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Lee Evans was born on February 25th 1964 in Bristol, but spent his formative years in Essex, where he went to secondary school.

It’s not surprising that Lee went into entertainment as he was merely following in his dad’s footsteps; Dave Evans was a club performer and still performs in clubs and pier ends.

For the young Lee and his brother Wayne the early days were defined by digs, theatres and clubs, sitting backstage while Dave performed.

However life for Lee brought several false starts and dead end jobs, including a window dresser, boxer, labourer and cleaning toilets on Southend High Street. Nice.

Taking advice and contacts from his dad, Lee began trying out stand up in rough East End working men’s clubs, where his act bombed.

He soon found success when he was told his material would be better suited at London’s famous Comedy Store, where he performed alongside the likes of Jack Dee, Frank Skinner, Eddie Izzard andSteve Coogan.

After establishing himself as a name on the circuit with a weekly slot at the legendary venue, in 1993 Leewon the coveted Perrier Award for his one-man show at the Edinburgh Festival and in that same year he performed and sold out two nights at the London Palladium.

Since those early years Lee Evans has become arguably the most popular and successful British comedian working today.

In 1996 Lee enjoyed a sell-out run for eight years at London's Lyric Theatre breaking all box office records for a solo comedian.

He then enjoyed many more nationwide tours throughout the Nineties, culminating in October 2002 whenLee became the first solo comedian to play Wembley Arena for two sell out nights performing to 20,000 people.

Always trying for bigger and better things, in 2005 Lee got in the Guinness Book of World Records for a solo act performing to the biggest comedy audience, - playing to 10,108 at the Manchester Evening News Arena – shows just how many fans this man has. Previously the record stood at 8,700 - set by his old Comedy Store buddy Eddie Izzard!

Aside from stand up Lee has also enjoyed success on the big screen. In 1997 he appeared oppositeBruce Willis and Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element and the following year 1998 he starred oppositeNathan Lane and Christopher Walken in the hit family film Mouse Hunt and alongside Cameron Diaz andBen Stiller in There’s Something About Mary.

Proving that Lee can do more than sweat and fall about on stage, he has also tried his hand at straight theatre, with a critically-acclaimed turn as Clov in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, opposite Michael Gambon; that same year he reunited with Nathan Lane to play Leo Bloom in the London production of Mel Brook’sThe Producers.

Away from the limelight, Lee is a shy, quiet and dedicated family man. In 1984 he married his childhood sweetheart Heather and, rather sweetly, the pair are still together and have a daughter called Mollie