Career
Delaney created the Count in the 1980s, when he was a drama student at Central School of Speech and Drama in London and performed him at the end-of-term show, having drawn inspiration from characters he met during his childhood. However he put the character to one side for several years, during which he worked as an actor, appearing on television in dramas such as Juliet Bravo, The Flying Lady, Casualty, The Bill, All Creatures Great and Small and Agatha Christie's Poirot.
In 1997 Delaney resurrected Strong for his stand-up comedy routine in clubs. The character was performed at the Edinburgh Festival for several years and BBC Radio 4 launched a series for him in 2005 entitled Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!. A second radio series was recorded at the Komedia theatre, Brighton and broadcast on Radio 4 in 2007. By 2012 the show had run to seven series. The series won the Sony Gold Comedy Award, the highest accolade for radio comedy, at the Radio Academy Awards in 2009.
In 2008 Delaney finished a second tour, and Count Arthur Strong the Musical was released on DVD. In 2009 and 2010 he again toured twice with Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Smile. From February to April 2011, and again in March to May 2012, he toured with Count Arthur Strong's Command Performance.
The character has appeared on Mark Radcliffe's BBC Radio 2 show, the TV series Terrorville for Play UK, The Stand Up Show for BBC 2 and 2 series of Comedy Cuts for ITV 2 and can be seen on YouTube supporting Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out! campaign, and on BBC Radio 4 show The Remains of Foley & McColl. He completed a proposed television pilot for BBC 2 of Count Arthur Strong's Entertainment Game, written by Steve Delaney, Jeremy Dyson and Graham Linehan, but so far this has not been aired. Instead, Steve Delaney and Graham Linehan are working on a television sitcom together for the BBC, with a view to producing a series.
Within Strong's fictional world, he claims to have an illustrious history, and lots of celebrity friends, most notably Anita Harris, Danny LaRue and Jimmy Clitheroe. He is frustrated to have been overlooked for the lead role in what he calls Bridge Up The River Kwai, and as James Bond in Dr Dolittle.
Read more about this topic: Steve Delaney
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