Greg Hemphill facts for kids

Greg Hemphill, born on December 14, 1969, is a Scottish comedian, actor, writer, and director. He was born in Springburn, a part of Glasgow, Scotland. In the mid-1970s, he moved to Montreal, Canada, with his family. He came back to Scotland in 1988.

Greg is a co-owner and executive producer at Effingee Productions, a company that makes TV shows. He often works with Ford Kiernan, who is his comedy and writing partner. Together, they created popular BBC Scotland comedy shows like Chewin' The Fat (from 1999 to 2005) and Still Game (from 2002 to 2007, and again from 2016 to 2019). Greg Hemphill was also the Rector of the University of Glasgow from 2001 to 2004.

About Greg Hemphill

His Early Life and Family

Greg Hemphill was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Edward, was an accountant, and his mother, Anne, was a teacher. In the mid-1970s, when Greg was a child, his family moved from Scotland. He spent a lot of his childhood growing up in Montreal, Canada. This time in Canada helped shape his unique Scottish-Canadian accent.

In 1988, when he was 18, Greg returned to Scotland. He went to the University of Glasgow to study. There, he earned an Honours Degree in theatre, film, and television. Greg is married to actress Julie Wilson Nimmo. They have two sons together. Even though he lived in Canada, Greg has said he "always felt Scottish." He explained that his parents were from Glasgow, and many people he met in Montreal were also from other places.

Starting His Career

Greg Hemphill has been part of many different projects throughout his career. In 1990, he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. He was part of a group called the "Trio Brothers Troup" with Rab Christie and Neil Warhurst. They won the "So You Think You're Funny" award that year.

He continued to work on stage, appearing in a show called "God Plus Support" in 1992. He also performed in the popular "Only an Excuse?" tour in 1995. Greg also worked in radio. He was the first presenter of the football show Off the Ball on BBC Radio Scotland. He also worked on Eddie Mair Live.

Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan wrote seven episodes for a children's TV show called Hububb between 1999 and 2000. Greg also appeared as a guest star in one episode, which he wrote with Ford. However, Greg is most famous for his work with Ford Kiernan in the TV sketch show Chewin' the Fat. They also created its spin-off series, Still Game. In the third series of Still Game, Greg's brother, Steve, had a small role as a CN Tower lift operator.

Still Game Television Series

How Still Game Began

After Chewin' The Fat became very popular, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill decided to write Still Game. The idea for Still Game came from a play they had written for the Edinburgh Festival in 1997. The main characters, Jack Jarvis and Victor McDade, had already appeared in the four series of Chewin' The Fat.

The first six series of Still Game and four special episodes were shown between 2002 and 2007. The show stopped after the sixth series in 2007. This happened because the company that produced Still Game, Effingee Productions, seemed to have some disagreements. One of the partners, Paul Riley, left the company. Greg Hemphill said he did not want to be part of a "boardroom battle." This led to the show taking a long break.

The Return of Still Game

In 2012, an actor and playwright named Kenny Boyle got the rights to the original Still Game stage play. He took the show on tour with a new cast. The play had not been performed on stage for 14 years. Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill went to see these performances. This made them start thinking about bringing Still Game back officially.

On October 15, 2013, the Daily Record newspaper announced that the show would return. On October 23, 2013, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill held a press conference. They announced live shows called Still Game Live at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow. They planned to do four shows starting in September 2014. However, because so many people wanted tickets, they added more shows, eventually performing 21 times. On October 24, 2013, Ford Kiernan confirmed that Kenny Boyle's tour of the original play helped inspire Still Game's return. The 21 shows at The Hydro ran from September 19 to October 10, 2014. Over 210,000 fans attended, and the shows made £6,000,000 in ticket sales.

On May 12, 2016, the BBC announced that Still Game would return for a seventh series. This was nine years after the last series ended. Filming for the new series began in the summer of 2016, and it started airing on October 7, 2016. The show's return brought in its largest audience ever for a single episode on October 7. It had 1,300,000 viewers in Scotland, which was 58% of the TV audience. The show also aired for the first time on BBC One across the whole UK. It attracted a total audience of 3,200,000 viewers.

On March 16, 2017, it was announced that an eighth series would be made for BBC One. It was planned to air in late 2017 but was later moved to March 8, 2018. On July 13, 2018, the BBC announced that Still Game would return for its ninth and final series in 2019. Filming for the ninth series took place in August and September 2018.

In September 2016, a second live show, Still Game Live 2: Bon Voyage, was announced for the SSE Hydro. This show ran for ten nights starting February 4, 2017. Five more performances were added in October 2016. Unlike the first live show, this one was not shown on TV. The third and final SSE Hydro live show, Still Game: The Final Farewell, was announced on November 1, 2018. It had five shows in September 2019, and then five more were added on November 2.

Other Projects and Roles

University and Creative Works

Greg Hemphill was chosen as the Rector of the University of Glasgow in March 2001. He was one of five people running for the position and won by a small number of votes against Alasdair Gray.

Greg appeared in a Scottish Gaelic-language drama called Eilbheas. In this show, Greg played the spirit of Elvis in the Western Isles. It was first shown when BBC Alba launched. He also wrote a stage play called Appointment with the Wicker Man with Donald McLeary for the National Theatre of Scotland. This play was about a small community trying to create a musical version of The Wicker Man.

Greg Hemphill has also been involved in the Scottish wrestling scene. He had a match against actor, comedian, and writer Robert Florence. They played rivals at "Kelvin Brawl" in Glasgow's Kelvin Hall on June 21, 2013. Comedian Frankie Boyle also took part in this event.

Recent Acting and Directing Roles

In 2014, Greg Hemphill was a guest star in an episode of the children's TV show Katie Morag. He played the character of Donald John Cameron. Greg also played Mr. Sawdust in two series of the CBeebies TV show Olga da Polga. His wife, Julie Wilson Nimmo, also starred in this show.

In 2022, Greg Hemphill and Julie Wilson Nimmo starred in a TV program called Jules and Greg's Wild Swim. This show was about wild swimming and aired on New Year's Day 2023 on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer. The full series of six episodes was released in 2023.

In March 2023, Greg Hemphill was featured in a BBC Scotland program. This show was part of the broadcaster's 100-year celebrations. He appeared alongside his wife, Julie Wilson Nimmo, and his Still Game co-star Sanjeev Kohli.

In 2024, Greg Hemphill played the father, Ade, on the BBC Programme Dinosaur. Also in 2024, Greg Hemphill made his Hollywood debut. He appeared as a bartender in the film Deadpool & Wolverine.

Directing Work

In 2016, Greg Hemphill wrote the script for the horror/comedy film West Skerra Light with Donald McLeary. This one-hour film was his first full-length drama as a film director. In 2017, Greg worked with Hopscotch Films to direct Long Night at Blackstone. This was a black comedy ghost-hunting drama.

See also

In Spanish: Greg Hemphill para niños