Jack Whitehall

Whitehall is a descendant of Welsh lawyer Thomas Jones Phillips (not to be confused with Mayor Thomas Phillips ), who was a major opponent of the Newport Rising of 1839.

He had two godfathers: actors Nigel Havers and Richard Griffiths.

He attended Tower House School in London's East Sheen area, where he was a schoolmate of actor Robert Pattinson.

He has often joked that he resented Pattinson for taking all the best acting roles in the school plays.

Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality.

Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall was born at Portland Hospital in London's West End on 7 July 1988, the son of actress Hilary Amanda Jane Whitehall (née Isbister; stage name Hilary Gish) and television producer Michael John Whitehall.

Whitehall Senior has frequently featured in his son's television programmes.

Jack Whitehall has described his father, a staunch Conservative, as "Tory with a Capital T", noting that in the first election he was eligible to vote in, his father impersonated him via postal vote to ensure he would vote for the Conservative Party.

Whitehall also has a younger sister and brother.

In 1997, Whitehall (then aged nine) appeared in the series Noah's Ark.

Whitehall auditioned for the title character in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), but the casting director was unimpressed with him because he had not read the book.

His parents sent him to boarding school at the age of eight.

He was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and then Marlborough College.

He took a gap year in which he decided to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

He attended the University of Manchester to study History of Art, dropping out after two terms.

In June 2008, Whitehall presented the first week of Big Brother's Big Mouth on E4, returning in August to present the twelfth week.

In September 2008, Whitehall made his first appearance on Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats.

In January 2009, he presented Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth and appeared on The Sunday Night Project.

On 5 June, his third appearance on 8 Out of 10 Cats was broadcast.

In June 2009 Whitehall co-presented topical-satire series The TNT Show with Holly Walsh on Channel 4.

In August, he appeared on Charlie Brooker's Channel 4 panel show You Have Been Watching, followed in September by his first appearance on Would I Lie to You?.

He made his first of many appearances on BBC Two satirical panel show Mock the Week, and in October, he guest-presented an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

In January 2010, Whitehall made his fourth appearance in 8 Out of 10 Cats, followed in February by his second appearance on Mock the Week, and a first appearance in Argumental on Dave.

In April, he featured on Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, which had been filmed live at The O2 Arena in London in March.

In April, he appeared on James Corden's sport show A League of Their Own, and on 11 June made his fifth appearance on 8 Out of 10 Cats, followed in June by his third appearance on Mock the Week.

In June and July 2010, Whitehall was a regular performer on the first series of Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week alongside Andi Osho, Kevin Bridges, Rich Hall and presenter Patrick Kielty.

In September he made his sixth appearance on 8 Out of 10 Cats, and in September and October, his fourth and fifth appearances on Mock the Week.

In October, he appeared on a second episode of Argumental, and he honoured Big Brother presenter Davina McCall on the Channel 4 show A Comedy Roast.

In October, he headlined the second episode of Dave's One Night Stand, followed by his second appearance on A League of Their Own, and on 1 November he appeared on Ask Rhod Gilbert.

In December, he appeared on the Royal Variety Performance 2010, and in December he appeared on the sixth series of Live at the Apollo, which had been filmed on 27 September.

He is known for his roles as JP in the comedy-drama series Fresh Meat (2011–2016) and as Alfie Wickers in the sitcom Bad Education (2012–2014, 2022) also co-writing the latter and its film adaptation, The Bad Education Movie (2015).

In February 2011, Whitehall was featured on Comedy Central Presents Jack Whitehall in the United States.

In March, he appeared on the BBC football programme Final Score, reporting on Arsenal's 0–0 draw with Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.

From March until May, Whitehall returned as a regular performer for the second series of Channel 4's Stand Up for the Week together with Andi Osho, Kevin Bridges and Rich Hall, joined for the new series by Jon Richardson.

In March, Whitehall and Bridges presented Jack and Kevin's Comic Relief Lock-In, which took the Comic Relief show through to the early hours of the morning with a selection of the best comedy clips of the last couple of years.

In May 2011, he made his début appearance on a U.S. chatshow, interviewed by Ellen DeGeneres, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

In June, Whitehall featured on the second annual Channel 4's Comedy Gala, which had been filmed in May.

In June, he made a seventh appearance on 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Whitehall was a regular panelist on the television game show A League of Their Own from 2012 to 2018.

In 2017, he appeared alongside his father, Michael Whitehall, in the Netflix comedy documentary series Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father and starred in the BBC comedy-drama series Decline and Fall. From 2018 to 2021, he hosted the BRIT Awards.