Portrait
Eddie Izzard
Born
7 February 1962Aden (today Yemen)
Comedian, actor and activistUnited Kingdom

Eddie Izzard

Her stand-up combined imaginative digressions with a public refusal to hide her gender expression.

Eddie Izzard was born in Aden in 1962. She grew up in Northern Ireland and Wales, losing her mother at six. Street performance in London helped develop the confidence and improvisational style of her later stand-up.

In the 1990s her shows reached large audiences with digressions through history, religion, language and everyday absurdity. “Dress to Kill” (1998) won two Emmy Awards. Her acting career subsequently extended across film, television and theatre.

Izzard has described coming out in 1985, using terms available to her at the time, including transvestite. Performing in dresses and make-up made her gender expression visible well before she adopted she/her pronouns publicly in 2020. In 2023 she added Suzy to her name while continuing to use Eddie professionally.

She has also run repeated marathons for charity and campaigned for Labour and Britain’s place in the European Union. Her public life brings together stand-up, dramatic acting, endurance fundraising and political engagement.

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