Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English comedian, actress and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in various British sitcoms, including Hyperdrive (2006–2007) and Not Going Out (2006–2009).
Hart reached a wider audience with her self-driven semi-autobiographical BBC sitcom Miranda, which is based on her earlier BBC Radio 2 radio series Miranda Hart's Joke Shop (2008). The television sitcom ran for three series and several Christmas specials from 2009 to 2015, and earned her three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards and four BAFTA nominations. From 2012 to 2015, she appeared as Camilla "Chummy" Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne in the BBC drama series Call the Midwife. She made her Hollywood debut in the action comedy film Spy (2015).
Hart has also written four books: Is It Just Me? (2012), a semi-autobiographical book; The Best of Miranda (2014), a compilation of scripts from the TV series; Peggy and Me (2016), a description of her life since owning her titular dog; and Miranda Hart's Daily Dose of Such Fun! (2017), in partnership with Comic Relief.
In 2017, Hart presented the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, making her the first solo female presenter in 105 years.
Early life
Family
Hart was born on 14 December 1972 in Torquay, Devon, the child of Captain David Hart Dyke, an officer in the Royal Navy and a member of the Hart Dyke family, and Diana Margaret Luce, daughter of Sir William Luce, Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Aden, and sister of Lord Luce. Hart is from an aristocratic background, but does not consider herself upper class, stating that her aunt and uncle live in Lullingstone Castle.
Her father was commanding officer of when it was sunk during the 1982 Falklands conflict, and he was badly burned trying to escape the stricken warship. She has a younger sister, Alice Louisa Hart Dyke.
Education and training
Hart grew up in Petersfield, Hampshire. She was privately educated at Downe House, an independent boarding school for girls near Thatcham, Berkshire. She was a classmate and friend of the sports presenter Clare Balding, who was head girl. She attended the University of the West of England, Bristol, graduating with a 2:1 in political science. She then completed a postgraduate course in acting at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.
In 2002, she performed a solo show in Edinburgh, and in 2004 she pitched a comedy show to the BBC. At her read-through for BBC executives, Absolutely Fabulous writer and star Jennifer Saunders was present.
Career
Television
Before her own series was commissioned, Hart made appearances in various British sitcoms. In Not Going Out she initially appeared as an acupuncturist. However, her performance impressed producers so much that they wrote a regular role for her as Barbara, a sarcastic and clumsy cleaner. She continued to play the part until the production of Miranda in 2009. Hart earned a British Comedy Award nomination for her role as Teal in two series of the BBC television comedy sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive, which ran from January 2006 to August 2007.
She also appeared in even smaller roles in French & Saunders, My Family and Other Animals, Nighty Night, Absolutely Fabulous, The Vicar of Dibley as a speed-date programmer, Lead Balloon, William and Mary, Smack the Pony (for which she wrote and performed in a couple of sketches and a number of video diaries), Stupid!, Monday Monday as Tall Karen, and as a minicab driver in the Channel 5 comedy Angelos, which ran for 6 episodes.
Hart is best known for her performance in her self-titled, self-penned and semi-autobiographical sitcom Miranda, which started recording for BBC Two in 2008 and began airing on 9 November 2009. The situation comedy also features Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, James Holmes, and Sally Phillips. The series is based on Hart's semi-autobiographical writing and followed a television pilot and the BBC Radio 2 comedy Miranda Hart's Joke Shop. Described as an "old-fashioned" sitcom, it received positive comments from critics and Hart won the 2009 Royal Television Society award for comedy performance for her role in the first series.