James Dreyfus

He was born in France but moved to England at an early age and was educated at Harrow School[1] and then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[2] His parents divorced when he was very young.[3][4]

In 1998, Dreyfus won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical Olivier Award for his work in The Lady In The Dark at the National Theatre. In the same year, he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep.

Dreyfus's first television break came with the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.[5] followed by roles as Constable Kevin Goody in Ben Elton's sitcom The Thin Blue Line and Tom Farrell, the gay flatmate of Linda (Kathy Burke) in Gimme Gimme Gimme. Dreyfus played opposite Bette Midler in the short-lived American sitcom Bette.

Known for portraying "camp, endearing characters," Dreyfus (in a Sheengate Publishing interview) compared the character Frank Spencer from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, whom he described as a campy but married heterosexual, to Dreyfus's character Kevin Goody from The Thin Blue Line. Regarding his character Tom Farrell from Gimme Gimme Gimme, Dreyfus hypothesized that, even if the character were heterosexual, the actor would still portray Tom as camp and flamboyant.[6] Furthermore, Dreyfus said that he felt that he became typecast due to his portrayals of "flamboyant" characters.[6]

He played Thermoman in the BBC One comedy My Hero, a role he took over in the sixth series from Ardal O'Hanlon. Although the same character, he used the name George Monday, as opposed to Ardal O'Hanlon's character's name, George Sunday. After disappointing ratings, the show was cancelled.

Dreyfus also starred as Mr Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film Churchill: The Hollywood Years.

From 2012 to 2017, Dreyfus appeared as Reverend Roger in the Sky Living series Mount Pleasant.

In 2017 he voiced the first incarnation of The Master from Doctor Who in the Big Finish Productions release The First Doctor Adventures Volume One[7], going on to appear as the character in 2019's 'The Home Guard'[8] and 2020's 'The Psychic Circus'.[9].

• James Dreyfus on IMDb