Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are taking
on someone who really just defines any easy label.
Oh, absolutely. A comedian, yes, but also a serious
actor, a political activist, an elite endurance
athlete. It's quite the list. He really is. We
are diving deep into the extraordinary life,
the evolving identity, and, well, the relentless
career of Susie Eddie Izzard. And it's a fascinating
stack of source material we've got here. It covers,
what, several decades? Decades of intense public
life. And when you try to synthesize all these
pieces, you know, the whimsical comedy, the incredible
dedication to languages, the grueling physical
stuff, the political campaigning, you get this,
well. singular figure. Right. So our mission
for you, the listener, isn't just about listing
achievements. It's about trying to understand
what ties it all together. What's the sort of
unifying principle? And it seems to be this commitment
to breaking boundaries, doesn't it? Like intentionally,
linguistic, physical, social, all of them. Exactly.
That intentionality is key. And the hook is just
the sheer, it's almost absurd, the breadth of
what she's done. We're talking two primetime
Emmys, right? Yeah. For Dressed to Kill. Yeah,
the stand -up special, incredible. Tony nomination
for a serious Broadway role. Starring in massive
Hollywood films like the Ocean series. But then,
like you said, you get these stats that just
pull the rug out from under any normal idea of,
you know, celebrity effort. Like the marathons.
The marathons. 43 marathons in 51 days. And this
is someone with basically no running background
beforehand. It's mind boggling. And then performing
complex stream of consciousness stand up. In
French, German, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, languages
she taught herself specifically for this. Right,
which we'll definitely get into. It's dedication
turned up to 11, maybe 12. Or maybe just pure
stubbornness, but always for a reason, it seems.
Always seems linked to a bigger goal, yeah. Okay,
so let's unpack this. Where do we start? The
foundation, I guess. Her origins and that very
personal but also very public identity evolution.
Sounds like the right place. It informs pretty
much everything else. Okay, so Susie Eddie Izzard,
born Edward John Izzard, 7 February 1962. And
the birthplace itself is interesting, Aiden.
Yeah, Aiden Colony as it was then, now a part
of Yemen. It sort of hints at that global perspective
right from the start, doesn't it? It really does.
Her family background, though, fundamentally
English. Fundamentally English, yes. Though the
surname, Izzard, that has French Huguenot origins.
Which, again, kind of connects to the European
theme that pops up later. Ah, interesting. Her
parents were Dorothy, who is a midwife and nurse,
and Harold, an accountant. He was working for
British Petroleum, BP, out in Aden at the time.
Right, which explains the location. And like
a lot of families linked to those big corporations,
they moved around. They did. Lived in Bangor,
Northern Ireland for a bit until she was about
five. Then they moved to Skewen in Wales. Okay.
But the really formative event, tragically, came
very early. Her mother, Dorothy, died of cancer
when Susie was just six years old. Six. Wow.
That's incredibly young to lose a parent. It
is. And you often see, well. Psychologists talk
about how that kind of loss can create this deep
need for self -definition, for agency later in
life. And you can definitely see echoes of that,
can't you? The endurance, the political drive.
Absolutely. That resilience. Around the same
time, she was attending various private schools,
St. John's in Newton, St. Bede's Prep in Eastbourne,
then Eastbourne College, eventually studied drama
at the University of Sheffield. But it's fascinating
how early her core ambitions seem to form. She
talks about two key realizations from childhood.
Yes. Two really fundamental ones. First, she
knew she was transgender at age four. Four. How
does she connect that? She links it to seeing
a boy being forced to wear a dress and feeling
a sense of resonance, of understanding something
about herself in that moment. Incredible. And
the second. Knew she wanted to be an actor at
age seven. So right from the beginning, you have
this intertwining of performance, ambition, and
personal identity. They weren't separate things
for her. That makes sense. So given that deep,
early understanding, the way her public identity,
pronouns, name. How that's evolved publicly is
a major part of her story. It really is. She
identifies primarily as gender fluid. She often
uses transgender too, but more as an umbrella
term that covers her experience. And she's described
it as somewhat boyish and some girlish. Exactly.
That sense of duality, of fluidity. It's kind
of a key to understanding her whole career, I
think. How she can shift between, say, playing
a very masculine general in Valkyrie and then
performing stand -up in a dress and heels. It's
not a contradiction for her. Right. And her language
around pronouns has changed over time, too. It
has, reflecting that fluidity. For years, she
was comfortable with either he or she, and she'd
talk about being in boy mode or girl mode. But
then in 2020, there was a shift. She requested
to hear pronouns for a TV appearance, specifically
saying she wanted to be based in girl mode from
now on. Okay. And then more recently, the name
change. Yes, March 2023. That felt like a really
significant personal moment. She announced she'd
start using the name Susie, which she'd apparently
wanted since she was 10. 10 years old. Yeah.
So now it's Susie Eddie Izzard. But the way she
handled the announcement was quite remarkable,
I thought. How so? Well, she didn't make it a
demand. It was more like an invitation. She explicitly
said people can choose which name to use, Susie
or Eddie. And crucially, she added, you can't
make a mistake. That's incredibly generous, isn't
it? Especially given how fraught these discussions
can be. Exactly. It's very pragmatic, very open.
She still uses Eddie Izzard professionally, largely
for name recognition. You know, it's the established
brand. But Susie is there now, too. It's a really
interesting approach to managing a public self
that's evolving. We should probably touch on
the older terminology she used, too, reflecting
the times. Right. Earlier in her career, she
identified as a transvestite, and she had some
very famous, very quotable lines about it, like
calling herself a lesbian trapped in a man's
body. I remember that one. And a complete boy
plus half girl. Yes. Those phrases really captured
the complexity she was trying to articulate,
maybe before the current vocabulary around gender
fluidity was as widely understood. And the act
of dressing itself, which became public around
92, she's very clear about what that means. Very
clear. It's not a performance gimmick for the
stage. It's not a sexual fetish. It's just self
-expression. Purely. She puts it simply, it's
just wearing a dress. It's about me just expressing
myself. It's integral, not theatrical. And that
fundamental drive for authentic self -expression,
I think that's what really propelled her out
of university drama societies and onto the street.
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Yeah. Leading
us right into her comedy. Exactly. need for raw,
unfiltered self -expression, it feeds directly
into how her comedy developed. She did dabble
a bit at University of Sheffield with a friend,
Rob Ballard. But the real forging ground, the
place where that unique Izzard style was hammered
out, wasn't the student union bar. It was the
street corner. Covent Garden, mostly. Right,
the street performing. That's such a key part
of her origin story, connecting her to that whole
tradition of busking escape artistry. It is.
Early 1980s, she's out there, Europe, the U .S.,
but often London's Covent Garden, doing solo
escape acts, chains, handcuffs, that sort of
thing. Okay, so how does escape artistry lead
to, well, rambling monologues about historical
figures and jam? Necessity. Street performing,
especially escape acts, involves a lot of setup,
a lot of managing the crowd, keeping them engaged
while you, you know, strap yourself into something
dangerous. So she had to talk. to fill the time
constantly she developed her voice by just talking
at the audience keeping their attention during
these long sometimes chaotic setups that need
to fill space to keep people hooked that's where
the rambling stream of consciousness thing comes
from that makes so much sense so what seems like
chaos is actually born from Intense crowd control
practice. Pretty much. And it becomes this style.
Rambling, whimsical, self -referential pantomime,
jumping between topics history, religion, household
appliances, scrolls with guns. It's an architecture
built on tangents. Beautifully put. And it's
that apparent lack of structure that makes it
so distinctive. The highest praise and the influence
she herself cites most. Monty Python. Right.
John Cleese calling her the lost Python. Exactly.
It suggests her brand of surreal, intelligent
absurdity is seen as a direct continuation of
that legacy. And was there a specific moment
that style broke through to a wider audience?
Yeah. 1991. She performed her Raised by Wolves
routine, which is classic Izzard on a televised
AIDS benefit. Hysteria 3. That was the platform.
It showed people this wasn't just club comedy.
It was something more. And that led to the big
tours. That really opened the doors. Suddenly
she's doing major international tours, shows
that became, you know, landmarks of alternative
comedy. Live at the Ambassadors in 93. Definite
Article 90. And the big one, Dressed to Kill
in 98. That really crossed the Atlantic, didn't
it? That was the global breakthrough, followed
by Circle in 2000, Stripped in 2009, Force Majeure
in 2013, Wonder Bar more recently in 2022. Just
a phenomenal body of stand -up work. And Dressed
to Kill got serious awards recognition too, didn't
it? Not just laugh. Oh, yeah. Huge validation.
In 2000, it won two primetime Emmys. Not one,
two. Okay, what were they for specifically? Outstanding
individual performance in a variety or music
program, so recognizing her stage presence. And
outstanding writing for a variety or music program.
Wow. So acknowledging the performance and the
material itself. Exactly. It proves that the
apparent rambling isn't just random. There's
a rigorous intellect, a real structure underneath
all that seemingly effortless chaos. But the
Emmys weren't the end of her ambition, were they?
Especially internationally. She started linking
it to political ideas, too. Very consciously.
She's famously fluent in French, performs her
entire shows in French. effortlessly it seems
right but then and this is where the activism
really kicks in around 2014 she decided to start
performing in languages she didn't speak arabic
german russian spanish okay hold on performing
that kind of complex improvised stream of consciousness
stuff in a language you've only just learned
that sounds terrifying like professional suicide
almost It's an absolutely massive risk. You're
not just reciting memorized lines. You need to
understand the rhythm, the culture, the nuances
well enough to riff to interact with the audience
spontaneously. So I do it. Politics. She explicitly
connects it to her activism, supporting Europeanism,
supporting integration. It's using humor as a
practical tool for cultural connection. She's
literally demonstrating boundary breaking. Precisely.
The message is, look, if I, this English comedian,
can learn enough German to make jokes work in
Berlin or enough Russian for Moscow, then maybe
these cultural and political divides aren't insurmountable.
its performance as practical diplomacy. That's
actually really profound. Turning the stage into
a statement about connection, it fits that theme
perfectly, breaking barriers, whether they're
gender, comedy conventions, or national borders.
Yeah, it's all part of the same project for her,
it seems. So that same drive, that ambition,
it took her from stand -up into, well, serious
dramatic acting, which might seem like a leap,
but the versatility she showed is quite something.
It really is. And the bridge seems to have been
the theater stage. Her West End drama debut was
actually quite early, 1994. David Mamet's The
Cryptogram. Which is not exactly light comedy.
No, that's intense stuff. Definitely. And she
didn't just stick to contemporary plays. She
went straight into classics. Played the title
role in Marlowe's Edward II in 1995. Then she
tackled Lenny Bruce in the play Lenny in 99.
Playing Lenny Bruce, another boundary -pushing
comedian? That feels fitting. Very fitting. These
roles demand real discipline, very different
from the freewheeling stand -up persona. And
the recognition came. Broadway, 2003. She took
over from Clive Owen in A Day in the Death of
Joe Egg. And got a Tony nomination for that.
Yep. Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor,
which is huge. Think about that journey. Street
busker to Tony nominee for Serious Acting in,
what, less than 20 years? It's remarkable validation
of her range. And that stage work continued,
didn't it? Didn't she recently do a one -person
Hamlet? She did. that's almost the ultimate dramatic
challenge, isn't it? A one -person Hamlet adapted
by her brother, Mark, debuted in New York in
2024. One person playing all those parts. How
does that even work? It relies entirely on incredible
physical and vocal skill, memory, sheer presence,
holding an audience through five acts of maybe
the most complex play ever written all by yourself.
It's another endurance feat, just a different
kind. Right. Like the marathons, but with soliloquies.
Exactly. And it was a huge success, extended
three times in New York, then transferred to
London. It really cemented her status as a serious,
heavyweight, dramatic actor. Okay, so let's look
at her screen career then. Films and TV. It's
pretty extensive. Very extensive. Started back
in 1995. What often stands out is her being cast
as these complex, often historical figures. Like
who? She played Charlie Chaplin in Peter Bogdanovich's
The Cat's Meow, the German actor Gustav von Wangenheim
in Shadow of the Vampire, General Eric Felgiebel,
one of the conspirators in Valkyrie, and Robert
Watson Watt, the radar pioneer, in a BBC film
called Castles in the Sky. So often playing real
people known for their intellect or their role
in history. Yeah, she seems to have a knack for
embodying that kind of... brilliance or intensity
but then on the flip side you have the big hollywood
blockbusters the oceans films right oceans 12
and oceans 13 playing roman nagel the sort of
smooth technical expert the criminal mastermind
very different vibe but she fit right into those
big ensemble casts showed she could do the slick
hollywood thing too definitely and we shouldn't
forget her voice acting work either she's got
a pretty distinctive voice who has your voice
Nigel the Koala in Disney's The Wild, the valiant
mouse Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia,
Prince Caspian. And then, back to that Python
-esque absurdity, she voiced Voldemort. In the
Lego Batman movie. Voldemort in Lego Batman.
That's brilliant. It's perfect casting, isn't
it? Her TV work's been significant, too, especially
in some quality U .S. shows. Like The Riches.
Yeah, starred opposite Minnie Driver in The Riches
for 20 episodes, played Dr. Hedaris in United
States of Tara, and had a really memorable, quite
chilling role as Dr. Abel Gideon in Hannibal.
Oh, right. She was very creepy in that. Unsettlingly
good. And just to loop back to her comedy roots,
she had those lovely cameo moments with Monty
Python. Ah, yes, the lost Python finally getting
on stage. Sort of. In 1998, at the Monty Python
Live at Aspen Tribute, she walked on stage and
was immediately ushered off by Eric Idle and
Michael Palin. It was a brilliant inside joke.
That is the ultimate tribute from them, isn't
it? Absolutely. Then in 2014, for their Monty
Python Live, mostly reunion shows, she was invited
back properly as a special guest in the blackmails.
Right. That lack of prep is crucial. Let's start
with the first big one, the 2009 Marathon Challenge
for Sport Relief. Okay. Goal. Run back -to -back
marathons across the UK. Simple enough goal,
insanely difficult execution. And the preparation.
Five weeks of training. Five weeks for multiple
marathons. That's dangerous, isn't it? For a
seasoned runner prepping for one marathon, five
weeks is cutting it fine. For a non -runner planning
to run dozens consecutively, it's almost unthinkable.
It just shows this incredible belief in mind
over matter, especially when charity's involved.
So what was the final result? She completed 43
marathons in 51 days. over 1 ,100 miles, running
through England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
43 in 51 days. And the times weren't super fast,
but that's not the point, is it? Not at all.
The times ranged from maybe five hours to 10
hours per marathon. The point is the accumulation,
the sheer physical toll of getting up the next
day and the next and doing it again for nearly
two months. And there was symbolism involved
too, wasn't there? With flags. Yes, very deliberate
symbolism. In England, Scotland, Wales, she carried
the flag that nation. But in Northern Ireland,
reflecting the political sensitivities, she carried
a flag she designed herself. Green, with a white
dove. Referencing the Northern Ireland football
jersey, but adding the dove for peace. Exactly.
A direct link between the physical effort and
a political hope for unity. That whole endeavor
earned her a special award at the BBC Sports
Personality of the Year in 2009. Rightly so.
But knowing Izzard, that wasn't the end of it.
Not even close. One insane challenge just sets
the stage for the next. 2016 South Africa. Ah,
the Nelson Mandela challenge. This one felt even
more charged emotionally and politically. Definitely.
The goal. 27 marathons in 27 days, specifically
honoring the 27 years Mandela was imprisoned.
And the physical conditions were brutal. Incredibly
tough. Over 700 miles, South African heat, temperatures
hitting 40 degrees Celsius sometimes. And remember,
she'd actually tried this once before in 2012
and had to pull out due to health issues. So
there was that psychological hurdle to the memory
of the previous failure. How did she manage it
this time? Pure grit. She finished it March 20th,
2016, right at the statue of Mandela in Pretoria.
But there is a twist. Oh. Because she had to
spend one day in the hospital during the run,
she was technically one marathon short heading
into the final day. So what did she do? She ran
two marathons back to back on the last day, just
powered through 52 .4 miles to hit the 27 total
within the 27 days. That is... frankly bonkers,
an absolutely fanatical level of determination.
It connects that physical suffering directly
to the political memory, doesn't it? Like embodied
activism. Completely. And it worked in terms
of fundraising, too, raised over $1 .35 million
for sport relief just from that run. Astonishing.
But she still wasn't done. There was another
challenge more recently. 2021. And this time
she combined her worlds, the challenge, run 31
marathons and perform 31 stand -up gigs all during
the 31 days of January 2021. Okay, that's just
logistically insane. Run a marathon, travel,
perform a full show, sleep, repeat. For a month.
The sheer exhaustion must have been immense.
But she did it. pulled off both the running and
the performing, raise over 275 ,000 pounds for
various charities. So the running isn't a side
hobby. It's a core part of her activism, a tool
for raising awareness and funds. It's another
form of performance, a very painful, very public
performance for a cause. I think that's a great
way to put it. Which brings us neatly to the
politics itself. Moving from the physical endurance
of marathons to the... psychological endurance
needed for a political career. Her commitment
to the Labor Party goes way back, doesn't it?
Oh, yeah. Decades. She joined the Labor Party
back in 1995. And this wasn't just, you know,
celebrity endorsement. She got involved. She
was listed as one of their biggest private donors
back in 98, donated again significantly in 2008.
She put her money where her mouth was. And used
her platform to campaigning actively, appeared
in party political broadcasts for the 2005 election,
the 2009 European election, that brilliant Britain
video in 2010. She clearly sees politics and
public service as something she wants to do,
not just support. But translating that commitment
into actual elected office, that's been tougher.
It has. The internal party structures, the electoral
system itself, they've been real hurdles. She
ran for Labor's National Executive Committee,
the NEC, twice, 2016 and 2018, and didn't win
a seat initially. Just remind us, the NEC. That's
the party's governing body, right? So getting
on that is a big deal internally. Huge deal.
It controls party management, discipline, policy
direction. It's a real sign of grassroots support
and influence. Now, she did actually get onto
the NEC briefly. In March 2018, she was the next
highest runner up when someone resigned. But
then she failed to get reelected in the main
elections later that summer. So it was a short
stint. And the ambition to become an MP or mayor.
That's ongoing. Seems to be. She talked about
running for mayor of London in 2020, though that
didn't happen in the end. Yeah. Then she went
for selection as the prospective parliamentary
candidate, the PPC for Sheffield Central in 2022.
Didn't get it. No. Then tried again for Brighton
Pavilion in 2023. Didn't get that either. No.
Lost the members ballots both times. But the
fact that she keeps trying. keeps putting herself
forward despite these setbacks. It echoes the
marathons, doesn't it? That same persistence.
She just keeps running. That's a good analogy.
Despite not getting elected yet, her core political
views are pretty clear and consistent, especially
on Europe. Oh, an incredibly clear, staunch Europeanist,
calls herself a British European, sees it as
a natural cultural identity and not a contradiction.
And she famously spent one of the first euros
in London. She did. A very public statement of
belief. And as we said, that feeds directly into
the multilingual comedy strategy. It's all connected.
And beyond Europe. What about UK politics specifically?
She's pushed for electoral reform, campaigned
for the alternative vote AV system back in the
2011 referendum, wanting to replace first past
the post. She's also a proponent of British republicanism,
believes the UK should eventually have an elected
head of state, not the monarchy. Okay. Ideologically,
where does she place herself? Clearly identifies
as a social Democrat, but she's made a point
quite explicitly of saying she is not a socialist.
So firmly left of center, but drawing a line
within that spectrum. Right. And on things like
Scottish independence. Campaigned against it
in the 2014 referendum. Very passionately argued
that the rest of the UK would feel a deep sense
of loss if Scotland left. Pro -union in that
context. Okay. And then there are the more personal
interests that sort of flesh out the picture.
Yeah, the little fascinating side bits. She's
been an associate director at Crystal Palace
Football Club since 2012. A football fan. Apparently
so. And a dedicated train modeler. Even donated
her childhood model railway set to Bexhill Museum
in 2016. Train sets and football. Hmm. That's
another layer. And her overall philosophy, you
mentioned her views on religion earlier. Right.
identifies as an atheist, said the realization
actually hit her while she was on stage during
the strip tour in 2008. On stage, wow. Yeah.
Though she later refined it a bit, described
herself as a spiritual atheist. Her explanation
was brilliant. I don't believe in the guy upstairs.
I believe in us, putting faith in humanity's
potential. I believe in us. That feels very Izzard,
very humanist. Exactly. Which ties into the kind
of recognition she's received from certain institutions.
Yeah, when you look at the honors and awards,
it's clear that academic and cultural bodies
see her as more than just an entertainer. She's
seen as a significant cultural force, an advocate.
She's got a whole string of honorary doctorates.
One more. University of East Anglia, Sunderland,
York St. John's, Sussex, Sheffield. Quite a list.
And the reasons they give are important, right?
Citation. Absolutely crucial. They spell out
the perceived impact. UEA, back in 2003, specifically
mentioned her work promoting modern languages
and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles
and for having transcended national barriers
with her humor. So direct academic recognition
of the multilingual comedy as a tool for positive
social change. Precisely. Then in 2014, The Guardian
named her their public language champion. Again,
a direct nod to that active effort she puts into
learning and performing in French, German, Spanish,
etc. And within the comedy world itself, where
does she rank? Well, rankings are subjective,
but in a big 2007 poll of the 100 greatest British
national comedians, she came in at number three.
Number three. Who was ahead of her? Only Peter
Kay and Billy Connolly. So incredibly high regard
from both critics and the public, placing her
among the absolute legends. That's serious staying
power in a tough business. Definitely. And then
tying back to that humanist philosophy we just
mentioned, in 2013, Harvard University gave her
the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in
Cultural Humanism. Cultural Humanism. That award
really seems to capture her core values, doesn't
it? Championing liberal ideals, democracy, human
effort. And linking it all to her public career.
It fits perfectly. It recognizes the belief in
us that seems to drive so much of what she does.
So looking back at everything, the street performer
who masters Shakespeare, the political activist
who embraces the struggle, the athlete who pushes
physical limits with almost no prep. Susie Eddie
Izzard really is the definition of intentional
self -reinvention, isn't she? Always pushing
boundaries. I think that's the perfect summary.
The unifying thread, the through line across
all these seemingly disparate activities is that
profound commitment to defying limits. Whether
it's language barriers in Paris, physical barriers
in South Africa, or social barriers around gender
or politics. It's a constant, rigorous push against
constraints. And maybe the most impressive performance
of all is her ability to navigate and publicly
embrace this evolving personal identity, Suzy
Eddie Izzard, while maintaining such a recognizable,
versatile, and impactful public persona. That
idea of using self -expression not just for yourself,
but as a tool to actively dismantle barriers
for others. That's really powerful. Which leaves
us with a thought for you, the listener. Considering
Izzard's intense dedication to performing in
multiple languages, her passionate Europeanism,
what's one small step, maybe, that you could
take today? Something to break down a little
cultural or linguistic barrier in your own community.
It makes you think, doesn't it? Can humor and
empathy really travel if we put in the effort?
Definitely food for thought. That's all for this
deep dive. We'll catch you next time.