Trey Parker

Born: 19 October 1969
Where: Conifer, Colorado, USA

The provocative brain behind South Park scored a box office hit when he brought Cartman and co to the big screen.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut raised politically correct hackles everywhere but also landed an Oscar nomination for best song and an MTV Movie Award.

The son of a geologist and insurance broker, Parker studied music and Japanese at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

There he met South Park co-creator Matt Stone and they began producing comedy shorts including the original Frosty vs Santa Claus.

Parker was kicked out of college after he skipped classes to work on the writing and direction of Cannibal: The Musical.

The movie, an Oklahoma-style musical based on the life of Colorado cannibal Alfred Packer, caught the eye of FoxLab executive Brian Graden.

He asked them to create a Christmas video card - The Spirit of Christmas - which featured Jesus and Santa battling it out for ownership of Christmas.

A guilty pleasure in Hollywood circles, it led to a bidding war for South Park, which made its debut on Comedy Central in August 1997.

Parker went on to direct and star in the feature Orgazmo, about a wholesome Mormon who becomes embroiled in the Los Angeles blue movie world.

In 1999, Parker and Stone released the feature length South Park and followed it with the controversial That's My Bush portraying the president as a bumbling buffoon.

In 2004, Parker directed and voiced - along with Matt Stone - Team America: World Police, a marionette based spoof of gung-ho America and Hollywood liberalism.