Stephen Fry, chief bore of Britain
In the good old days, a person had to have talent in order to be famous. That was back in an age when people were polite, chavs didn't exist, and no one would have dreamed of putting their feet on a train seat or speaking loudly in public, writes Aubrey de Gray.
At first it might seem odd to name Stephen Fry, born 24 August, 1957 in Hampstead, London, as a hero of chav Britain, but he is one of the principal beneficiaries of the drop in societal standards and the sickening trend toward celebrity worship.
Although Fry is considered by many to be an antidote to chavdom, his popularity rests squarely on the flabby shoulders of chav Britain. He is a brainy, renaissance man to those who no more than dip a toe in middle brow culture and for whom literature is the hardback based on the latest BBC television series.
Fry is considered frightfully brainy because he knows the difference between an ode and a sonnet, and he treats the difference as being a matter of importance. He's also adored for his nerdy, dorky persona, which pretends not to know that Primark is a clothing brand, and which believes Grachvogel is a type of waterfowl. In many respects he is Prince Charles with a brain.
Fry first began to occupy the public imagination as half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie (Hugh Laurie of House
fame). The duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster
. Fry played Oscar in the film Wilde
, was Melchett in the Blackadder
television series and is the host of the crushingly dull trivia show, QI
.
He has also presented Stephen Fry in America
, which saw him travelling across the United states in a London taxi, firing off platitudes at every stop. Fry has become known to American audiences for his role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt in the Fox crime series Bones
. He also presents the BBC series Last Chance to See
, about endangered species.
He is considered one of the most inoffensive gay people in Britain. The fact that he reads and writes poetry endears him to an older crowd for whom book reading is not an oddity.
Fry can be likened to a yeast infection in a sensitive area. For weeks at a time, Fry is maddeningly present on every tv and radio channel and in every newspaper one opens. This is no doubt explained by his bipolarity and need to be seen and loved.
Fry has been diagnosed with cyclothymia, a very mild form of bipolar disorder. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in the West End play Cell Mates
, from which he walked out causing its early closure.
Fry, who is known to colleagues and friends in the entertainment industry as somewhat of a drama queen, went missing for several days while contemplating suicide. Loving himself too much, he abandoned the idea of killing himself. He left the United Kingdom by ferry for Belgium, where he reassessed his career and decided that the world needed him.
Fry loves, indeed needs, adoration, disciples, and worshippers. As one of the first to jump on the blogging and twitter bandwagon, he is second only to Barack Obama among the twitterati.
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Fry's website is packed to the rafters with fawning comments from fans, to whom he occassionally responds with mushy praise. The legion of sycophantic followers serves as medication for Fry's bipolarity. As long as he is loved, he keeps his depressed episodes in check.
Fry has a long interest in Internet production, starting his own self-love website since 1997. His current site, The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry, another appeal for adulation, has existed since 2002 and has attracted numerous visitors. His first blog appeared in September 2007, comprising a 6,500 word blessay
on smartphones. In February 2008, Fry launched his private podcast series, Stephen Fry's Podgrams
, and a forum including discussions on depression and activities in which Fry is involved.
BBC Four dedicated two nights of painful programming to Fry on 17 to 18 August 2007 in celebration of Fry's 50th birthday.
In October 2008, he began posting to his Twitter stream. Fry has also added animal and habitat conservation to his list of interests. In the BBC's Last Chance to See
, he trots the globe ooohing and ahhhing at endangered species. A growing number of people are hoping it will be the last chance to see Stephen Fry on television.
Fry turns the bleeding obvious into an embarrasing art form. As he is told some mundane fact about the mating habits of endangered gerbils or the nocturnal activity of rare lemurs, Fry utters "Marvelous", "Gosh", "I say", "How extraordinary", "How wonderful".
Fraudulent Fry is one of a long line of dull BBC darlings, a Michael Palin of the 2000s, a polite and safe host for armchair travelers. He rarely surprises, never shocks, and is just so grateful to be in the limelight that he'll hog it for as long as the BBC has patience with him.
Tasteless tarts and crushing bores
Aubrey de Gray