Stephen Merchant  Stephen James Merchant (born 23 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. In collaboration with Ricky Gervais, he was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series "The Office" (2001–2003), and co-writer and co-star of both "Extras" (2005–2007) and "Life's Too Short" (2011–2013). With Gervais and Karl Pilkington, he hosted "The Ricky Gervais Show" in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television formats; the radio version won a bronze Sony Award. He also voiced Wheatley in the 2011 video game "Portal 2". Merchant co-developed the Sky1 travel series "An Idiot Abroad" (2010–2011) and co-created "Lip Sync Battle". He has performed as a stand-up comedian, which led to his writing and starring in the HBO series "Hello Ladies", which was based on his stand-up material. He starred in his first play, Richard Bean's "The Mentalists", at London's Wyndham's Theatre in the summer of 2015. His various endeavours have earned him two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTA TV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four British Comedy Awards. He appeared as the mutant Caliban in the 2017 superhero film "Logan". Merchant was born on 23 November 1974 in Hanham, Bristol, the son of nursery nurse Jane Elaine ("née" Hibbs) and plumber/builder Ronald John Merchant. He attended Hanham High School and later the University of Warwick in Coventry from 1993 to 1996, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Literature. Merchant was a former film reviewer on the student radio station Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career. Members of Merchant's "posse" included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell and Geraint the Welshman. A number of tapes of "The Steve Show" have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fan sites. Self conscious about his 6ft 7in height, Merchant was inspired to get into comedy by the 6ft 4in John Cleese. Stating in 2019 he has never met his comedy idol, Merchant’s parents met Cleese on a cruise ship where they asked him to sign a book for their son. They recorded a voicemail message that Cleese had left on the phone in their cabin: "Hello there Mr and Mrs Merchant, I’d be more than happy to sign your book.