Adrian Edmondson

(sometimes credited as Ade Edmondson, born 24 January 1957 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer who gained fame as Vyvyan in The Young Ones in the early 1980s. Together with comedy partner Rik Mayall, he was just one of the many acts on the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s.

His work includes several television shows (Filthy, Rich and Catflap, Snakes and Ladders, Bottom, If You See God, Tell Him and Doctors and Nurses), the hit series The Comic Strip Presents as well as guest appearances on Absolutely Fabulous, Blackadder and, more recently, Jonathan Creek.

Together with Mark Leigh and Mike Lepine he wrote the book How to be a Complete Bastard.

Edmondson is the second of four children. As a child he lived with his family in a variety of places including Cyprus, Bahrain and Uganda.

He attended public school in Pocklington, Yorkshire, and later went onto the University of Manchester to study drama. It was there that he met Rik Mayall, his eventual comedic partner. Their double act The Dangerous Brothers became a hit at the Comic Strip.

In 1996, he played the role of Ace Face/Bellboy at The Who's performance of Quadrophenia at London's Hyde Park.

He is married to fellow comedian Jennifer Saunders and they have three children Eleanor, Beatrice, and Freya. Edmondson's university nickname of 'Eddie Monsoon', a play on his surname, inspired the name of Saunders' character Edina Monsoon on Absolutely Fabulous and his own characters Eddie Catflap (Filthy, Rich & Catflap) and Eddie Hitler (Bottom). Their joint production company is called Mr and Mrs.Monsoon Limited.

In 2005 he was one of the celebrities taking part in Comic Relief does Fame Academy (in which he was known for his punk-style version of the song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You") and came in third place.

Trivia
Adrian Edmondson played the Duran Duran character from Barbarella in the video for We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It's 1989 Number 11 hit International Rescue.
In 1986 he was featured on the cover of Smash Hits Magazine as Sexy Ade Edmondson whilst the article inside featured him breaking in to the photographers studio and murdering Howard Jones.