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Eddie Izzard (born February 7, 1962 as Edward John
Izzard) is a British stand-up comedian and actor.
He has a very individual style of rambling,
surreal monologue. He has turned his attention to
acting as well as maintaining his demanding
touring schedule. 

Izzard describes himself as an 'executive' or
'action' transvestitism|transvestite and as 'a
male tomboy'. He regularly cross-dresses both on
and off stage and makes it clear that
cross-dressing is, for him, not a sexual thing
– he simply enjoys wearing make-up and
clothing which is traditionally perceived in the
West as female-only. He dismisses claims that he
is homosexual, saying he is either a straight
transvestite or a male lesbian.

He was born in Aden, Yemen, as the youngest son of
John and Ella Izzard. In 1963, shortly before
United Kingdom|Britain abandoned the capital of
Aden the Izzards moved to Northern Ireland. He
lived up in Belfast until 1967, when troubles
started brewing there as well, and the family
moved to Skewen, Wales, and Bexhill-on-Sea, East
Sussex, England. His mother died in March, 1968,
of cancer.

Eddie Izzard briefly attended the University of
Sheffield. He has engaged in campaigning work,
including opposing the closure of the departments
of Drama and Languages, Linguistics and
Translation at the University of East Anglia and
supporting the further integration of the UK into
the European Union. In May 2005 he appeared on the
BBC's political debate show 'Question Time',
describing himself as a 'British European',
comparing it to other cultural identities such as
'African American'. As part of his integration
campaigning, he was one of the first people to
spend a Euro in London. This pan-European aspect
has influenced his work as well; he regularly
performs in French language|French, an acquired
language, in addition to English language|English.
In July 2003, he was made an honorary Doctor of
Letters by the University of East Anglia in
Norwich, England for 'pro-Europe campaigning',
'his contribution to promoting modern languages
and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles'
and for having 'transcended national barriers'
with his humour.

After the death of his mother, Eddie found some
degree of solace in comedy, particularly the works
of Monty Python, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, and
the early Benny Hill. He began to toy with
stand-up at college and, after being ingloriously
kicked out of school, he took his act to the
streets. Having spent a great deal of the 1980's
working as a street performer in Europe and the
United States, Izzard moved his act into the
standup comedy venues in Britain, first appearing
at The Comedy Store in London in 1987. He refined
his material throughout the '80's, and in the
early '90s, he finally began earning some measure
of recognition, though originally he did not
perform in women's clothing. His stand-up work
brought him British Comedy Awards in 1993 (for
Live at the Ambassadors) and 1996 (for "Definite
Article"). After the British leg of the tour, he
took "Definite Article" to major cities outside
the United Kingdom|UK including a successful stint
in New York City. However, his US breakthrough did
not really come until 1998, when "Dress to Kill",
which was shown on American television channel
HBO, went on to earn Izzard two Emmy Awards in
2000. 
 
Running themes in his comedy are an impression of
James Mason which represents a hapless, dithering
God, an impression of Sean Connery whose
character, which has ranged from Noah to Henry
VIII, usually interacts with Mason's God. There is
also a Scottish woman called Mrs Badcrumble. He
usually manages to mention jam in various bizarre
contexts, the name 'Jeff' (as in "Jeff
Jeffty-Jeff", whose computer password is 'JEFF'),
and he also has a mannerism of saying "so...
yeah", when thinking what to say next - a fact
noted subtly on the back of the 'Glorious' video
box. So 'So... yeah' could perhaps be said to be
his catchphrase. 

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian,
Izzard was voted amongst the top 20 greatest
comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy
insiders.

==Stand-up==
*Sexie (2003)
*Circle (Eddie Izzard)|Circle (2002)
*Dress to Kill (1999)
*Glorious (1997)
*Definite Article (1996)
*Unrepeatable (1994)
*Live at the Ambassadors (1993)

==Film roles==
*Ocean's Twelve (2004)
*Romance & Cigarettes (2004)
*Five Children and It (2004)
*Blueberry (film)|Blueberry (2004)
*Revengers Tragedy (2002)
*All the Queen's Men (2001)
*The Cat's Meow (2001) as Charlie Chaplin
*Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
*Circus (2000 movie)|Circus (2000)
*The Criminal (1999)
*Mystery Men (1999)
*The Avengers (film)|The Avengers (1998)
*Velvet Goldmine (1998)
*The Secret Agent (1996)
==TV appearances==
*40 (2003) - Channel 4
*Mongrel Nation (2002) - Discovery Channel
*Python Night (1999) - BBC
*Pythonland (1999) - BBC
*Dennis Miller Live (1999) - HBO
*Rex the Runt (1998) - BBC
*Inspector Derrick (1997)
*Aristophanes: The Gods are Laughing (1995)
*Have I Got News For You (from 1994)
*Open Fire (1994)

==See also==
*Observer's 50 funniest

==External links==

*http://www.eddieizzard.com/ Official site
*http://www.eddieizzard.com/biography/ Official
Biography
* http://www.auntiemomo.com/cakeordeath Cake or
Death? An Eddie Izzard Fansite
*http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,690
3,1318267,00.html Interview with Izzard - The
Observer, October 3, 2004
*http://www.intrepidmedia.com/column.asp?id=2003
Head Over Heels: Intrepid Media review of early
shows on DVD