Born:
June 02, 1968
in
Ormskirk, Lancashire
Best Known For:
Dead Ringers and The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson.
Early-life:
Jonathan Peter Culshaw was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, on June 2, 1968. He was educated at St Bede's RC High School, Ormskirk, and St John Rigby RC Sixth Form College, Orrell. His radio career began in hospital radio in his home town. His first job was at Red Rose Radio (now Rock FM) in Preston in 1987, where even then he used to occasionally read the weather in the voice of Frank Bruno. He did voice-over work but was catapulted to prominence with Spitting Image, where he voiced around 40 characters.
Career:
After hospital radio, Culshaw served his media apprenticeship as a DJ at several commercial stations, but rose to fame in January 1998 during his time at Capital Radio when his phone call got put through to then-prime minister Tony Blair while impersonating Tory leader of the time William Hague. The two had a lengthy conversation before the penny dropped. Between 2001 and 2002 he had a programme on ITV called Alter Ego where he interviewed male celebrities in their own style of speaking. On ITV he also appeared on 2DTV, then The Impressionable Jon Culshaw, before finding his real niche with the BBC series Dead Ringers. He took part in Celebrity Fame Academy in 2005, where he met Debra Stephenson, with whom he starred in The Impressions Show.
Quote:
"By 16 I realised my occupation would be something to do with performance. It was clear I'd be rubbish at a proper job."
Trivia:
In 2013, Culshaw appeared in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, a comedy homage to Doctor Who.