Lee Mack

Lee Gordon McKillop (born 4 August 1968), known by his stage name Lee Mack, is an English comedian and actor. He is known for writing and starring in the sitcom Not Going Out, for being a team captain on the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?, hosting the Sky One panel show Duck Quacks Don't Echo and for presenting the panel show They Think It's All Over.

He has been guest host on Have I Got News for You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, a guest captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and a guest panellist on QI.

Mack was born in the mill town of Blackburn, Lancashire. His parents separated when he was 12 and moved to Southport, where he lived above a pub until he was 12. He went to Birkdale Primary Junior School (Bury Road), Stanley High School in Southport and Everton High School in Blackburn. On leaving school, Mack worked in a bingo hall and as a stable boy. After working at the stable of racehorse trainer Ginger McCain in Southport for three days, he asked if he could ride one of the horses, to which the trainer agreed. Without realising, Mack then chose Red Rum as the first horse he would ride.

Mack then became a Blue Coat entertainer at the Pontins holiday resort at Hemsby in Norfolk. He was sacked after appearing on stage drunk one night, forgetting a joke and insulting an audience member. He then worked for six months at Pontins in Morecambe.

Mack went on to have various other jobs, and performed his first "open mic" slot in 1994, while studying at Brunel University from where he graduated with a degree in drama. Within 18 months he was a full-time comedian.

The surname McKillop is of Scottish origins.

Mack first came to prominence by winning So You Think You're Funny at the 1995 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Five years later at the festival, he was nominated for the Perrier Award Main Prize for his sketch comedy show, Lee Mack's New Bits, with Catherine Tate and Dan Antopolski. Since then, Mack has played the part of Graham, the security guard in the original radio version of The Mighty Boosh, and also has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 called The Lee Mack Show, which features varying celebrities co-hosting the show.

Television

Mack was a cast member for ITV's The Sketch Show and featured in the American version of the same name.

In 2005, Mack presented They Think It's All Over, a sports based comedy panel game, formerly presented by Nick Hancock. However, it proved to be the show's final series. In 2007 he appeared on TV Heaven, Telly Hell.

His first sitcom Not Going Out for BBC One with Tim Vine (in which he plays Lee, the leading man) premiered on 6 October 2006. The show has since returned for eight more series, the most recent airing in 2019. The show has won a Rose d'Or and RTS Award.

Since 2007, Mack has been a team captain on the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?. He has also been guest host on Have I Got News for You six times: 23 May 2008, 12 June 2009, 1 April 2010, 2 December 2010, 28 October 2011, and 20 April 2018. He has twice been guest host on Never Mind the Buzzcocks; 9 December 2010 and 22 October 2012.

Mack has appeared on Live at the Apollo.

In June 2011, he launched a new show entitled Lee Mack's All Star Cast for BBC One. It features members of the audience taking part in silly games to get a spot in a sketch at the end of the show. In June 2012, Mack was one of the compères at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert outside Buckingham Palace in London.

In March 2013, Mack appeared on the panel on an episode of Let's Dance for Comic Relief with Arlene Phillips and Greg James.

Since February 2014, he has presented Duck Quacks Don't Echo, a comedy-based panel show for Sky1.

In 2018, Mack appeared in the Doctor Who episode "Kerblam!".

Live tours

• 2006 – Lee Mack: Live
• 2010 – Lee Mack: Going Out
• 2014 – Lee Mack: Hit the Road Mack

Mack went on tour in 2006 and filmed his first live DVD at the Bloomsbury Theatre, which was released the following year. In spring 2010 Mack embarked on his "Going Out" tour. Extra dates were added for autumn 2010 due to his spring tour being sold out well in advance. Going Out Live, his second live DVD, was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo and was released in November. In December 2010 he performed at the Royal Variety Performance.

Mack lives with his wife in Surrey and has three children.

In February 2009, along with other British entertainers, Mack signed an open letter to The Times on the Bahá'í leaders then on trial in Iran.

Mack said in an interview with The Guardian that his first foray into comedy was doing Bobby Ball impressions at his school when he was 15. Mack is a keen supporter of Blackburn Rovers and occasionally visits Ewood Park to watch games. At one point, Mack shared a flat with Noel Fielding. In July 2012, Mack received an honorary doctorate from Brunel University. He published his autobiography Mack the Life (ISBN 0-552-16655-3) in the same year.

In 2012, he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Mack is a darts fan and regularly plays with his friend Tim Vine. Both men appeared on the debut series of Let's Play Darts, facing each other in the final, with Mack and his partner Martin Adams beating Vine and his partner Darryl Fitton. He currently holds the Guinness World Records title for the most darts number twos in one minute. On the same day, he also broke the record for the most darts in inner and outer bullseyes in one minute, a title which he held for a year and two months before it was broken on 23 September 2016 by professional darts player James Wade.

Mack is not the first person in his family to have performed comedy. He reveals in the 2018 series of Who Do You Think You Are? that his great-grandfather was a jobbing comic and used the stage name Billy Mac. By using the index of birth records from General Register Office (GRO) researchers obtained the details needed to order the birth certificate that confirms Mack's great-grandfather had been registered at birth as William Alexander McKillop. It was also revealed that his grandfather Joe was born in Southport but was brought to Ireland as a baby and brought up by his grandparents in Ballina, County Mayo.

In a 2015 interview with The Big Issue, Mack claimed to adhere to "left-of-centre" political leanings.

On 25 March 2020, Mack confirmed that he was self-isolating following suspected COVID-19 infection from his driver when he attended the Cheltenham Festival.

BAFTA TV Awards

British Comedy Awards

RTS Television Awards

Rose d'Or