James Dreyfus

British actor (born 1968)

James Dreyfus

Dreyfus in 2004

Born|

James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus

(1968-10-09) 9 October 1968 (age 56)

London, England

Education| Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA)
Occupation| Actor
Years active| 1995–present
Television| The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996)
Absolutely Fabulous (1995–1996)
Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999–2001)
The Sarah Jane Adventures (2011)
Mount Pleasant (2012–2017)

James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor most notable for roles on television sitcoms The Thin Blue Line as Constable Kevin Goody, and Gimme Gimme Gimme as Tom Farrell. Dreyfus is most recently known for a role as Reverend Roger Jones in Mount Pleasant.

In London's West End, Dreyfus starred in The Producers in 2004 as Carmen Ghia. In 2006, he starred as the Emcee in Cabaret.

## Early life

[edit]

James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus was born on 9 October 1968 in Islington, London.[1] His parents divorced when he was very young.[2][3] His mother, Margo de Zoghels, was a model.[4] She and his maternal grandparents were from Egypt.[5][non-primary source needed]

He was educated at Harrow School.[6] He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.[7]

## Career

[edit]

At the 1998 Laurence Olivier Awards, Dreyfus won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for his work in Lady in the Dark at the National Theatre. In the same year, Dreyfus won Second Prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for his 1997 performance as Caius Cassius in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep.[8]

Dreyfus's first television break came with the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.[9] followed by roles as Constable Kevin Goody in Ben Elton's sitcom The Thin Blue Line and Tom Farrell, the gay flatmate of Linda la Hughes (Kathy Burke) in Gimme Gimme Gimme. Dreyfus played opposite Bette Midler in the short-lived American sitcom Bette.

Known for portraying "camp, endearing characters," Dreyfus (in a Sheengate Publishing interview) compared the character Frank Spencer from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, whom he described as a campy but married heterosexual, to Dreyfus's character Kevin Goody from The Thin Blue Line. Regarding his character Tom Farrell from Gimme Gimme Gimme, Dreyfus hypothesized that, even if the character were heterosexual, the actor would still portray Tom as camp and flamboyant.[10] Furthermore, Dreyfus said that he felt that he became typecast due to his portrayals of "flamboyant" characters.[10]

He played Thermoman in the BBC One comedy My Hero, a role he took over in the sixth series from Ardal O'Hanlon. Although the same character, he used the name George Monday, as opposed to O'Hanlon's character's name, George Sunday. After disappointing ratings, the show was cancelled.

Dreyfus also starred as Mr Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film Churchill: The Hollywood Years.

From 2012 to 2017, Dreyfus appeared as Reverend Roger Jones in the Sky Living series Mount Pleasant.

In 2017, he voiced an incarnation of The Master from Doctor Who in the Big Finish Productions release The First Doctor Adventures Volume One,[11] going on to appear as the character in 2019's "The Home Guard",[12] 2020's "The Psychic Circus"[13] and 2022's "Blood of the Time Lords". In an interview on SpectatorTV, Dreyfus said he was dismissed from the role following comments he made on Twitter in support of author J. K. Rowling.[14]

## Personal life

[edit]

Dreyfus is gay.[15][16]

## Filmography

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Role  | Notes

|
|
|

1995 | Thin Ice | Greg |
1995–96 | The Thin Blue Line | Constable Kevin Goody | TV series (14 episodes)
Absolutely Fabulous | Christopher | TV series (2 episodes)
1996 | Boyfriends | Paul |
1999 | Notting Hill | Martin |
1999–2001 | Gimme Gimme Gimme | Tom Farrell | TV series (19 episodes)
2000 | The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything | Swedish Ambassador | Two-part BBC special celebration for the new millennium.
Gormenghast | Professor Fluke | TV
2000–2001 | Bette | Oscar | U.S. TV series (18 episodes)
2004 | Fat Slags | Fidor Konstantin | TV
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London | Gordon |
The Producers | Carmen Ghia | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Waking the Dead | Raymond Carstairs |
2005 | Willo the Wisp | All voices | Revival to original 1981 series
2006 | Colour Me Kubrick | Melvyn Prescott |
My Hero | George Monday / Thermoman | TV series (8 episodes)
2006–07 | Cabaret | Emcee | Lyric Theatre, London
2007 | Double Time | Lawrence Nixon/George McCabe |
Nina and the Neurons | Felix (voice) |
2009 | Casualty | Rory | TV
2011 | The Sarah Jane Adventures | John Harrison | Episode: "The Man Who Never Was"
2012 | Midsomer Murders | Ralph Ford | Episode: "A Rare Bird"
Holby City | Felix | TV
Whitechapel | Charlie Cross | TV series, 2 episodes
2012–2017 | Mount Pleasant | Reverend Roger Jones | TV series
2013 | Dandelion & Burdock | Dandelion | TV
2013–14 | Candide | Dr. Pangloss | Menier Chocolate Factory, London
2013 | Shameless | Edward Clayhill | Episode: "An Inspector Calls"
2015 | Father Brown | Binkie Cadwaller | Episode 3.10 "The Judgment of Man"
Scottish Mussel | Headmaster |
2019 | Harry & Meghan: Becoming Royal | Sir Leonard Briggs | TV movie
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance | Lath'N |
Agatha Raisin | Harry Witherspoon | S3 E1 Episode: "Agatha Raisin and The Haunted House"
2020 | Supernova | Tim |
The Hollow |  | TV movie
The Harbour | Robert | Short
2021 | The Kindred | Mr. Mulvaney |
2022 | Lips | Michael | Short[17]
2023 | One Foot in the Grave - 30 Years Of Laughs | Himself | Documentary
2024 | House of the Dragon | Lord Gormon Massey | TV series, 6 episodes
TBA | Cara | Greg Wilson | Pre-production

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "James Louis de Zogheb Dreyfus". FreeBMD. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
2. ^ Fletcher, Mary, Why life's looking Goody for James, TV Times, pg 31.
3. ^ Thomas Quinn. "Interview: James Dreyfus". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
4. ^ Dreyfus, James (11 January 2013). "What I see in the mirror: James Dreyfus". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
5. ^ "I'm not religious, but was brought up C of E, because the UK is where my mother eventually settled when she & my grandparents were forced out of Egypt. And she always made Easter such a fun time". 29 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024 - via Twitter.
6. ^ "How We Met: James Dreyfus & Robert Portal". The Independent. 11 May 2008.
7. ^ Wylie, Ian (14 December 2007). "Double trouble for James". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
8. ^ Harlow, John. "Winning in a double act". Sunday Times. 26 April 1998. (Online reprint: [1]).
9. ^ "Our interview with James Dreyfus". sheengate.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
10. ^ a b Our interview with James Dreyfus Archived 25 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Interviewed by Rob Edwards. Sheengate Publishing. 31 January 2013.
11. ^ "1. Doctor Who: The First Doctor Adventures Volume 01 - Doctor Who - The First Doctor Adventures - Big Finish". bigfinish.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
12. ^ "6.1. Doctor Who: The Home Guard - Doctor Who - The Early Adventures - Big Finish". bigfinish.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
13. ^ "261. Doctor Who: The Psychic Circus - Doctor Who - The Monthly Adventures - Big Finish". bigfinish.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
14. ^ "James Dreyfus: cancelled from Dr Who for supporting JK Rowling". SpectatorTV. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
15. ^ "Interview with James Dreyfus – Rob Edwards: Journalist". 11 February 2013.
16. ^ Milton, Josh (10 December 2020). "Gay actor James Dreyfus tries to lecture Labour MP Stella Creasy on misogyny. It backfires spectacularly". PinkNews. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
17. ^ "Lips". IMDb. 1 April 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* James Dreyfus at IMDb

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Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical

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