Paul Merton

Paul Merton (born January 17, 1957) is a British actor, deadpan comedian and writer, who is best known as a panellist on Have I Got News For You and Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4.

Born Paul Martin in the Parsons Green area of London, he gained his earliest professional credits under that name. On joining Equity he found that the name Paul Martin was already taken, so he renamed himself after Merton, the district of London where he grew up.

His style is characterised by describing extremely improbable scenarios with a straight - even mournful looking - face. He rapidly grabs hold of any chance to expand on a subject and stretch its credibility to snapping point. This works beautifully in improv and exceptionally well when he's played off against more straight-laced guests on panel shows. Where it has been less successful is when Merton uses this form of high-fantasy in a scripted form, as with his sketch shows: here the image of a man with a dolphin head, for no particular comedic purpose other than to have a man with a dolphin head, lingers.

His breakthrough as a television performer came as on the improvised comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? from 1988 onwards. Have I Got News For You started in 1990, and two series of his own sketch show Paul Merton: The Series followed soon after. Since 1999 he has been the host of Room 101, a chat show in which guests are offered the chance to discuss their pet hates and consign them to the oblivion of Room 101.

Shortly before becoming a household name on HIGNFY, Merton had suffered a mental breakdown, about which he has since talked frankly.

He has been a member of the London improv group The Comedy Store Players since 1985, and still regularly performs with them.

After seven nominations for a BAFTA award for Best Entertainment Performance, Paul Merton finally won the award in April 2003.

Merton married the actress Caroline Quentin in 1990, but they separated in 1997. Merton's second wife, Sarah Parkinson, died on September 23, 2003, of breast cancer.