Brian Conley is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 comedian, television presenter, singer and actor. At the peak of his television career, he was the highest-paid male television personality in the UK. Outside of television, he is best known for his frequent portrayals of Buttons

Buttons (pantomime)

Buttons is the name of a character in the Cinderella pantomime. Buttons is the servant of Cinderella's father, Baron Hardup, and is Cinderella's friend...

 in pantomime

Pantomime

Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

 versions of Cinderella

Cinderella

"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...

.

Early life

Brian Paul Conley was born in Paddington

Paddington

Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. His father was a taxi driver

Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is a 1976 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader. The film is set in New York City, soon after the Vietnam War. The film stars Robert De Niro and features Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd. The film was nominated for four Academy...

. He was brought up in West London and studied Performing Arts at the Barbara Speake Stage School. As a teenager, Conley had a few minor television appearances, including an advert for hot dogs and a small role in a 1977 episode of the science fiction series Survivors

Survivors

Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...

. At the age of 16, by lying about his age, Conley started work as a Pontin's

Pontin's

Pontins is a British holiday business which was originally founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays with regular entertainment on offer. Accommodation is usually in the form of chalets. The company once grew to be a major operator of...

 Bluecoat.

Career

Conley's first major show business success was fronting a comedy showband called Tomfoolery, who performed in pubs and clubs across England and Wales, sometimes as a support act for artists such as Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

 and The Nolans

The Nolans

The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...

. Although the group broke up due to internal disputes when Conley was 19, his work with the band led to him being talent spotted by agent Bob Voice. As a result of this, Conley started working as a warm-up man for television personalities such as The Krankies

The Krankies

The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo that enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and releasing their own music single. They entered semi-retirement in 1992, but they have regularly appeared in pantomime since.The duo...

, Kenny Everett

Kenny Everett

Kenny Everett was an English comedian, radio DJ and television entertainer. Born Maurice James Christopher Cole, Everett is best known for his career as a radio DJ and for the Kenny Everett television shows.-Early life:...

 and Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan

Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...

.

Conley's career was then advanced by TVS

Television South

Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...

 casting director Bill Hatterley, who secured him onscreen appearances on comedy shows such as Make Me Laugh

Make Me Laugh

Make Me Laugh was an American game show in which contestants watched three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian got sixty seconds to try to crack the contestant up...

(1982), The Laughter Show (1984-1985), Live from Her Majesty's

Live From Her Majesty's

Live From Her Majesty's was a Sunday night live variety show which was produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network and ran from 1982 to 1988...

(1984-87) and Five Alive (1986). In 1989, with the support of London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television

London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

 (LWT)'s light entertainment controller, Conley starred in his own comedy sketch show, Brian Conley: This Way Up

Brian Conley: This Way Up

Brian Conley: This Way Up was a sketch comedy show starring Brian Conley. It began broadcasting on 20 May 1989 on ITV in the UK, and ran every Saturday evening until being moved to Friday evenings by its second series in 1990...

. This programme was popular, but not hugely successful.

After two series of the show, Conley made his first appearance in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

, playing the lead role of Bill Snibson in a production of Me & My Girl.

In 1992, LWT offered him another opportunity to star in his own comedy programme, with The Brian Conley Show. At the suggestion of producer and director Nigel Lythgoe

Nigel Lythgoe

Nigel Lythgoe is an English television and film director and producer, and former dancer in the Young Generation and choreographer. He is noted for being the producer of the shows Pop Idol and American Idol as well as being a creator, executive producer and a regular judge for So You Think You Can...

, this new show had a variety

Variety show

A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...

 format rather than being purely sketches. This different format proved popular, and the show became Britain's most-watched light entertainment programme. Conley's next success was a sitcom entitled Time After Time, in which he played the lead role. The show was named 'Best ITV Sitcom' at the 1994 British Comedy Awards

British Comedy Awards

The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.-History:...

.

He then went on to play the hugely popular Doug 'Dynamo' Digby, starring opposite Amanda Holden

Amanda Holden

Amanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...

, Nigel Planer

Nigel Planer

Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...

 and Noddy Holder

Noddy Holder

Neville John "Noddy" Holder MBE is an English musician and actor. He was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the rock band Slade....

 in The Grimleys

The Grimleys

The Grimleys is a nostalgic comedy-drama television series set on a council estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England in the mid-1970s. It was first broadcast by Granada TV for ITV in 1999, following a pilot in 1997, and concluded in 2001 after three series....

. He was also given two "An Audience with...

An Audience with...

An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by ITV Studios, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.The show began as An...

" shows.

Conley recorded a live show in 1996 titled "Brian Conley: Alive and Dangerous", which was televised and featured stand-up plus special Nick Frisby/Larry the Loafer and Dangerous Brian sketches. The show was put on VHS and later on DVD.

Around 2000, Conley was given a new show for ITV consisting of chat and music called, once again, The Brian Conley Show. The show lasted for three series. The show's guests included some major Hollywood names like Kathleen Turner

Kathleen Turner

Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...

 and Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...

.

Conley also worked at the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 for a couple of shows. His first being "Got Your Number", a game show part of a long series of National Lottery

National Lottery (United Kingdom)

The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...

 game shows. Conley would later return to the BBC to present Let Me Entertain You

Let Me Entertain You (TV series)

Let Me Entertain You was a daytime variety show that aired on BBC Two from 21 August 2006 and ended on 22 June 2007. The show is presented by British funnyman, Brian Conley, with co-presenter Christine Bleakley.-Format:...

 in 2006.

He has done much stage work, including the parts of Buttons in Cinderella

Cinderella

"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...

and Caractacus Potts

Caractacus Potts

Caractacus Potts is one of the main characters in the family film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He is an eccentric inventor who lives with his twin eight-year-old children, Jeremy & Jemima, and Grandpa Potts, on the Potts' hilltop farm...

 in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...

.

In 2003 he starred in the movie Equilibrium.

In 2006, Brian Conley returned to television, hosting a daytime variety show called Let Me Entertain You

Let Me Entertain You (TV series)

Let Me Entertain You was a daytime variety show that aired on BBC Two from 21 August 2006 and ended on 22 June 2007. The show is presented by British funnyman, Brian Conley, with co-presenter Christine Bleakley.-Format:...

, a Lion TV production for BBC Two

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 where 13-year-old Operatic Baritone Matthew Crane was the First Series Champion. On 1 December of the same year, he appeared as a guest presenter on The New Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

, where Larry The Loafer made an appearance in the beginning, and Brian referred himself to "Dangerous Brian" as he was about to enter the "Tank of Doom" as part of a Bushtucker trial.

Later in 2007, Conley presented a second series of Let Me Entertain You on BBC Two, and presented a gameshow, Dirty Rotten Cheater

Dirty Rotten Cheater

Dirty Rotten Cheater is a game show that aired on PAX from January 6 to April 14, 2003, hosted by Bil Dwyer and produced by Jonathan Goodson. Thirteen episodes were produced....

for the BBC. Twenty shows were recorded in May at the Maidstone Studios in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

.

Conley presented the Midweek Lottery show on BBC 1 in 2008. On 24 April 2008, Brian took over from ill presenter Paul O'Grady

Paul O'Grady

Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as...

 on The Paul O'Grady Show

The Paul O'Grady Show

The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...

 on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

, where he starred once again as 'Dangerous Brian' and he contested against 'Nearly Dangerous Joyce'. Larry the loafer also made an appearance. On 22 June 2008, Brian starred as a cameo on Last of the Summer Wine

Last of the Summer Wine

Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...

as "Boothroyd", Barry's fitness mad neighbour.

Brian appeared as part of Team Ant on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, and took over from Michael Ball

Michael Ball (singer)

Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...

 in the musical Hairspray

Hairspray (musical)

Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...

playing the role of Edna Turnblad at London's Shaftesbury Theatre

Shaftesbury Theatre

The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...

. He will then play the same role in the first UK Tour of Hairspray, sharing the role with Michael Ball and actor Michael Starke, at selected UK venues. He has also partaken in his own live show, "The Best of Brian Conley", which showcases 'the best' of Brian's material from his past shows, interspersed with occasional showreels of either Larry the Loafer, Dangerous Brian (depending on who Brian is about to come on stage as) or a generic showreel of his work. Like The Brian Conley Show, the stage show invites guests to perform on stage alongside Brian. In 2010, the show went on tour again, covering more areas of the country.

Personal life

Conley is married to Anne-Marie, who became his wife on 4 August 1996, in a ceremony at Stoke Poges

Stoke Poges

Stoke Poges is a village and civil parish in the South Buckinghamshire district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, about three miles north of Slough and a mile east of Farnham Common....

 chapel, Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

. Conley had proposed eight months earlier, while wearing a suit of armour. The wedding day itself also had comic elements, causing celebrity guest Linda Lusardi

Linda Lusardi

Linda Lusardi is an English actress, television presenter and former Page Three Girl. She is married to the actor Samuel Kane; they have two children, both born in Enfield, London: Lucy Anne and Jack Francis ....

 to remark that it was 'the funniest wedding I've been to' — Conley made several memorable quips during the event, and the couple left the church in the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car is a children's book written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham...

car. The couple have two children, both daughters.

As title star

• Brian Conley: This Way Up
  Brian Conley: This Way Up
  Brian Conley: This Way Up was a sketch comedy show starring Brian Conley. It began broadcasting on 20 May 1989 on ITV in the UK, and ran every Saturday evening until being moved to Friday evenings by its second series in 1990...
  
  (1989–1990)
• The Brian Conley Show (1992-1995)
• Brian Conley: Alive and Dangerous (1996)
• Brian Conley's Crazy Christmas
  The Brian Conley Show
  The Brian Conley Show was a comedy variety show starring Brian Conley, consisting of comedy sketches, and music. The show was commissioned following Conley's last successful comedy series, Brian Conley: This Way Up...
  
  (1997)
• The Brian Conley Show (2000-2002)
• An Audience with...
  An Audience with...
  An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by ITV Studios, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.The show began as An...
  
  (2002)

As presenter

• Simply the Best! LWT'S Most Memorable Moments (1998)
• The National Lottery: We've Got Your Number (1999)
• The Royal Variety Performance (1999)
• Judgement Day
  Judgement Day (TV Show)
  Judgement Day was a short-lived gameshow that broadcast on ITV, and presented by comedian and entertainer Brian Conley. The show was broadcast on Saturday nights, but due to low viewing figures of about 3 million the show was pulled after two episodes. This was the final show by Conley to be shown...
  
  (2003)
• Let Me Entertain You
  Let Me Entertain You (TV series)
  Let Me Entertain You was a daytime variety show that aired on BBC Two from 21 August 2006 and ended on 22 June 2007. The show is presented by British funnyman, Brian Conley, with co-presenter Christine Bleakley.-Format:...
  
  (2006-7)
• The New Paul O'Grady Show (2006 & 2009 — 2 episodes as guest presenter)
• Dirty Rotten Cheater
  Dirty Rotten Cheater
  Dirty Rotten Cheater is a game show that aired on PAX from January 6 to April 14, 2003, hosted by Bil Dwyer and produced by Jonathan Goodson. Thirteen episodes were produced....
  
  (2007)

As actor

• Survivors
  Survivors
  Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
  
  (1977) — as Michael, episode 'The Peacemakers'
• Outside Chance (1993, pilot for Time After Time) — as Kenny Conway
• Time After Time (1994-1995) — as Kenny Conway
• Privates (1999)
• The Grimleys
  The Grimleys
  The Grimleys is a nostalgic comedy-drama television series set on a council estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England in the mid-1970s. It was first broadcast by Granada TV for ITV in 1999, following a pilot in 1997, and concluded in 2001 after three series....
  
  (1999-2000) — as Doug 'Dynamo' Digby
• The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
  The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
  The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle is a British sitcom that was originally aired on BBC 2 in 2007. The programme was written and created by Jennifer Saunders and Tanya Byron...
  
  (2007) — as Chris Connor
• Last of the Summer Wine
  Last of the Summer Wine
  Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom written by Roy Clarke that was broadcast on BBC One. Last of the Summer Wine premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973 and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. From 1983 to 2010, Alan J. W. Bell produced and...
  
  (2008) — as Boothroyd, episode 'Enter the Finger'

As guest/performer

• Make Me Laugh
  Make Me Laugh
  Make Me Laugh was an American game show in which contestants watched three stand-up comedians performing their acts, one at a time, earning one dollar for every second that they could make it through without laughing. Each comedian got sixty seconds to try to crack the contestant up...
  
  (1982)
• Punchlines! (1983-84, 2 episodes)
• Knees-Up (1983-1984)
• The Laughter Show (1984-1985)
• Live from Her Majesty's
  Live From Her Majesty's
  Live From Her Majesty's was a Sunday night live variety show which was produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network and ran from 1982 to 1988...
  
  (1984-87, 4 episodes)
• The Keith Harris Show (1985, 1 episode)
• Five Alive (1986)
• Laughs from the Palladium (1987)
• You Bet!
  You Bet!
  You Bet! was a British game show based around the format of the German show Wetten, dass..? developed by Frank Elstner. You Bet! ran on ITV, mostly on Saturday nights but sometimes on Fridays, between 20 February 1988 and 12 April 1997, initially hosted by Bruce Forsyth from 1988 to 1990, then by...
  
  (1991, 1 episode)
• Telethon Night Out (1992)
• The Royal Variety Performance (1993)
• Surprise, Surprise (1993-94, 2 episodes)
• Children in Need
  Children in Need
  Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
  
  (1996)
• The Royal Variety Performance (1996)
• All Star Family Fortunes (2001, 1 episode)
• SM:TV Gold (2003, 1 episode)
• The Wright Stuff
  The Wright Stuff
  The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and currently airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am....
  
  (2005, 1 episode)
• Comic Relief in da Bungalow (2005)
• Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
  Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
  Dick and Dom in da Bungalow was a CBBC children's entertainment television series presented by the duo Dick and Dom...
  
  (2006, 1 episode)
• The Best of the Royal Variety (2006)
• Grumpy Old New Year (2006)
• The Wright Stuff
  The Wright Stuff
  The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and currently airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am....
  
  (2007-2009, 16 episodes)
• The Comedy Map of Britain (2007, 1 episode)
• The Grumpy Guide to... Youth Culture (2007)
• Cash in the Celebrity Attic (2008, 1 episode)
• Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (2009, 6 episodes)

Conley's appearances on chat shows include Aspel & Company (1993), This Morning

This Morning (TV series)

This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...

(1993 & 2005), Open House with Gloria Hunniford

Open House with Gloria Hunniford

Open House with Gloria Hunniford was an afternoon television show broadcast on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom between 1998 and 2003. It was presented by Gloria Hunniford and focused on lifestyle, cookery, and human interest issues. It was broadcast five days a week from Monday to Friday....

(1998), The New Paul O'Grady Show (2005 & 2009), GMTV

GMTV

GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

(2005), Breakfast (2008), The Alan Titchmarsh Show

The Alan Titchmarsh Show

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime TV chat show broadcast between 3 and 4pm weekdays on the ITV Network.-Format:The programme made its debut on ITV in 2007. It focused on the theme of "The Best of British" focusing on food, entertainment and celebrities in a mid-afternoon slot...

(2009), The ONE Show

The One Show

The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...

(2009), The 5 O'Clock Show

The 5 O'Clock Show

The 5 O'Clock Show was a daytime television chat show, which replaced The Paul O'Grady Show and is shown on Channel 4. It is presented by guest hosts every week. The format is along the same lines as O'Grady's show and consists of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts and musical performances...

(2010), The Michael Ball Show

The Michael Ball Show

The Michael Ball Show was a British topical entertainment show broadcast on ITV and ITV1 HD/STV HD in 2010. It featured entertainment, discussion and showbiz glamour with the occasional musical performance from Michael himself, often on the Friday edition of the show...

(2010) and Loose Women

Loose Women

Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...

(2007-11, various episodes).

Additionally, Conley has appeared as a talking head on many compilation shows and documentaries including: The 100 Greatest Musicals (2003), Bob Monkhouse's Comedy Heroes (2004), Who Killed Saturday Night TV? (2004), The Story of Light Entertainment (2006), 100 Greatest Stand-Ups (2007), 50 Greatest Comedy Catchphrases (2008) and The Nolans: In the Mood for Dancing (2009).

Film

• Cinderella: The Show Must Go On (1986, TV) — as Dandini
• West is West (1987) — as Sue's friend
• Circus
  Circus (2000 film)
  Circus is a 2000 British crime thriller movie directed by Rob Walker and written by David Logan. The movie stars John Hannah, Famke Janssen, Peter Stormare, Brian Conley, and Eddie Izzard. It was released in the UK on May 5, 2000 and had its USA release on September 15, 2000.-Plot:Leo and Lily ...
  
  (2000) — as Bruno
• Hotel! (2001, TV) — as Inspector Cochrane
• Dream
  Dream (film)
  Dream is a 2008 South Korean film directed by Kim Ki-duk.It is the fifteenth feature film by the director.- Plot :Jin awakes from a dream where he causes a traffic accident to find that the accident actually took place. The police suspect a woman, Ran, though she denies any involvement as she was...
  
  (2001) — as Charlie Allen
• Arthur's Dyke
  Arthur's Dyke
  Arthur's Dyke is a 2001 British film starring Pauline Quirke and Brian Conley. The plot follows a group of ramblers as they attempt to recreate their conquest of the Offa's Dyke path 20 years earlier.-Plot:...
  
  (2001) — as Dave
• Cruise of the Gods
  Cruise of the Gods
  Cruise of the Gods was a one-off comedy/drama produced by Baby Cow Productions for the BBC. It starred Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, David Walliams and James Corden...
  
  (2002) — as self
• Equilibrium
  Equilibrium (film)
  Equilibrium is a 2002 American science fiction action film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Christian Bale as John Preston, a warrior-priest and enforcement officer in a future dystopia where both feelings and artistic expression are outlawed and citizens take daily injections of drugs...
  
  (2002) — as Reading Room Proprietor
• Marple: By the Pricking of my Thumbs (2006, TV) — as Eric Johnson
• I Am Bob (2007) — as The Compere

Pantomime appearances

• (unknown year) — Dick Whittington (as Idle Jack), The Hexagon, Reading
• 1979-80 — Robinson Crusoe
  Robinson Crusoe
  Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
  
  (as part of Tomfoolery), Swansea Grand Theatre
  Swansea Grand Theatre
  The Grand Theatre is a performing arts venue in the centre of Swansea, Wales. The theatre stages plays, pantomimes and touring theatrical acts visiting Swansea. The Grand Theatre is the base for the UK's only Russian ballet company, the Swansea Ballet Russe....
  
  
• 1984-5 — Mother Goose
  Mother Goose
  The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
  
  , Churchill Theatre
  Churchill Theatre
  The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, south east London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department.It is carefully integrated into the central library complex overlooking Church House Gardens and Library Gardens...
  
  , Bromley
  Bromley
  Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
  
  
• 1989-90 — Dick Whittington (as a villager), Nottingham Theatre Royal
• 1992-3 — Aladdin
  Aladdin
  Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
  
  , Birmingham Hippodrome
  Birmingham Hippodrome
  The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
  
  
• 1993-4 — Cinderella (as Buttons), The Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
• 1997-8 — Cinderella (as Buttons), The Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
• 1998-9 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Birmingham Hippodrome
  Birmingham Hippodrome
  The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
  
  
• 1999-2000 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Theatre Royal, Plymouth
  Theatre Royal, Plymouth
  The Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
  
  
• 2001-2 — Dick Whittington, Birmingham Hippodrome
  Birmingham Hippodrome
  The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
  
  
• 2002-3 — Cinderella (as Buttons), The Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
• 2003-4 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Manchester Opera House
  Manchester Opera House
  The Opera House in Quay Street, Manchester, England is a 1,920 seater commercial touring theatre which plays host to touring musicals, ballet, concerts and a Christmas pantomime. It is the sister to the Palace Theatre which is a similar venue in nearby Oxford Street at its junction with Whitworth...
  
  
• 2004-5 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Theatre Royal, Plymouth
  Theatre Royal, Plymouth
  The Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
  
  
• 2005-6 - Aladdin (as Aladdin), The Orchard Theatre, Dartford
  Dartford
  Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
  
  
• 2006-7 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Birmingham Hippodrome
  Birmingham Hippodrome
  The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
  
  
• 2007-8 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Wycombe Swan Theatre, High Wycombe
  High Wycombe
  High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
  
  
• 2008-9 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Nottingham Theatre Royal
• 2009-10 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Cliffs Pavilion
  Cliffs Pavilion
  Cliffs Pavilion is a live theatre in Station Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, which seats 1,630 and offers an assortment of variety acts....
  
  , Southend-on-Sea
  Southend-on-Sea
  Southend-on-Sea is a unitary authority area, town, and seaside resort in Essex, England. The district has Borough status, and comprises the towns of Chalkwell, Eastwood, Leigh-on-Sea, North Shoebury, Prittlewell, Shoeburyness, Southchurch, Thorpe Bay, and Westcliff-on-Sea. The district is situated...
  
  
• 2010-11 — Cinderella (as Buttons), The New Theatre
  New Theatre (Cardiff)
  The New Theatre although it usually uses its English name as a title) is one of the principal theatres in Cardiff, capital city of Wales, and celebrated its centenary in 2006...
  
  , Cardiff
  Cardiff
  Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
  
  
• 2011-12 — Cinderella (as Buttons), Birmingham Hippodrome
  Birmingham Hippodrome
  The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including visiting opera and ballet companies, touring West End...
  
  

Other roles

• Me and My Girl
  Me and My Girl
  Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....
  
  (as Bill Snibson), Adelphi Theatre
  Adelphi Theatre
  The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
  
  , 1991.
• Jolson
  Jolson
  Jolson is a musical with a book by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson and a score composed of tunes by some of the all-time greatest songwriters of Tin Pan Alley....
  
  (as Al Jolson
  Al Jolson
  Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
  
  ), Victoria Palace Theatre
  Victoria Palace Theatre
  Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station.-Origins:The theatre began life as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a small hotel and tavern built in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge...
  
  , 1995-98.
• Elton John's Glasses (as Bill), Queen's Theatre
  Queen's Theatre
  The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
  
  , 1998.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical)
  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, also known as Chitty the Musical, is a stage musical based on the 1968 film produced by Cubby Broccoli. The music and lyrics were written by Richard and Robert Sherman with book by Jeremy Sams.-Productions:...
  
  (as Caractacus Potts
  Caractacus Potts
  Caractacus Potts is one of the main characters in the family film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He is an eccentric inventor who lives with his twin eight-year-old children, Jeremy & Jemima, and Grandpa Potts, on the Potts' hilltop farm...
  
  ), London Palladium
  London Palladium
  The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
  
  , 2005.Temporarily replacing Jason Donovan
  Jason Donovan
  Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
  
   for 14 weeks beginning 15 March.
• The Music Man (as Professor Harold Hill), Chichester Festival Theatre
  Chichester Festival Theatre
  Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
  
  , 2008.
• Hairspray
  Hairspray (musical)
  Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
  
  (as Edna Turnblad), Shaftesbury Theatre
  Shaftesbury Theatre
  The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
  
  , 2009-10.From 27 July 2009 to 24 October 2009 and from 2 February 2010 to 28 March 2010. Also played by Michael Ball
  Michael Ball (singer)
  Michael Ashley Ball, born 27 June 1962) is a British actor, singer, and radio and TV presenter who is best known for the song "Love Changes Everything" and musical theatre roles such as Marius in Les Misérables, Alex in Aspects of Love, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Edna Turnblad...
  
   and Phill Jupitus
  Phill Jupitus
  Phillip Christopher Jupitus is an English stand-up and improvised comedian, actor, performance poet, musician and podcaster....
  
  .
• Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show
  Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show
  Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show is the name of Neil Diamond's fourth studio album, released in 1969. Four months after the title cut became a #22 hit, Diamond recorded and released a new single, "Sweet Caroline", which reached #4...
  
  (as Brother Love), UK tour, 2011.

Discography

• Stage to Stage (Telstar, 1996)
• Songs from the Shows (2002)
• Brian Conley Sings (Sony, 2002)
• Let the Good Times Roll (Universal, 2002)

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1995 National Television Awards
  National Television Awards
  The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
  
  , Most Popular Comedy Performer
• 2004 Manchester Evening News
  Manchester Evening News
  The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
  
   Theatre Awards, Most Popular Performer
• 2008 TMA Best Performance in a Musical Award
  TMA Awards
  The TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
  
   (for The Music Man
  The Music Man
  The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
  
  )

Nominations

• 1996 Olivier Award for Best Musical Actor (for Jolson
  Jolson
  Jolson is a musical with a book by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson and a score composed of tunes by some of the all-time greatest songwriters of Tin Pan Alley....
  
  )
• 2000 National Television Awards, Most Popular Comedy Performer

External links

• Brian Conley Official Site
• BBC Comedy Guide to Brian Conley: This Way Up
• BBC Comedy Guide to The Brian Conley Show