Ricky Dene Gervais (born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, author, actor, director, producer, screenwriter and former pop musician. Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and collaborator Stephen Merchant. Besides writing and directing the shows, Gervais also played the lead roles of David Brent in The Office and Andy Millman in Extras. Gervais has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including For Your Consideration, Stardust, Night at the Museum and Ghost Town, in which he assumes the leading role.

Gervais has performed on three sell-out stand-up comedy tours, written the best-selling Flanimals book series and starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in his podcast The Ricky Gervais Show. He has accumulated a multitude of awards and honours throughout his career, including seven BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, three Golden Globes, two Emmys and the 2006 Rose d'Or, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. (via Wikipedia)