, he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and successfully won a place. "To get into somewhere like that was a seal of approval. It was no longer that you made someone laugh in a school play or you were funny to your mates." He graduated from RADA in July 1994 and did not pursue lead roles on screen, preferring to take what he saw as more limitless opportunities on the stage. "I refused to do anything but theatre when I first left RADA. Theatre is the actor's medium, film is the director's medium and on television the writer is king...you're not being typecast or held to ransom by how you look." He spent several years in regional theatre, playing in classics such as The Tempest, Twelfth Night and Hamlet, and his successful seasons with the ...Read More