“lectures broke into one's day and were clearly a terrible waste of time, necessary no doubt if you were reading law or medicine or some other vocational subject, but in the case of English, the natural thing to do was talk a lot, listen to music, drink coffee and wine, read books, and go to plays, perhaps be in plays…”

English actor, comedian, writer, and broadcaster

Sir Stephen Fry is an English actor, comedian, writer, and broadcaster. He is known for a long career in British television, from early sketch and sitcom work to presenting panel shows and appearing in drama series. He was knighted in 2025 for services to mental health awareness, the environment, and charity. Fry first came to notice on Alfresco and Blackadder, then as part of the comedy partnership with Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. He later appeared in Kingdom, Bones, and The Dropout, and hosted QI from 2003 to 2016, a role that brought six BAFTA TV Award nominations.