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{{short description|British actor}}{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}

factoids

| birth_place = Liverpool, EnglandActordirector|screenwriter}}| years_active = 1993–present| spouse = Sarah Alexander| children = 2}}Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|s|ɛr|ə|ˈ|f|ɪ|n|ə|w|ɪ|tʃ}} {{respell|SERR|ə|FIN|ə|witch}}; born 10 July 1972) is a British actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter.Serafinowicz's film roles include the voice of Darth Maul in (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace) (1999), Pete in Shaun of the Dead (2004), Garthan Saal in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), the voice of Big Daddy in Sing (2016) and Sing 2 (2021), and The Sommelier in (John Wick: Chapter 2) (2017).On television, Serafinowicz created and starred in the comedy shows Look Around You (2002–2005) and The Peter Serafinowicz Show (2007–2008). He also voiced characters and worked as a creative consultant on South Park (2006–2015), portrayed Edgar Covington in Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), voiced the Fisher King in Doctor Who (2015), and starred as the title character in the live-action adaptation series The Tick (2016). His other television work includes voicing characters in animated series such as Archer, Bob's Burgers, Rick and Morty, The Simpsons, and American Dad!Serafinowicz has voiced characters in video games such as Dark Souls II (2014), LittleBigPlanet 3 (2014), and (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) (2016). He has directed music videos for acts such as Hot Chip, and received attention online in the late 2010s for political satire videos in which he dubbed over videos of Donald Trump with various comedic voices.

Early life

Peter Szymon Serafinowicz was born into a Catholic family in Liverpool's Gateacre suburb on 10 July 1972,WEB,weblink In Conversation with Peter Serafinowicz at St. Georges Hall, 17 March 2011, SevenStreets, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200929163325weblink">weblink 29 September 2020, NEWS,weblink A comedy giant in the making, Amy, Raphael, 14 October 2007, The Observer, NEWS,weblinkweblink 26 May 2022, subscription, live, My Secret Life: Peter Serafinowicz, Actor and comedian, age 36, Philby, Charlotte, 30 August 2008, The Independent, 14 October 2019, the son of post office worker Catherine (née Geary) and scaffolder Szymon Serafinowicz Jr.NEWS,weblink BBC star's grandfather faced Nazi war crimes trial, 20 October 2007, Evening Standard, London, UK, 13 July 2017, His father was born and raised in Surrey to a Polish mother and Belarusian father, and later moved to Liverpool as an adult. Serafinowicz's Belarusian paternal grandfather was accused of being a Nazi collaborator. He has a brother named James, who became a film producer, and a sister named Helen, who became a writer.At the age of three, Serafinowicz moved with his family to the Belle Vale district of Liverpool, where he attended Our Lady of the Assumption Primary School.NEWS,weblink Peter Serafinowicz on his Liverpool childhood and how he'd like to play all four Beatles in an animation, Catherine, Jones, 25 March 2011, Liverpool Echo, The family moved back to Gateacre when he was 14, and he attended St Francis Xavier's College in the neighbouring Woolton suburb.WEB,weblink Exclusive Interview – Peter Serafinowicz, 29 September 2011, HeyUGuys.com, 14 October 2019, He later said, "I had a very happy childhood, but Belle Vale was very rough. I was only about three when we moved there, but I can still remember it looking very shiny, and it was all landscaped. But it was a very poor area, and it became scruffy quite quickly. [...] Gateacre is traditionally seen as one of the posh areas of Liverpool [but] it wasn't really that much posher!"

Career

{{BLP sources section|date=October 2017}}File:Peter Serafinowicz (cropped).jpeg|thumb|Serafinowicz at the 2010 San Diego Comic-ConSan Diego Comic-ConSerafinowicz made his broadcasting debut in 1993 on Radio 1 show The Knowledge, a spoof documentary about the music industry. From there he went on to perform in Radio 4 shows Week Ending, Harry Hill's Fruit Corner, Grievous Bodily Radio, The Two Dannys, and A Whole New Ball Game.On 1 May 1997, he appeared in The Election Night Armistice as Moz Bingham, the fictional press secretary to the then shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who verbally abuses the BBC's Nick Robinson in a spoof phone call over the politician's news coverage. In 1998 he appeared on TV in Comedy Nation and You Are Here. He also had a role in the sitcom How Do You Want Me? penned by Simon Nye.In 1999, he had a few guest appearances in the Channel 4 sitcom Spaced, playing protagonist Tim Bisley's (Simon Pegg) nemesis, Duane Benzie. He made another cameo appearance in the series when it returned in 2001.In 2001, he took the lead in BBC Two sitcom World of Pub, playing the same character as he had done in the show's run on Radio 4. He appeared in The Junkies, an Internet sitcom. In 2002, the critically acclaimed Look Around You, a series of 10-minute 1970s school science video spoofs in which he played a scientist, were shown on BBC 2. He co-wrote the show with Robert Popper, whom he met on the set of Spaced. The show returned in 2005 as a spoof of the 1980s show Tomorrow's World, with Serafinowicz playing Peter Packard, one of the presenters.In 2003, he appeared in another sitcom written by Nye, Hardware, in which he played the affable Kenny. He reprised this role in the second series in 2004. Also in 2004 he appeared in British romantic zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, playing Pete, the uptight flatmate of principal characters Shaun and Ed. He appeared in boxing film The Calcium Kid.In Sixty Six, the 2006 British film about a Jewish boy whose bar mitzvah is scheduled for the same day as the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, Serafinowicz plays Uncle Jimmy. In the week before the 2006 Academy Awards a video circulated on the Internet of a fake news item (called "O! News", a parody of E! News) about a new Oscar statue, in which Serafinowicz imitated Alan Alda, Paul McCartney and Al Pacino.A second "O! News" video later appeared, parodying the 2006 Apple Corps v Apple Computer lawsuit. This attracted the interest of the BBC, and a pilot was commissioned for The Peter Serafinowicz Show. A full series was broadcast on BBC Two in 2007 (with a Christmas special in 2008). For his performance, Serafinowicz was presented with the Best Entertainer prize at the 2008 Rose d'Or ceremony.WEB,weblink Rose d'Or Winners 2008, 6 May 2008, Rose d'Or AG, 7 May 2008,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080530115956weblink">weblink 30 May 2008, dead, The series was also nominated for Best Comedy Programme at the 2009 BAFTA Television Awards.WEB,weblink Television Awards Nominations in 2009, BAFTA, 29 March 2009, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101121045935weblink">weblink 21 November 2010, Serafinowicz made guest appearances on television, including the comedy shows Smack the Pony and Hippies (both 1999), Black Books (2000), I'm Alan Partridge (2002) and Little Britain (2003), comedy-drama Murder Most Horrid (1999), ITV drama series Agatha Christie's Marple (2006) and Parks and Recreation (2013).He made a number of guest appearances on both television and radio panel shows. He regularly appeared on The 99p Challenge and appeared on Have I Got News for You in 2005, 2006 and 2008, 8 Out of 10 Cats in 2005, and QI in 2003. He also appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 19 October 2007, Would I Lie to You? on 8 August 2008 and 30 July 2010 and Never Mind the Buzzcocks on 15 October 2009.In 2008, Serafinowicz was working with Robert Popper on a new television series and website, based on a spoof religion "Tarvuism" for US network Adult Swim.WEB,weblink Say 'Hebbo' to Tarvuism!, 14 October 2008, Chortle, 14 October 2019, In 2009, he appeared in Universal Films' Couples Retreat as Sctanley, the manager of the Eden Resort, directed by Peter Billingsley.In 2010, Serafinowicz directed the music video for Hot Chip's song "I Feel Better", their second single from the album One Life Stand. He followed this up in 2012 when he directed the music video for the band's song "Night & Day", the first single from their album In Our Heads.On 28 July 2010, Popper and Serafinowicz added a new narration track to an episode of "Out Of Town" by Jack Hargreaves in order to create the spoof film "Markets of Britain, a short film by Lee Titt" WEB, Boing Boing Video, Markets of Britain, a short film by Lee Titt,weblink Youtube, Boing Boing, 19 June 2023, In 2010, he co-starred with Will Arnett in the FOX sitcom Running Wilde, devised by Arrested Development creator Mitchell Hurwitz. It premiered on Fox on 21 September 2010,WEB,weblink Peter Serafinowicz Joins 'Running Wilde', Andreeva, Nellie, 11 July 2010, Deadline Hollywood, 12 July 2010, but was cancelled by the network after 13 episodes.In June 2013, Serafinowicz provided the English language audiobook recording for the Roald Dahl novel Danny, the Champion of the World.WEB,weblink Danny, the Champion of the World, Penguin Books, 20 November 2015, In July 2013, he made his film directing debut with the dark comedy film I See What You Did There,WEB,weblink Peter Serafinowicz Moves to Directing with 'I See What You Did There', Ethan, Anderton, 15 July 2013, Firstshowing.net, 17 July 2013, which he wrote, along with Danny Wallace.WEB,weblink Peter Serafinowicz Directing I See What You Did There, James, White, 16 July 2013, Empire Online, 17 July 2013, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141219113454weblink">weblink 19 December 2014, In 2014, it was announced that Serafinowicz would play the role of Crowley in the BBC Radio 4 adaption of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel Good Omens.WEB,weblink BBC Radio Brings Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens to Life, Brown, Brigid, 5 September 2014, BBC America, 6 September 2014, That same year, he was featured in Guardians of the Galaxy playing Garthan Saal, a Denarian ranking pilot of the Nova Corps. He appeared in Series 9 of Doctor Who as the voice of The Fisher King.NEWS,weblink Peter Serafinowicz joins Doctor Who – more Star Wars actors who have done the same, Cameron K., McEwan, 26 September 2015, Metro (British newspaper), Metro, 28 February 2016, During 2016, Serafinowicz created a series of YouTube videos entitled "Sassy Trump", in which he redubed speeches given by Donald Trump with a camp voice.NEWS,weblink Sassy Trump is the internet's favourite version of Donald, Flint, Hanna, 14 August 2016, Metro, 14 October 2019, Those videos were deleted from his YouTube channel in 2020. He has also created parodies dubbing Trump with a Cockney accent and a posh English accent.WEB,weblink Peter Serafinowicz has dubbed a Donald Trump speech with a cockney accent and it's hilarious, The Poke, 6 October 2017, Due to Serafinowicz's impersonation of Paul McCartney, Matt Berry sang a duet with him on Berry's 2009 album Witchazel. The track in question was "Rain Came Down", where he was billed as "Paul McCartney".AV MEDIA NOTES, Witchazel, 2011, Matt, Berry, Liner notes, Acid Jazz Records, AJXCD251, UK, He stars in the title role of Amazon's The Tick, the pilot for which premiered on 19 August 2016.WEB,weblink The Tick: 'Pilot' Review, Goldman, Eric, 18 August 2016, IGN, 18 August 2016, In 2020 Serafinowicz guest starred in the second season of TBS' Miracle Workers.In September and October 2023, Serafinowicz began touring the UK as his character Brian Butterfield from The Peter Serafinowicz Show in (Placeholder Name) Tour.WEB, Guide, British Comedy, 2023-06-14, Brian Butterfield tour confirmed,weblink 2023-09-26, British Comedy Guide, en, The show will tour the UK again in May and June 2024 renamed as Brian Butterfield's' Call of Now.In March 2024, Serafinowicz appeared in Guy Richie's TV series of The Gentlemen, playing the character Tommy Dixon.

Personal life

Serafinowicz met actress Sarah Alexander in 2002; at the time, she was in a relationship with actor Gerald Harper, who is 40 years older than her.NEWS, Daily Mirror, New Man For Coupling Star,weblink Scott, 6 August 2002, 31 May 2020, Peter, The Free Library, She left Harper for Serafinowicz and later married him. They live in West London, and have a son and a daughter.PRESS RELEASE,weblink Mutual Friends: Sarah Alexander plays Liz, 13 August 2008, BBC Press Office, 14 October 2019, In October 2007, Serafinowicz dropped his attempt to use the Human Rights Act against the national newspapers; he had sought to prevent the publication of details revealing that his grandfather, Szymon Serafinowicz, was a member of the Belarusian Auxiliary Police who became the first man in the UK to be tried under the War Crimes Act.NEWS,weblink Why won't Britain jail this war criminal?, Luckhurst, Tim, 2 September 2001, The Guardian, London, UK, 13 July 2017, Szymon was charged with direct involvement in three murders and personal involvement in the destruction of the Jewish populations of Mir and Minsk, including the 1941 massacre of the Mir Ghetto which resulted in the deaths of 1,800 people, but was found unfit for trial on grounds of dementia in 1997 and died later that year at the age of 86.

Filmography{| class"wikitable"|+Key

{{dagger|alt=Not yet released}}|Denotes works that have not yet been released">

Film{| class"wikitable sortable"

! Year! Title! Role! class="unsortable" |Notes|1999| (Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace)|Darth Maul, Battle Droids, Gungan WarriorACCESS-DATE=NOVEMBER 3, 2023, Behind The Voice Actors, A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.|2001| Calcium|Scientist|Short filmWriter, producer|2003| Hello Friend|Email Voice-Over|Voice, short film2004| Shaun of the Dead|Pete|| The Calcium Kid|Dave King||2005Ripley Under Ground (film)>Ripley Under Ground|Nigel||2006Sixty Six (film)>Sixty Six|Uncle Jimmy, Mr. Reubens Sr., Football Commentator|2007Grindhouse (film)>Grindhouse|Screaming Man|Fake Don't trailer| Run Fatboy Run|Sports Commentator||2008Tales of the Riverbank#Feature film>Tales of the Riverbank|Various Characters|Voice|2009| Couples Retreat|Sctanley||2010The Best and the Brightest (film)>The Best and the Brightest|Clark||2011| Killing Bono|Hammond||2013Underdogs (2013 animated film)>Underdogs|Loco|Voice2014| SOS: Save Our Skins|Andrew|Voice| Food Club|Narrator|Voice, short film| (Pudsey the Dog: The Movie)|Edward the Horse|Voice| Muppets Most Wanted|Gulag Guard|UncreditedGuardians of the Galaxy (film)>Guardians of the GalaxySupernova (Marvel Comics)>Garthan Saal||2015Spy (2015 film)>Spy|Aldo||2016Sing (2016 American film)>Sing|Big Daddy|Voice2017| (John Wick: Chapter 2)|The Sommelier|Going in Style (2017 film)>Going in Style|Murphy|| An Ordinary Man|Miro||2019Last Christmas (film)>Last Christmas|Theatre Producer||2020|(DC Showcase: The Phantom Stranger)|The Phantom Stranger|Voice, short film|2021| Sing 2|Big Daddy|Voice2022The Bubble (2022 film)>The Bubble|Gavin|The School for Good and Evil (film)>The School for Good and Evil|Yuba||(Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm)|Neil, Big Neil|Voice, direct-to-video|The Amazing Maurice|Death|Voice2023|Sumotherhood|Krzysztof||(Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget)|Reginald SmithDATE=2023-09-05 URL=HTTPS://WWW.HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM/MOVIES/MOVIE-NEWS/CHICKEN-RUN-DAWN-OF-THE-NUGGET-TEASER-TRAILER-1235581978/ WEBSITE=THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, en-US, ">

Television{| class"wikitable sortable"

! Year! Title! Role! class="unsortable" |Notes|1996| Spitting Image|Jacques Chirac|Voice, 6 episodes1998| Comedy Nation|Various Characters|| ITV Panto|Second Henchman|Episode: "Jack and the Beanstalk"| Europigeon|Terry Wogan|Voice, television film| Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round|Narrator|Voice, 6 episodes|1998–1999| How Do You Want Me?|Dean Yardley|9 episodes1999| The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns|George Fitzpatrck|Television film| Murder Most Horrid|Tony Frost|Episode: "Dinner at Tiffany's"| Smack the Pony||2 episodesSt Albion Parish News>Sermon from St. Albion's|Alastair Campbell|1 episodeHippies (TV series)>Hippies|Narrator, Robin|2 episodes|1999–2001| Spaced|Duane Benzie|3 episodes2000| Black Books|Howell Granger|Episode: "The Big Lock-Out"| The Junkies|Big Al, Narrator|Pilot|2001| World of Pub|Garry, Various Characters|6 episodes2002| I'm Alan Partridge|Tex|Episode: "Never Say Alan Again"| 15 Storeys High||2 episodes| What a Cartoon!|Butch|Voice, episode: "Colin Versus the World in "Mr. Lounge Lizard"|2002–2005| Look Around You|Scientist, Peter Packard|Creator, writer, producer|2003Little Britain (TV series)>Little Britain|Interviewer at Prime Minister's Questions|Episode: "Biggest House of Cards"|2003–2004Hardware (TV series)>Hardware|Kenny|12 episodes2006| Agatha Christie's Marple|Walter Fane|Episode: "Sleeping Murder"| The IT Crowd|Newsreader, Lift, Voice-Over|3 episodes|2006–2015| South Park|Various Characters|Voice; also creative consultant|2007–2008| The Peter Serafinowicz Show|Various Characters|Creator, writer, producer|2009| Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle|Narrator|Voice, 6 episodes2010Whitechapel (TV series)>Whitechapel|DCI Torbin Cazenove|3 episodes| Driver Dan's Story Train|Driver Dan|Voice, 103 episodes|2010–2011| Running Wilde|Fa'ad Shaoulian|13 episodes2011| This is Jinsy|Eric Dunt|Episode: "Cupboards"| Funny or Die Presents|Puppet|Voice, episode: "The Terrys"2011–2013Archer (2009 TV series)>Archer|George Spelvin, Benoit, James Mason|Voice, 3 episodes| (NTSF:SD:SUV::)|S.A.M., Sagan|21 episodes2012| The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret|Tito the Cycling Lawyer|1 episode| The Secret Policeman's Ball 2012|Paul McCartney|Special| Watson & Oliver|Various|2 episodes| Bad Sugar|Rolph Cauldwell|Pilot| Childrens Hospital|Michael Caine|Voice, episode: "British Hospital"| American Dad!|Goran the Mutilator|Voice, episode: "Killer Vacation"2013| It's Kevin|Bill Grundy|1 episode| Fit|Brian Butterfield|13 episodes| Playhouse Presents|Roger|Episode: "Hey Diddly Dee"Father Figure (TV series)>Father Figure|Karl|Episode: "Chin Chin"|Anatole's Island|Narrator|Voice, television film2013–2015Axe Cop (TV series)>Axe Cop|Various Characters|Voice, 8 episodes| Parks and Recreation|Edgar Covington|3 episodes2014| Mr. Sloane|Ross|6 episodes| The Britishes|Lord British|4 episodes| Adventure Time|Lumpy Space Prince|Voice, episode: "The Prince Who Wanted Everything"| Gravity Falls|Blind IvanGravity Falls (season 2)#ep27>Society of the Blind Eye"2015| Moonbeam City|Nocturne von Groff|Voice, episode: "The Strike Visualizer Strikes Again"| Doctor Who|Fisher KingBefore the Flood (Doctor Who)>Before the Flood"| Hunt the Truth|Black Box|6 episodes|Long Live the Royals|Frederick, Demonic Hare|Voice, 3 episodes2015–2016| The Adventures of OG Sherlock Kush|OG Sherlock Kush|Voice, 20 episodes| TripTank|Various Characters|Voice, 5 episodes|2016–2019The Tick (2016 TV series)>The TickTick (character)>The Tick| Also producer2017|At Home with Amy Sedaris|Turtleneck Man|Episode: "Making Love"| Mickey and the Roadster Racers|Agent Chauncey Chips, Dr. Waddleton Crutchley|Voice, 2 episodes| People of Earth|Eric the Cube|Voice, 8 episodes|Rick and Morty|Agency Director Pavel Bartek|Voice, episode: "Pickle Rick"|Neo Yokio|Various Characters|Voice, 6 episodes|2018|The Simpsons|Corporate CEOKrusty the Clown (The Simpsons episode)>Krusty the Clown"2019|Bob's Burgers|Scottjohn Dansteve|Voice, episode: "Bed, Bob & Beyond"His Dark Materials (TV series)>His Dark Materials|Iofur Raknison|Voice, 2 episodes2020Miracle Workers (2019 TV series)>Miracle Workers|King Cragnoor||Sassy Justice|Fred Sassy|Voice2023White House Plumbers (miniseries)>White House Plumbers|William F. Buckley Jr.||Rick and Morty|Oxygen-S / 8 / Infinity |Voice, episode "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie"What If...? (TV series)>What If...?|Garthan Saal|Voice, episode "What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?" |2024The Gentlemen (2024 TV series)>The Gentlemen|Tommy Dixon|2 episodes">

Video games{| class"wikitable sortable"

! Year! Title! Voice role! class="unsortable" | Notes|2001| Z: Steel Soldiers]]|Lassar |2003| (Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior)|Space Marine Captain Ardius |2013| Lego City Undercover|Forrest Blackwell, Cornelius Burns, Jethro Hayes 2014| Dark Souls II|Mild-Mannered Pate| LittleBigPlanet 3|Dr. Maxim, El Jeff, Papal Mâché|2016| (Deus Ex: Mankind Divided)|Duncan MacReady2017| Lego Worlds|Narrator || Lego Dimensions|Cornelius Burns, Forrest Blackwell, Jethro Hayes |Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2Kang the ConquerorPARSONS DATE=SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 URL=HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/ARTHUR_PARSONS/STATUS/905827593206865920 ACCESS-DATE=NOVEMBER 6, 2023,weblink

References

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External links

{{commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|0784818}}
• WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170531053809weblink">weblink dead, 31 May 2017, Peter Serafinowitz, British Film Institute,

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