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Who is Richard Ayoade?
British actor, comedian and moviemaker Richard Ellef Ayoade was born in Hammersmith, London, England, on 23 May 1977, meaning Gemini’s his zodiac sign. He has 45 acting and 14 writing credits, and is perhaps known best for writing and directing the 2010 critically acclaimed romantic comedy movie “Submarine”, which starred Sally Hawkins and Craig Roberts, and follows 15-year-old Oliver Tate who’s trying to lose his virginity; the film won six of its 23 award nominations.
Richard is currently shooting for the upcoming movie “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”, as well as recording for the upcoming animated TV series “Krapopolis”.
Education and early life
Richard was raised in London alongside his brother James Fox, by their Nigerian father Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade and Norwegian mother Dagny Baassuik Ayoade; the family relocated to Ipswich, England before Richard turned 10.
He was 15 when he fell in love with acting, after he had watched the 1985 science fiction movie “Back to the Future” and the film series “Star Wars”; Richard then began watching movies directed by Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen, and became obsessed with the book “The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger.
He enrolled at St Joseph’s College in 1991, and upon matriculating in 1995 enrolled at St Catharine’s College; Richard was president of its theatre club Footlights, and he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in law in 1998.
Roles in TV series
Richard’s debut TV series appearance was in a 1999 episode of the comedy “Armstrong and Miller”, and the year 2004 saw him star as Dean Learner in all six episodes of the fantasy horror mini-series “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace”, which also starred Matt Berry and Matthew Holness, and follows the lives of people working at a hospital in Romford, which is situated right above the gates of Hell; the mini-series was nominated for Anthony Asquith Award for Best New British Composer.
In 2005, Richard starred as Ned Smanks in all seven episodes of the comedy mini-series “Nathan Barley”, and the remainder of the decade saw him appear in an episode or two of the comedy mini-series “Snuff Box”, the comedy “Time Trumpet”, and fantasy musical comedy “The Mighty Boosh”.
From 2006 through 2013, he portrayed one of the main characters Maurice Moss, in all 25 episodes of the critically acclaimed comedy “The IT Crowd”, which also starred Katherine Parkinson and Chris O’Dowd, and follows Roy, Moss and their supervisor Jen as they’re working at an IT support company; the series won nine of its 27 award nominations.
Richard is also known for voicing the lead character Templeton in all 26 episodes of the animated family comedy “Strange Hill High”, which also starred John Thomson and Ben Bailey Smith, and follows the lives of teenagers Templeton, Becky and Mitchell; the series aired in 2013 and 2014, and was nominated for three awards.
Richard’s three most recent TV series roles have been in two episodes of the animated action adventure “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight”, six episodes of the short animated adventure “Rugrats” and the episode “Loch Henry” of the science fiction mystery “Black Mirror”, all voice roles and all released in 2023.
Roles in movies
Richard’s debut film role was playing Computer Man in the 2003 short comedy “Hello, Friend”, and some of his following roles were in the biographical comedy “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers” and the musical comedy “AD/BC: A Rock Opera” both in 2004, and the 2005 comedy “Festival”.
In 2009, he portrayed Museum Curator in the comedy “Bunny and the Bull”, which starred Edward Hogg and Simon Farnaby, and was written and directed by Paul King. It follows a young boy who’s taken an imaginary road trip inside his home – the film won one of its three award nominations.
Richard’s also known for voicing Mr. Pickles in the popular 2014 animated adventure comedy “The Boxtrolls”, which starred Ben Kingsley and Jared Harris, and was directed by Graham Annable. It follows an orphaned boy who’s trying to save his trash collector friends from an evil exterminator – the film won eight of its 69 award nominations, including an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year.
Some of Richard’s most recent film roles have been in 2021, in the romantic drama “The Souvenir: Part II” and the biographical historical drama “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain”, and the 2022 animated adventure comedy “The Bad Guys” (voice role).
Lmao Richard Ayoade king of cameos, also as good as in THE SOUVENIR #BearWithUs pic.twitter.com/hwo2gwi5i8
— Ella Kemp (@ella_kemp) April 4, 2020
Other credits
Some of the movies which Richard both wrote and directed include the 2006 short comedies “Darkplace Illuminatum” and “Horrificata Illuminata”, and the 2013 mystery comedy “The Double”, which won one of its 12 award nominations.
He’s received special thanks for the 2010 crime comedy movie “Four Lions”, the 2011 adventure science fiction comedy film “Paul”, and the 2018 short crime movie “Il Ritorno del Maestro (Return of the Master)”.
Some of Richard’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Graham Norton Show”, “The Last Leg”, and “Have I Got News for You”.
Awards and nominations
Richard’s won seven of his 30 award nominations. Some of his wins include a 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Directors to Watch, for “Submarine”, a 2014 BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme for “The IT Crowd”, and a 2015 Behind the Voice Actors Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film, for his and his colleagues’ performance in “The Boxtrolls”.
Love life and wife
Richard avoids speaking about his love life in public, but he and his wife have still allowed their fans a glimpse into it. Richard and British actress and producer Lydia Fox exchanged vows in a private ceremony on 8 September 2007, in front of their closest friends and family members; she’s appeared in 11 movies and TV series, and is probably known best for playing Miss Dutton in the 2010 movie “Submarine”.
Richard and Lydia have three children together, but they haven’t shared details about them, as they prefer to keep them away from media.
There are no other women whom Richard has dated, that we know about; he’s married to Lydia Fox as of June 2023, and they have three children together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
One of Richard’s closest friends is British singer-songwriter Alex Turner, who’s the lead singer of the popular British rock ‘n’ roll band Arctic Monkeys; Richard’s directed three of their music videos, while Alex wrote the soundtrack for Richard’s movie “Submarine”.
He published his first book “Ayoade on Ayoade: A Cinematic Odyssey” in October 2014, and followed it with “The Grip of Film” in 2017, “Ayoade On Top” in 2019, and “The Book That No One Wanted to Read” in 2022; Richard’s currently writing his fifth book “The Fairy Tale Fan Club”.
He’s followed by close to 25,000 people on Instagram, and has posted 58 pictures and videos; most of these feature Richard during his everyday life.
One of his favorite film directors is Martin Scorsese, while some of his favorite movies include “Goodfellas”, “The Irishman” and “Taxi Driver”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Richard’s age is 46. He has brown eyes and long curly black hair, is 6ft 1in (1.87m) tall and weighs around 185lbs (84kgs).
Richard’s net worth’s been estimated at over $2 million, as of June 2023.
