Ricky Gervais (born 25 June 1961) is an English comic writer and performer from Reading, Berkshire, England. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his award-winning BBC2 sitcom The Office, which he co-wrote and co-directed with long-time friend and collaborator Stephen Merchant.
In 2005, Gervais and Merchant returned with new sitcom Extras. In 2006, Gervais became the first guest star on The Simpsons to also write an episode, which aired 26 March 2006. And besides writing and directing sitcoms, Gervais and Merchant hosted a radio show and a world record-breaking podcast with Karl Pilkington.
