Paul Kaye

Born: 1965
Where: Clapham, London, UK

Known initially for his comedy terrorist Dennis Pennis, Kaye is now making inroads into film with a starring role in It's All Gone Peter Tong.

Big screen highlights also include the lead in Mel Smith's Blackball, a comedy about a rebellious bowls player.

The son of a shopkeeper, he studied theatre design at Nottingham University and went on to become a graphic designer.

A keen musician, he formed a band called The Smell of Dead Fish and the drummer from another outfit left to join The Cure.

An Arsenal fan, he left a job as a graphic designer for arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur after allegedly inserting "subliminal cannons" into merchandising catalogues.

While doing odd jobs in pubs and cafes to support himself as a painter, he allegedly turned down a job on the Big Breakfast because of his dislike for disposable TV.

In 1996, he transformed himself into Dennis Pennis, the spoof TV reporter who informed Hugh Grant that his acting was wooden and Naomi Campbell that she resembled a duck.

Demi Moore was asked: "If it wasn't gratuitous in any way and it was tastefully done, would you consider keeping your clothes on in a movie?"

After a year, he killed off his orange-haired, American alter ego (although he's considering bringing him back) to concentrate on television work.

He landed a part in the series Coming Soon but hit paydirt with the character Paul Slay in Perfect World and Kenny Marsh in 2000 Acres of Sky.

In 2003, he made his feature debut as Cliff Starkey in the Torquay-set Blackball with veteran comic Bernard Cribbins.

Roles followed as a villain in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London and in the Ibiza-set DJ comedy It's All Gone Pete Tong.