Armando Iannucci facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Armando Iannucci |
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Iannucci in 2017
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| Birth name | Armando Giovanni Iannucci |
| Born | 28 November 1963 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Medium | Television, film, radio, stand-up |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow University College, Oxford |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Genres | Sitcom, political satire |
| Spouse |
Rachel Jones
(m. 1990) |
| Children | 3 |
Armando Giovanni Iannucci (born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish writer, director, and producer. He is famous for creating funny shows and movies that often make fun of politics. He is known for his sharp wit and unique style of comedy.
Armando was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His parents were from Italy. He went to the University of Glasgow and then University College, Oxford. He started his career in radio and television, working for the BBC.
His early work included the radio show On the Hour, which later became the TV show The Day Today. He also helped create the popular character Alan Partridge, who appeared in many of his shows. Armando Iannucci has won many awards for his work, including Primetime Emmy Awards for his show Veep.
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Early Life and Education
Armando Iannucci was born in Glasgow. His father came from Naples, Italy. His mother was born in Glasgow, but her family was also Italian. Armando's father was involved in the Italian resistance movement as a teenager before moving to Scotland in 1950. He later ran a pizza factory in Glasgow.
Armando has two brothers and a sister. He grew up near actor Peter Capaldi, who later starred in one of Armando's shows, The Thick of It. Even though their parents knew each other, Armando and Peter did not know each other as children. When he was a teenager, Armando thought about becoming a Roman Catholic priest.
He went to St Peter's Primary School and St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow. He then studied English literature at the University of Glasgow and University College, Oxford. He started writing a special paper about old religious language but decided to become a comedian instead. He was very inspired by the American comedian Woody Allen.
Comedy Career
Early Work in the 1990s
In the early 1990s, Armando Iannucci made several shows for BBC Scotland. He then moved to BBC Radio in London. There, he created radio shows like Armando Iannucci for BBC Radio 1. These shows featured comedians he would work with for many years, including David Schneider, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, and Rebecca Front.
Armando became widely known as the producer for On the Hour on Radio 4. This radio show was so popular that it was turned into a TV show called The Day Today. He was praised for his writing and producing skills. He also brought together many talented comedians like Chris Morris and Steve Coogan.
One of the most famous characters from On the Hour was Alan Partridge, who Armando helped create with Steve Coogan. Alan Partridge became very popular and starred in his own TV and radio shows, like Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge. From 1995 to 1999, Armando also produced and hosted The Saturday Night Armistice, a satirical review show.
Shows in the 2000s
In 2000, Armando created The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4. This was an eight-part series where he explored funny and sometimes strange ideas through surreal sketches. He has said this series is the one he is most proud of.
In 2005, he created The Thick of It for BBC Four. This was a political comedy show that made fun of how government works. It starred Chris Langham as a government minister and Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker, a tough and foul-mouthed press officer. The show became very popular and moved to BBC Two for later seasons.
In 2006, Armando created Time Trumpet, a spoof documentary series for BBC 2. This show pretended to look back at the present and near future from the year 2031. It used edited clips and fake celebrity interviews to make fun of current events.
He also created the American TV show Veep for HBO. This show starred Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President of the United States. Veep used a similar style to The Thick of It and won many awards, including seventeen Primetime Emmy Awards. Armando was the main writer and producer for the first four seasons.
In 2019, he started working on a new science fiction comedy show for HBO called Avenue 5, which began in 2020.
Other Creative Projects
Armando Iannucci has worked on many other projects beyond TV. He wrote a book called Facts and Fancies in 1997, which was based on his newspaper columns. He also created a radio series called Scraps With Iannucci.
He is also interested in classical music. He has appeared on Radio 3 to talk about it and wrote a book about classical music called Hear Me Out. In 2009, he worked with a composer to create an operetta called Skin Deep.
In 2023, Armando announced he was working on a stage play based on the classic movie Dr. Strangelove. His longtime friend and collaborator, Steve Coogan, will star in it.
Directing Films
In 2009, Armando Iannucci directed his first full-length movie, In the Loop. This film was in the same style as The Thick of It and was very popular with critics. It was even nominated for an Oscar.
His second movie was The Death of Stalin, released in 2017. This film was a comedy about the power struggles after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. It was banned in some countries like Russia because it made fun of their past leaders. However, it was very successful with critics.
His third movie was The Personal History of David Copperfield, released in 2020. This film was a new version of the famous book David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. It also received great reviews.
Favourite Films
In 2022, Armando Iannucci shared his top ten favorite films of all time. These are the movies he chose:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- The Godfather (1972)
- The Battle of Algiers (1966)
- The Great Dictator (1940)
- Nashville (1975)
- Annie Hall (1977)
- Alien (1979)
- Festen (1998)
- Ran (1985)
- Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Awards and Recognition
Armando Iannucci has received many awards for his work in comedy, film, and television. He has won two Sony Radio Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In 2003, he was named one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy by The Observer newspaper.
In 2006, he became a visiting professor at the University of Oxford, where he gave lectures about British comedy. He has also received honorary degrees from the University of Glasgow and the University of Exeter.
At the 2011 British Comedy Awards, he won the Writers' Guild of Britain Award. He was also honored by the Queen. In 2012, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to broadcasting. In 2024, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to film and television.
He has won several Primetime Emmy Awards for Veep, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series in 2015. He also won a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Series for Veep in 2014 and 2016.
Political Views
Armando Iannucci has sometimes shared his political opinions. In the 2010 general election in the UK, he supported the Liberal Democrats party. He felt they offered the best chance for fair change in how the UK was run.
Later, he expressed some doubts about his support when the Liberal Democrats formed a government with another party. In 2018, he publicly supported the People's Vote campaign, which called for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.
Personal Life
Armando Iannucci married Rachel Jones in 1990. They met when she designed the lighting for one of his shows at Oxford. They have two sons and one daughter and live in Hertfordshire, England.
He has also supported charities. He was a patron of the Silver Star Society, which helps women with difficult pregnancies. In 2012, he even did an abseil (climbed down a rope from a tall building) from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to raise money for their special pregnancy unit.
Images for kids
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Iannucci in 2017
See Also
In Spanish: Armando Iannucci para niños
