The youngest son of an English couple, Eddie Izzard was born overseas in Aden, Yemen. His early life was spend mostly in England, though he spent the first five years in the country in Northern Ireland until the political climate made the family decide to move. Soon afterwards in 1968, Izzard’s mother died of cancer.

In the wake of his loss, Izzard was comforted by the humor of stand-ups like Steve Martin and Richard Pryor.

When Izzard went to University, he began exploring stand-up comedy, using the work of Billy Connolly as a base for him to riff new material from. His studies to become an accountant (like his father) suffered and he soon was dropped from the University of Sheffield. Izzard became a street performer in both England and the United States.

Izzard brought his act in from streets to the comedy clubs in 1987, making his first appearance at London’s The Comedy Store.

After six years his work became lauded, winning his first British Comedy Award in 1993 for his show “Live at the Ambassadors.” A second followed for his next show “Definite Article.” The tour for the alter brough him to New York City and to the attention of HBO.

For a year worked up a new show, touring with it in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The result, “Dress to Kill”, premiered on the premium cable channel HBO in 1999. It went on to win two Emmy Awards for both performance and writing and made him a star in the States.

Izzard has been able to diversify his stand-up success into acting work, appearing in films and on television, particularly in the drama “The Riches” for the basic cable channel F/X. He also performed in plays on London’s West End, most notability to stand-up fans as Lenny Bruce in a 1999 revival of the play “Lenny.”

Izzard’s stand-up is marked by his ability to improvise on stage, riffing off of a central idea and discovering jokes along the way. Successful ad-libs from previous nights are brought back in for subsequent performances, but there is always some free association in each of his performances. His material tends not to the political, but to history, often talking about the development of man. The target for Izzard’s comedic eye vary, extending anywhere from animals to religion. Some see this stream-of-conscious style is very similar to the sketches of Monty Python, although all of their work was scripted. (John Cleese himself actually named Izzard the lost Python.)

Though a cross dresser, Izzard is not gay. Izzard draws a distinction between an “executive” or “action” transvestite and a “weirdo” transvestite. He counts himself in the earlier variety, as he’s not sexually aroused by wearing women’s clothing. He just simply enjoys wearing make-up and women’s clothing. As for his sexual orientation, Izzard asserts that he is a “male lesbian.”

Izzard also speaks French and German, and has performed his stand-up shows in both.