birth name	Виктор Анатольевич БутViktor Anatolyevich Bout
birth date	January 13, 1967
birth place	Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union
other names	Victor Bout, Boris, Vadim Markovich Aminov, Viktor Bulakin, Victor Anatoliyevich Bout, Victor But, Viktor Budd, Viktor Butt
known for	Having been convicted of terrorism in relation to arms trafficking }}

Viktor Anatolyevich Bout () (born 13 January 1967, near Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union) is a convicted arms smuggler. A citizen of Russia, he was arrested in Thailand in 2008 before being extradited in 2010 to the United States to stand trial on terrorism charges after being accused of smuggling arms to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to use against US forces. On November 2, 2011, he was convicted by a jury in a Manhattan federal court of conspiracy to kill US citizens and officials, deliver anti-aircraft missiles and provide aid to a terrorist organization.

A former Soviet military translator, Bout had reportedly made a significant amount of money through his multiple air transport companies shipping cargo mostly in Africa and the Middle East during the 1990s and early 2000s (decade). Just as willing to work for Charles Taylor in Liberia as he was for the United Nations in Sudan and the United States in Iraq, Bout may have facilitated huge arms shipments into various civil wars in Africa with his private air cargo fleets during the 1990s.

Bout says he has done little more than provide logistics while former British Foreign Office minister Peter Hain called Bout a "sanctions buster" and described him as "the principal conduit for planes and supply routes that take arms... from east Europe, principally Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, to Liberia and Angola".

In cooperation with American authorities, Royal Thai Police arrested Bout in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2008. The United States demanded his extradition, which was eventually mandated by the Thai High Court in August 2010. Before his extradition to the United States in November 2010, he expressed confidence that this U.S. trial would eventually lead to his acquittal. This did not occur. As of January 2011 Bout was incarcerated in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York City. On April 5, 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a U.S. judge.

Personal history

UN documents and Bout himself both state his birthplace as Dushanbe, USSR, (now the capital of Tajikistan) possibly on 13 January 1967. But a few other birthplaces have been suggested; a 2001 South African intelligence file listed him as Ukrainian in origin also connecting him with "Russian crimes" organized by "Soviet empire" .

Soviet military service

There is confusion regarding Bout's military career although it is clear that he served in the Soviet Armed Forces. Having graduated from the Military Institute of Foreign Languages, he is said to be fluent in six languages. These include Persian and Esperanto, which he mastered already at the age of 12, and in the early 1980s he was member of the Esperanto club in Dushanbe. Bout's personal website states that he served in the Soviet Army as a translator, holding the rank of Lieutenant.

He is thought to have been discharged in 1991 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. But other sources state he rose to the rank of Major in the GRU (an arm of the Soviet military that combines intelligence services and special forces), that he was an officer in the Soviet Air Forces, that he graduated from a Soviet military intelligence training program, or that he was a KGB operative.

Bout was involved with a Soviet military operation in Angola in the late 1980s. He has said he was in Angola for only a few weeks. Bout's website states that he began an air freight business in Africa around the time of the collapse of the USSR.

1990s

Bout's nickname, "Sanctions Buster", is due to his implication in facilitating the violation of UN arms embargoes in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo during the 1990s.

As well as some more-controversial customers such as Charles G. Taylor, his air freight companies have provided service to the French government, the UN and the US. Bout has reportedly shipped flowers, frozen chicken, UN peacekeepers, French soldiers and African heads of state.

Afghanistan

Bout says he has been to Afghanistan many times in the mid-1990s, but he denies any dealings with al Qaeda or the Taliban. He may have sold planes to the Taliban, however. Some say he also delivered them arms.

Starting in 1994 Bout made shipments for the pre-Taliban government, which later became the Northern Alliance, and he knew Ahmed Shah Massoud, an Afghan Northern Alliance commander. The CIA has described Bout-owned planes as transporters of small arms and ammunition into Afghanistan.

In 1995 he was involved in the negotiations to free Russian hostages during the 1995 Airstan incident.

Africa

A 2000 United Nations report stated, "...Bulgarian arms manufacturing companies had exported large quantities of different types of weapons between 1996 and 1998 on the basis of (forged) end-user certificates from Togo", and that "...with only one exception, the company Air Cess, owned by Victor Bout, was the main transporter of these weapons from Burgas airport in Bulgaria". This was the first time Bout was mentioned in connection with arms trading, and the weapons may have been destined for use by ''União Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola'' (UNITA), one faction in Angola's 1975–2002 civil war.

Another suspected arms dealer, Imad Kebir, is said to have employed Bout's aircraft during the mid-1990s to transport weapons to Africa from Eastern European states. The cargo supposedly had Zairean end user certificates, but the true end-user was UNITA. From 1993, UNITA was under a United Nations Security Council embargo prohibiting the importation of arms, established in Resolution 864.

Sierra Leone

Bout is suspected of supplying Charles Taylor with arms for use in the Sierra Leone Civil War. Eyewitnesses describe personal meetings between the two.

UAE

In 1993 Bout began collaborating with Syrian-born Richard Chichakli and in 1995 Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates hired Chichakli to be the commercial manager of its new free trade zone, which saw use from Bout. Chichakli was, at one time, called Bout's "financial manager" by the US.

2000s

After the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Bout appeared in Moscow and stated that while his aircraft made regular flights to the country he had never made contact with al Qaeda or the Taliban--instead supplying the rebel Northern Alliance.

Afghanistan

Soon after the beginning of the 2001–present war in Afghanistan, al Qaeda is said to have moved gold and cash out of the country; reports state that some of the planes used to do this were linked to Bout.

In July 2003 the New York Times interviewed Bout. Bout stated that "I woke up after Sept. 11 and found I was second only to Osama.... My clients, the governments... I keep my mouth shut." He pointed to his forehead and said “If I told you everything I’d get the red hole right here". When the journalist asked about Russian intelligence services, Bout replied "Until now you’ve been digging in a big lake with small spoons. There are huge forces..." and then stayed quiet.

Congo

Bout is suspected of supplying weapons to numerous armed groups in the early 2000s (decade) Second Congo War and may have employed an estimated 300 people and operated 40-60 aircraft to do so.

Kenya

Bout's network allegedly delivered surface-to-air missiles that were used to attack an Israeli airliner during takeoff in Kenya in 2002.

Lebanon

Bout was reportedly seen meeting with Hezbollah officials in Lebanon during the run-up to the 2006 Lebanon War. Some state he was actually in Russia when the meeting took place. Israel later found out that Hezbollah had Russian-made RPG-29 Vampir and 9K129 Kornet anti-tank weaponry. Bout reportedly worked with an arms dealer named Imad Kabir during this time.

Libya

Records found in Muammar Gaddafi's former intelligence headquarters in Tripoli, shortly after the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime in 2011, indicated that in late September 2003, British intelligence officials told then-Libyan intelligence chief Musa Kusa that Bout had a "considerable commercial presence in Libya" and aimed to expand his interests there.

Places of residence

Bout has lived in a number of countries, including Belgium, Lebanon, Rwanda, Russia, South Africa, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.

Alleged Russian government and intelligence ties

It is thought that Bout was of help to Russia's intelligence agencies, and he is alleged to have connections to ranking Russian officials, including Igor Sechin. The language institute Bout attended has been linked to the GRU, one such agency. Bout is thought to have worked alongside GRU-affiliated, and current Russian deputy prime minister, Igor Sechin in Africa in the 1980s, although both men deny this allegation. And according to a 2002 United Nations report, Bout's father-in-law Zuiguin "at one point held a high position in the KGB, perhaps even as high as a deputy chairman".

Orders and warrants regarding Bout

Bout's strategy of constantly moving location, owning numerous companies, and frequently re-registering aircraft made it hard for authorities to make a case against him. He has never been charged for the alleged African arms deals to which he owes his notoriety.

Interpol

The Belgians requested that Interpol issue a notice for Bout on charges of money laundering, and in 2002 an Interpol red notice on Bout was issued.

Bout's website states that because he failed to appear in court a Belgian warrant (not the Interpol notice) for his arrest was issued but later cancelled. The site has a document in Dutch to support the claim that the Belgian case against him was dismissed due to his lack of a fixed residence and because the case could not be prosecuted in a timely fashion.

The day of his Bangkok arrest, an Interpol red notice was requested by the United States against Bout. The alleged crime was conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. His wanted poster can be viewed here.

Executive Order 13348

Bout's US assets were among those frozen in July 2004 under Executive Order 13348. The Order describes him as a "businessman, dealer and transporter of weapons and minerals" and cites his close association with Charles Taylor.

CAR trial

Charged in 2000 with forging documents in the Central African Republic, Bout was convicted in absentia and the charges were later dropped.

Thai arrest and extradition

Bout was arrested in Thailand on an Interpol red notice and on 16 November 2010, Bout was extradited amid protests by the Russian Government.

Arrest

Royal Thai Police arrested Bout in Bangkok on 6 March 2008 the culmination of a sting operation set up by Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Bout allegedly offered to supply weapons to people he thought were representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels.

Extradition hearing

After months of delay, the Criminal Court in Bangkok began an extradition hearing for Bout on 22 September 2008.

In February 2009, members of the United States Congress signed a letter to Attorney General Holder and Secretary of State (i.e. Foreign Secretary) Clinton, expressing their wish that the Bout extradition "remain a top priority".

On 11 August 2009, the Criminal Court ruled in his favor, denying the United States' request for extradition and citing the political, not criminal, nature of the case. The United States appealed that judgment, and on 20 August 2010 a higher Thai court ruled that Bout could, in fact, be extradited to the United States.

Extradition

On 16 November 2010 at 1:30pm, Bout was extradited to the United States; the Russian government called the extradition illegal.

Russia's protests and other actions

Russia did not want Bout to face trial and called the Thai court decision in 2010 politically motivated. Its Foreign Ministry took steps to prevent his extradition to the US; Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that Bout was innocent.

On 18 November 2010, shortly after Bout's extradition to the US, Russian President Medvedev's aide Sergei Eduardovich Prikhodko claimed that Russia had "nothing to hide" in Bout's criminal case stating, "it is in our interest that the investigation... be brought to completion, and [Bout] should answer all the questions the American justice system has."

Prosecution and conviction in the United States

The day after his Bangkok arrest, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Bout with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to kill American officers or employees, and conspiring to acquire and use an anti-aircraft missile. Additional charges against him were filed in February 2010. These included illegal purchase of aircraft, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Bout was convicted by a jury at a court in Manhattan on November 2, 2011. On April 5, 2012, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison (the minimum sentence) for conspiring to sell weapons to a US-designated foreign terrorist group. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said the minimum sentence was appropriate because there was no evidence that Bout would have committed the crimes for which he was convicted.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement rejecting Bout's sentence as "a political order" and criticizing the US media's one-sided approach to the story. During the trial Bout's lawyers also implied that he was a political prisoner. Bout's wife Alla has stated that the judge acted correctly and that 25 years was the minimum term for the alleged crime.

In the media

The 2005 film ''Lord of War'', starring Nicolas Cage, is thought to be based, in part, on allegations about Bout's personal history and black-market activities.

In 2007 Stephen Braun and Douglas Farah published a book about Bout entitled ''Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible''.

See also

End-user certificate

References

External links

Official website of Victor Bout

Indictment of Viktor Bout, May 6, 2008, U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York

U.S. ANNOUNCES NEW INDICTMENT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL ARMS DEALER VIKTOR BOUT AND AMERICAN CO-CONSPIRATOR FOR MONEY LAUNDERING, WIRE FRAUD, AND CONSPIRACY, Press Release, United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, February 17, 2010

Indictment of Viktor Bout, February 17, 2010, U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of New York

STATEMENT OF MANHATTAN U.S. ATTORNEY PREET BHARARA ON THE CONVICTION OF VIKTOR BOUT, Press Release, United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, November 2, 2011

INTERNATIONAL ARMS DEALER VIKTOR BOUT SENTENCED IN MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON FOR TERRORISM CRIMES, Press Release, United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, April 5, 2012

"Who is Viktor Bout?" ''The Christian Science Monitor'' 22 Oct 09

Extensive background information on United States vs. Viktor Bout and related cases The Hague Justice Portal

Gallery of International Arms Dealers - Victor Bout PBS Frontline/World

Arms and the Man NYTimes Magazine Profile of Viktor Bout

The World's Most Notorious Arms Trafficker (Audio/32min) WNYC interview with Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun WNYC

NPR interview of Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun NPR

Brian Wood and Johan Peleman 1999, "The Arms Fixers", online version of report published by Basic Norwegian Initiative on Small Arms Transfers (NIST) and the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO)

"The deadly convenience of Victor Bout" International Relations and Security Network

Robert Eringer: Viktor Bout & Monaco

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century criminals Category:Arms smuggling Category:People from Dushanbe Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Category:Russian businesspeople Category:Russian Esperantists Category:Russian extrajudicial prisoners of the United States Category:Russian people imprisoned abroad Category:Soviet military personnel

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name	Stephen Merchant
birth name	Stephen James Merchant
birth date	November 24, 1974
birth place	Bristol, England
occupation	ActorDirectorWriterRadio presenterComedian
yearsactive	1998–present
height	}}

Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom ''The Office,'' as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of ''Extras'', and as the co-host of ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' in its radio, podcast, audiobook and television-show forms. ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' in radio form has won a bronze Sony Award.

Merchant appeared in the BBC TV series ''Life's Too Short'' in which he co-wrote and co-directs. He also voiced the character Wheatley in the popular 2011 video game ''Portal 2'', co-developed Sky TV travel series ''An Idiot Abroad'', and performs as a stand-up comedian. He has won three BAFTA Awards, four British Comedy Awards, and an Emmy.

Early life

Merchant was born in Bristol, England, the son of Jane Elaine (née Hibbs), a nursery nurse, and Ronald John Merchant, an insurance representative. He attended Hanham High School. As he has described in Xfm London shows and podcasts, Merchant was a very shy child, tending to focus more on school work as opposed to sport. His school yearbook predicted that he would enjoy success.

Merchant is a graduate of the University of Warwick, and a former film reviewer on the student radio station, Radio Warwick, where he began his broadcasting career. The station's 1995/96 yearbook tipped him for great things: Members of Merchant's "posse" included film critic James King, Dan Warren, Neil the Maskell and Geraint the Welshman. Recently, a number of tapes of "The Steve Show", recorded at the time, have been rediscovered and are being distributed on various Merchant fansites. He graduated with a 2:1 in Film and Literature in 1996.

Career

Pre-2001

Merchant began his career performing stand-up comedy at Bristol's Comedy Box, where, he recalls, "The first week I did really well ...The second week I died on my arse. I realised that stand-up was not that easy after all." He also appeared as a contestant on a 1997 episode of the TV game show ''Blockbusters'' and worked for a short time as a DJ for Radio Caroline.

Merchant met Ricky Gervais for the first time in 1997, when Gervais (then in the position of "Head of Speech" at the London radio station Xfm) hired Merchant as his assistant. (Gervais said later that he had called Merchant for an interview simply because it was the first CV handed to him.) Merchant and Gervais hosted a Saturday afternoon radio show together from January through to August 1998, when both of them left XFM as it was bought by the Capital Radio Group. In the same year, Merchant was a finalist at the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Awards.

Merchant did a total of 7 years on XFM 104.9. The Saturday show never had a large audience; Gervais says "It's a tin pot radio station... It's not even the biggest radio station in the building." Merchant created the features 'Hip Hop Hooray', 'Make Ricky Gervais laugh' and 'Song for the Ladies.'

After leaving XFM, Merchant began a production course at the BBC. As part of his coursework, he enlisted Gervais to perform in a 30-minute short film, "Seedy Boss," which became the earliest inspiration for their sitcom ''The Office''. They collaborated on a sitcom pilot called ''Golden Years'' featuring a manager suffering a mid-life crisis; the pilot aired on Channel 4's ''Comedy Lab'' series in September 1998, but failed to find further success.

2001–03 (''The Office'' and return to XFM)

In mid-2001, BBC Two aired the first series of ''The Office'', co-written and co-directed by Merchant and Gervais and starring the latter as paper sales office manager David Brent; the show initially received low ratings. Beginning in September, Merchant and Gervais returned to Xfm as co-hosts of ''The Ricky Gervais Show'', another Saturday afternoon programme, which led to their fruitful relationship with producer Karl Pilkington.

They took a break from the radio show in mid-2002 in order to film the second series of ''The Office'', which aired that year; in addition to writing and directing the show, Merchant made a cameo performance in the episode "Charity" as a friend of Gareth Keenan's character known by the name Oggy or Oggmonster. (Merchant's father also appears in multiple episodes as an office handyman named Gordon.) Merchant also directed a sitcom pilot called ''The Last Chancers'', which aired on ''Comedy Lab'' in November 2002 and became a five-part series broadcast in December on E4.

Merchant and Gervais continued to host ''The Ricky Gervais Show'' through 2003, taking another break to film the ''Office'' Christmas special, which aired that December. The radio show went off the air indefinitely in January 2004. During 2004, Merchant appeared in a recurring role as a chef on ''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'' and in a cameo on ''Green Wing'', and served as a script associate on the Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker sitcom ''Nathan Barley''. The same year, ''The Office'' aired in the U.S to critical acclaim. It went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy which both Merchant and Gervais accepted.

This was followed in 2005 by a 4th series of the radio show, consisting of six episodes.

US series of ''The Office''

In March 2005, the American version of ''The Office'' premiered, with Merchant and Gervais credited as executive producers. They would later co-write the third-season episode "The Convict", and Merchant would direct the fifth-season episode "Customer Survey".

Podcast series

In December 2005, with sponsorship by ''The Guardian'', Merchant, Gervais and Pilkington began recording a weekly podcast (also called ''The Ricky Gervais Show''). Throughout its first series (through 20 February 2006), the podcast was consistently ranked the most popular in the world, and was certified as the most-downloaded of all time by Guinness World Records. Two more series and three special instalments (the "Podfather Trilogy") were recorded in 2006, with the final episode released on Christmas Eve. In late 2008, they recorded four more podcasts and began a series of audiobooks examining Pilkington's perspective on various subjects.

''Extras''

In July 2005, following a brief return of the XFM radio show (filling in for Adam and Joe), Gervais and Merchant's new sitcom ''Extras'' premiered on BBC2. The series features Merchant in a supporting role as Darren Lamb, the incompetent agent to struggling actor Andy Millman, played by Gervais. Series 2 of ''Extras'' aired in late 2006, followed by a Christmas special in December 2007; all three instalments aired on HBO in the United States. Merchant won a 2006 British Comedy Award for Best TV Actor for his performance as Lamb.

''The Steve Show''

In January 2007, Merchant began hosting his own radio show on BBC 6 Music, airing weekly on Sunday afternoons. Instead of comedy, ''The Steve Show'' focused on music and particularly "new music," defined by Merchant as "music you've not heard before." Many of the songs on the show were suggested by listeners or co-presenters. In addition to Merchant, the show featured several of his friends, including his housemate Dan, his childhood friend Harry, and actor Rufus Gerrard-Wright (who also appeared in an episode of ''Extras''). A spring search for a "she-J" resulted in the addition of former ''Byker Grove'' actor Sammy T. Dobson joining the ensemble. "The Steve Show" aired for four seasons and concluded in May 2009.

Stand-up

Merchant began performing stand-up comedy in the late 1990s to critical success, though he decided to focus more on his work with writing partner Ricky Gervais after the success of ''The Office''. Merchant returned to stand-up with a nationwide tour of the United Kingdom in September 2011, under the title ''Hello Ladies''. The tour was later released on DVD.

Other work

Merchant has played small roles in the films ''Hot Fuzz'' (2007), ''Run Fatboy Run'' (2007), and ''The Invention of Lying'' (2009), the latter starring Ricky Gervais. He has a supporting role in the 2009 film ''Tooth Fairy''. On television, Merchant made a cameo appearance in a non-speaking role on the sixth season premiere of ''24''; he also starred as a sports commentator in the unaired pilot ''No Skillz''. Additionally, Merchant has provided the voice-over since 2009 of advertisements for Barclays and Waterstone's.

In 2009, Merchant and Gervais collaborated on the film ''Cemetery Junction'', set in working-class England in the 1970s. The film was released in April 2010 to generally mixed to positive reviews.

In September 2010, Merchant produced a television show alongside Ricky Gervais starring Karl Pilkington called ''An Idiot Abroad''.

In July 2010, filming finished for the pilot of ''Life's Too Short'', written by Ricky Gervais and Merchant, who will both cameo alongside the show's star, Warwick Davis. In 2011, he lent his voice to the CGI film ''Gnomeo and Juliet'', and had a role in the Farrelly brothers' comedy ''Hall Pass''.

In January 2011, Merchant appeared at the 'Free Fringe Benefit' at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. A show of stand-up to benefit the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, alongside comedians Jeremy Hardy, Michael Legge, Robin Ince, Mitch Benn, Isy Suttie, Bennett Arron, Andy Zaltzman and founder Peter Buckley Hill. He also stated on the recent free podcast ''The Ricky Gervais Guide to...Comic Relief'' that he will be touring his first solo stand up tour later in the year.

On ''Film 2011'''s Questionnaire feature, broadcast on 2 March 2011, Merchant described his favourite film as ''The Apartment'' (1960), his guilty pleasure as ''Con Air'' (1997), the film he cried at as ''The Bridges of Madison County'', and the film he didn't get as ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy.

Merchant provides the voice of Wheatley in Valve's 2011 video game ''Portal 2'', a role which earned him widespread acclaim among reviewers. While he states his work on the project as "exhausting", Merchant is also "very pleased by the response people have had to it. What I was really pleased by how people seemed to respond to it in the way they do with a movie they've enjoyed, or a TV show they've enjoyed."

Filmography

Film

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
	''Hot Fuzz''	Peter Ian Staker
''Run Fatboy Run''	Man with broken leg
2009	''The Invention of Lying''	Man at the door
		Tracy
	Dougie Boden	Writer and director
''Jackboots on Whitehall''	Tom	Voice only
	Holyrood Footman
		Gary
''Gnomeo and Juliet''	Paris	Voice only
2013	''Movie 43''	Donald

Television

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2000	''Meet Ricky Gervais''	Studio employee
2002	''The Office''	The Ogg Monster	Writer and director
	''Garth Marenghi's Darkplace''	Chef	Episode 2
''Green Wing''	Lab technician	Episode 6
2005	''Extras''	Darren Lamb	Writer and director
2007		CTU technician
2010–present
2010	''An Idiot Abroad''	Executive producer
	''Life's Too Short''	Version of himself	Also writer and director
''Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain''
2012

Video games

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
2011	''Portal 2''		Voice only

Awards

!Awarding Body/Event	!Awarded
! BAFTA Awards		* 2002 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''	* 2003 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''	* 2004 Situation Comedy Award ''The Office''
! British Comedy Award		* 2001 Best New Television Comedy The Office (UK)	* 2002 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)	* 2004 Writer of the Year Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant	* 2006 Best TV Comedy Actor ''Extras''
! Broadcasting Press Guild		* 2002 Best Writer ''The Office''	* 2003 Best Writer ''The Office''
! Emmy		* 2006 Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series The Office (U.S.)
! WGA Award		* 2007 Best Comedy Series ''The Office''
! Golden Globe		* 2003 Best Television Comedy The Office (UK)	* 2008 Best Television Comedy or Musical (TV) Extras
! Peabody Awards		* 2004 Peabody Award The Office (UK)
! Television Critics Association		* 2004 Individual Achievement in Comedy The Office (UK)
! Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences		* 2011 Outstanding Character Performance as Wheatley (Portal 2)
! Spike Video Game Awards		* 2011 Best Performance by a Human Male as Wheatley (Portal 2)

Personal life

Merchant dated digital advertising producer Claire Jones for two years, although their relationship reportedly ended in 2009. Merchant is an atheist. He is the cousin of Sara Dallin of Bananarama.

Appearance

Merchant's considerable height (6ft 7in; 2.01 m) has been a source of humour and teasing throughout his life. He made a cameo appearance in ''The Office'', playing a character nicknamed the Ogg-Monster, whom David Brent called "a big lanky goggle-eyed freak". His height, and also dance moves, have attracted comments from several sources. The ''Daily Mail'' newspaper described him as a "giant albatross hopping on stilts" as he danced in a London pub (although Merchant denied this during an episode of the ''Ricky Gervais Show'', stating that he did not take to the dance floor on that occasion).

While discussing what the Daily Mail had said on the show, friend and collaborator Ricky Gervais has likened him to an "upright lizard being given electro-shock treatment" and a "stick insect with glasses" or Beaker from ''The Muppet Show''. Radio producer and co-host of Merchant, Karl Pilkington, has described his moves as a "bit of weird art" in the past, while British comic and broadcaster Russell Brand has likened him to a "graceful grasshopper". Merchant has commented that he prefers to liken himself to fellow tall man and English football player, Peter Crouch who is also six foot seven inches. Merchant impersonated Crouch in a BBC sketch broadcast as part of the pre-match build-up to England's opening game at the 2006 World Cup.

References

External links

Official website

Interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live

Xfm: Biography

''Tall man, taller success story'' – interview in ''The Telegraph'' – 8 August 2005

Interview with Barbara Ellen in The Observer Magazine – 5 November 2006

An Englishman abroad

Stephen Merchant interview

Stephen Merchant interviewed by Sophie Elmhirst on ''New Statesman''.

Category:1974 births Category:Actors from Bristol Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Emmy Award winners Category:English comedy writers Category:English podcasters Category:English radio DJs Category:English radio personalities Category:English television actors Category:English television directors Category:English television producers Category:English television writers Category:English video game actors Category:English voice actors Category:Living people Category:The Office (U.S. TV series) Category:People from Bristol Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners Category:English stand-up comedians Category:English atheists

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