Richard Coles

Known for ActingBorn 1962-03-26 (age 64)Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Richard Keith Robert Coles FRSA FKC (born 26 March 1962) is an English writer, radio presenter and Church of England priest. He first came to prominence as the multi-instrumentalist who partnered Jimmy Somerville in the 1980s band the Communards. They achieved three UK top-10 hits, including the No. 1 record and best-selling single of 1986, a dance version of "Don't Leave Me This Way". Coles frequently appears on radio and television as well as in newspapers and, from March 2011 until March 2023, was the co-host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live programme. He is a regular contributor to the television shows QI, Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He is the chancellor of the University of Northampton, a former honorary chaplain to the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, and a patron of social housing project Greatwell Homes in Wellingborough. Coles was born in Northampton, England. His grandfather was a prosperous shoe manufacturer. The company struggled under Coles's father, and the family lost much of its wealth. He was educated at the independent Wellingborough School (where he was a choirboy), and at the South Warwickshire College of Further Education (Department of Drama & the Liberal Arts) in Stratford-upon-Avon. He later attended King's College London, where he studied Theology from 1990. Coles was awarded an MA by research from the University of Leeds in 2005 for work on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians. Coles learned to play the saxophone, clarinet and keyboards, and moved to London in 1980, where he played in theatre. In 1983, he appeared with Jimmy Somerville in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project film Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts, which won the Grierson Award. Coles joined Bronski Beat (initially on saxophone) in 1983. Somerville left Bronski Beat, and in 1985 he and Coles formed the Communards, who were together for just over three years and had three UK top 10 hits, including the biggest-selling single of 1986, a version of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which was at number one for four weeks. The band split in 1988, and Somerville went solo. Coles provided narration for the Style Council's film JerUSAlem in 1987 and also started a career as a writer, particularly with the Times Literary Supplement and the Catholic Herald. He took up religion in his late twenties, after "the best of times, the worst of times", pop success and the deaths of friends as a result of HIV. From 1991 to 1994 he studied for a BA in theology at King's College London. While at university, Coles became a Roman Catholic and remained so for the next ten years before returning to Anglicanism in 2001. Coles was selected for training for the priesthood in the Church of England and began his training at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in 2003, before being ordained in 2005. After ordination, he was a curate at St Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire and then at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge in London. He has been chaplain of the Royal Academy of Music, played Dr Frank N Furter in a local concert and conducted an atheist funeral for Mo Mowlam in 2005. ... Source: Article "Richard Coles" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.Read more

Movies & web series

Days Like These

JerUSAlem

QI

Jimmy Somerville: The Video Collection 1984/1990 (Featuring Bronski Beat and The Communards)

Tipping Point: Lucky Stars

Celebrity Lingo

Winter Walks

Murder Before Evensong

The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer

Stand Up & Deliver

Blankety Blank

Long Hot Summers: The Story of The Style Council

Have I Got News for You

Champs-Elysées

Great British Menu

The Chase: Celebrity Special

Richard Osman's House of Games

Robson Green's Weekend Escapes

The Weakest Link

Tim Vine Travels Through Time Christmas Special

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip

Celebrity Mastermind

The Last Leg

Michael McIntyre's The Wheel

Question Time

Sacrée soirée

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice

Jimmy Somerville: Queer Rebel of British Pop

The Traitors: Uncloaked

The One Show

Ambitions

Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts

George Michael: Outed

Loose Women

Queer as Art

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

I'm a Celebrity... Unpacked

Catching Up With the Royals

Sailing the Shipping Forecast with The Rev Richard Coles

Good Grief?

The Big Painting Challenge

Walks with My Dog

Le monde est à vous

The Communards - Live at Full House Rock Show

Have I Got a Bit More News for You