Biography

He left school with no qualifications and worked in a metal factory. He enrolled in night school and eventually enrolled at University and graduated with a Masters degree in English literature.

He chose the stage name Frank Skinner after a man in his father's pub dominoes team.

As a self-confessed reformed alcoholic, he hasn't had a drink since September 1987.

He shared a flat with best-friend and frequent co-presenter David Baddiel for four years.

He performed first ever stand up comedy gig at the Portland Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham in 1987 aged thirty.

I hate classical music in all its manifestations.

[at the Lord Of The Rings premiere] Did I like it? Well, it's like Monty Python : Sacré Graal ! (1975) but without the jokes.

My CD collection has become The Fall and the rest. This is terrible. I've got the new Sigur Rós album, which I really like and I'm thinking, 'this is great, but I could be listening to The Fall'.

You know, Chaucer (Geoffrey Chaucer) used swearing. It's a very time-honoured language part and shouldn't be ghettoised the way it is just because some people don't like it. I don't want people using so much swearing that there's a blanket ban because there won't be then any room for the clever swearing, the beautiful, eloquent swearing. So I just think we need to back off on the stuff that's not necessary. But I think it's absolutely important that we keep swearing as a tool, a comic tool for television and any other area of comedy.

[on presenting Panorama (1953) in 2009] If you're going to have tennis coverage, you ask Sue Barker. If you're going to have something about offensive material, you ask me.