Rufus Hound

Rufus Hound
Rufus Hound in 2011
Born	Robert James Blair Simpson (1979-03-06) 6 March 1979 Chertsey, Surrey, England
Occupation	Comedian, Actor, Television presenter
Website	www.vivienneclore.com/artist-details/rufus-hound/

Rufus Hound (born Robert James Blair Simpson^[1][2][3] on 6 March 1979)^[4] is an English comedian, actor and presenter.^[5]

Television and radio

Hound hosted Destination Three, the coverage of the Glastonbury Festival and Top of the Pops in 2005 and 2006 alongside Fearne Cotton. He presented the idiosyncratic reality show Grime Scene Investigation on BBC Three with staff and students from Aston University, and narrated BBC Two's broadcasts of Mythbusters. He has also appeared in many comedy shows and quizzes such as Street Cred Sudoku, Nevermind the Buzzcocks and Celebrity Juice, where he was a regular panellist. He narrated the 2009 series Rocket Science and has appeared on The Apprentice: You're Fired! and Richard & Judy. He also presented Outtake TV on BBC1, replacing Anne Robinson.

In early 2008, Hound appeared twice on ITV's Thank God You're Here in the UK, after initially working as the warm-up act. In late summer 2008, Hound joined the panel show Argumental as the Blue Team Captain. Hound was the narrator for the gaming series Playr and presents What Do Kids Know? on UKTV-owned channel Watch. Hound took part in Let's Dance for Sport Relief, dancing to Cheryl Cole's "Fight for This Love" and won the final of the series on 13 March 2010. Partnered with Flavia Cacace, Hound won the 2013 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special.

Hound hosted the year 2000 edition of My Funniest Year, a look at a past year of British television, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in September 2010. He has been a regular panelist on Celebrity Juice, hosted by Keith Lemon, and has appeared at Bright Club a number of times.^[6] In January 2011, Hound participated in the former Channel 4 reality series Famous and Fearless. He came third for the boys' team, and was referred to as "The Ruthless Hound". In 2012, Hound was a team captain for Mad Mad World.

Since 2012, he has presented a programme on BBC Radio Four called My Teenage Diary, in which celebrities talk about the diary that they kept in their teenage years. On 22 February 2016, Hound made his debut as a panellist on BBC Radio 4's Just A Minute alongside regular Paul Merton and semi-regulars Pam Ayres and Graham Norton

Hound plays a fictionalised version of himself in the CBBC TV Series Hounded as the protagonist, a normal television presenter who must constantly foil the plans of Dr Muhahaha who plans on taking over the world.^[7] In 2015, Hound played Sam Swift in an episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who, titled "The Woman Who Lived", and appeared in the Channel 4 drama series Cucumber as an eccentric character called Rupert.

Hound contributed his voice to the track 'Tazer Beam' by The Skints from their album FM, released in March 2015.

In late 2016, Hound will begin portraying Duncan in Sky 1 sitcom Trollied.^[8]

Film and theatre

Hound made his acting debut in the Direct-to-DVD film Big Fat Gypsy Gangster which was directed by Ricky Grover. He also stars in the 2012 film The Wedding Video.

From October 2012 through February 2013, Hound played the lead role of Francis Henshall in the National Theatre's second touring production of One Man, Two Guvnors. Following the end of the tour, he took over the role in the West End production from 4 February 2013.

In 2014, Hound played the role of Freddie in the West End production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

In early 2016 he played the role of Sancho Panza in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Don Quixote, adapted by James Fenton.

In late 2016, he played Toad in the world premiere of the new musical, The Wind In The Willows in Plymouth, Salford and Southampton. In June 2017 he will reprise the role for a West End transfer at the London Palladium.

Personal life

Hound was educated at Hoe Bridge School Woking, Frensham Heights and Godalming College, where he was elected as a Student Representative and built the college radio station.

In April 2007, Hound was married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada to Beth Johnson, whom he had met at the Reading Festival the year before.^[5] They have two children together; a son, Alby (3 January 2008), and a daughter, Hilda (24 July 2011).^[9]

Politics

Hound campaigned for the Liberal Democrats at the 2010 general election. He has subsequently declared his support for the National Health Action Party. In an episode of The Jonathan Ross Show, which aired on 25 January 2014, Hound announced plans to run as a Member of the European Parliament for the party in the London constituency.^[10] Hound ultimately failed in his bid, the party coming ninth, receiving 23,253 votes, or 1.06 per cent of the vote.^[11] In 2016 Hound confirmed he was supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour Leadership Election.

Stand-up DVDs

• Being Rude (7 November 2011)

References

External links

• Rufus Hound at the Internet Movie Database
• Play London interview with Rufus Hound (video)
• Rufus Hound on Twitter