Graham Norton Biography

Irish actor, comedian, and TV pundit Graham Norton emerged as a U.K. celebrity in the early '90s, with schtick that consistently revolved around a trademark persona -- that of a campy, flamboyant homosexual, rife with a flair for raunchy double (and triple) entendres. Norton's brand of humor became particularly evident amid his celebrity interviews, which found him convulsing audiences and guests by pulling out bizarre sex gadgets, exchanging barbs with perverted phone-in callers, or indulging in all sorts of other outrageous mischief; in that mode, he interviewed everyone from Dolly Parton to Elton John to Roseanne Barr to Diana Ross. Norton rose to fame by virtue of his two British talk shows, So Graham Norton (1998-2002) and V Graham Norton (2002-2004), then landed a deal with Comedy Central in 2004 for an American equivalent, The Graham Norton Effect, reportedly after a deal with one of the big three networks fell through thanks to corporate interference with Norton's comic material. After that short-lived series folded, Norton segued into feature roles with a supporting turn (as Mr. Puckov) in the farce Another Gay Movie (2006), then signed to work for director Amy Heckerling with another supporting role, this one in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi