 It is hard to think of many successful television and radio personalities who have also served considerable prison sentences, but the continued success of Johnny Vaughan's dry, witty and highly charismatic presentation style is surely down to his innate charm rather than anything more prurient. He was born on the 16th July 1966 in Barnet, and, after school, worked as a video shop assistant and drug dealer, the latter leading to his incarceration. Upon release, his big break came when he was chosen to present the popular cult film series Movie Watch (Channel 4, 1993-8), which showed his wide-eyed enthusiasm for all things cinematic and off-the-wall; a close comparison might be made with Jonathan Ross. After this, he presented The Big Breakfast (Channel 4, 1997-2001), winning plaudits for his quick-witted early morning performances, as well as the much-noted chemistry he had with co-presenter Denise Van Outen. He also presented the film series The Johnny Vaughan Film Show (Channel 4, 1999), which proved less of a success, but nevertheless showed his status as a bankable commodity. Surprisingly, a late-night talk show, Johnny Vaughan Tonight (BBC, 2002-3) was regarded as a disappointment compared to the spontaneity of his earlier work, and his first attempt at writing a sitcom, 'Orrible (BBC, 2001) was unsuccessful. He has continued to remain a popular figure, in part due to the continued success of his Capital Radio early morning show, which he has presented since 2004. He has been heavily involved with presenting such television fundraising programmes as Comic Relief (BBC, 1999 & 2003) and Sport Relief (BBC, 2002) and the controversial reality television show spoof Space Cadets (Channel 4, 2005). Although he acted in 'Orrible, he has not yet attempted any more appearances, barring a cameo appearance as 'himself' in Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (US, 2005). Alexander Larman
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FILM & TV CREDITS