Clive Anderson
He may look like a cuddly bear - but Clive Anderson is blessed with a quick wit, fast delivery and scathing sarcasm.
Ironically, perhaps, he's not averse to sticking his neck out and, boy, he's got one viper-like tongue you wouldn't want to mess with.
Clive trained as a criminal law barrister but his natural flair for comedy quickly came to the fore during his student days, at Cambridge University. As president of the Cambridge Footlights for a year, his talents were put to good use and he balanced his studies with entertainment.
Clive's breakthrough on national television first came about in 1988 with the innovative comedy improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? The show was an enormous success and lined up some of the period's biggest names in comedy. Regulars on the stage included Tony Slattery, Greg Proops and Josie Lawrence but the show relied as much on Clive's wit as theirs.
By 1989, Clive had his very own comedy chat show on Channel 4 which ran for ten series before moving over to the BBC. Clive's interviews haven't always gone according to plan. Richard Branson poured a glass of water over Mr Anderson when he felt he'd overstepped the mark and the Bee Gees famously walked off set after taking exception to some off-the-cuff remarks. What's the world coming to when a chat show host can't call his guests 'tossers' anymore?
Since then Clive's done all sorts of radio, telly and writing and won a heap of awards including Comedy Presenter of the Year and Top Channel 4 Presenter. Still, if a showbiz career doesn't work out, he could always go back to the bar.
