by Kayla B Maxwell

Created on: July 29, 2008

Russell Edward Brand was born in Grays, Essex, England, on June 4, 1975. He was born to Barbara Elizabeth and Ronald Henry Brand, a photographer. When he was only six months old his parents separated. This separation caused him to have an isolated and lonely childhood which led to several years of bulimia and self-harm.

At the young age of fifteen, Brand made his theatrical debut in his school production of Bugsy Malone as Fat Sam. His performance earned him a funded education at the private Italia Conti Academy, which then led to a three year scholarship at the Drama Centre in London. He was then later expelled from both the Italia Conti Academy and also the Drama Centre in London for disruptive behavior.

In his spare time, Brand began performing in pubs around London where he made his first significant appearance at the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition in 2000. Even though he didn't finish in top three, his performance earned him the attention of agent, John Noel.

Further gigs he did at the Empire followed soon after and a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival with very flattering reviews. MTV caught his show at the festival and offered him his own series called Dance Floor Chart. When Jackass arrived in Blighty, he was given the privilege to promote it for MTV in the UK. On Sunday afternoons he also had a show for Xfm and acted in Channel Four's White Teeth and also hosted The Russell Brand for Channel Four's Comedy Lab series.

In the summer of 2004 he hosted the Big Brother discussion series Efourum and also presented Kings of Comedy for E4. During this time he took his one man show Better Now, to the Edinburgh Festival. The show was a sell out and received 4 and 5 star reviews in The Times. In 2005 and 2006 he continued his work on Big Brother and also on hosting Big Brothers Big Mouth.

Brand's first big tour was his show Shame, in which he toured UK and performed to sell out audiences. In 2006 in late November he put on a secret stand up show for anyone who added him as a friend on Myspace. The show featured unseen material that he did not feature on his DVD, and he performed a sketch with his close friends, where he played a cross-dressing plumber.

He is a former heroin addict, alcoholic, and has had numerous run-ins with the law, and has been arrested eleven times. During the time of his addiction he was known for his corruption. He has been heroin free since 2003 and is now part of the addiction charity Focus 12. His neglect of drugs and alcohol was instigated by his agent John Noel, and he did so with the help of Hare Krishnas. Since June 2008 Brand has been dating Australian model and actress Teresa Palmer.

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