Reeson William "Reece" Shearsmith (born 27 August 1969 in Hull) is an English actor and writer. He is most famous for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.
He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy team The League of Gentlemen, along with fellow performers Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, and co-writer Jeremy Dyson, all of whom he met at Bretton Hall drama school in his late teens. The League of Gentlemen initially began as a stage act in 1995, transferred to BBC Radio 4 as On the Town with the League of Gentlemen in 1997 and then arrived on television on BBC Two in 1999. The latter has seen Shearsmith and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award and the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux.
He has appeared in other comedy projects including Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere as well as playing the insane villain Tony in the Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer comedy Catterick. He also appeared in two episodes of the award-winning pop-culture comedy Spaced as robot-wars obsessed TA soldier Dexter, and played neurotic doctor Flynn in the BBC Two sitcom TLC which was written by The Weakest Link creator Fintan Coyle. His ability for talking 'gibberish' lends itself to playing his more macabre characters like Papa Lazarou.
From March 2006 to January 2007, he appeared in the West End as Leo Bloom in The Producers.
In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy, Shearsmith voiced the character of "Ante", a heavy-set, bizarrely-dressed biker member of the "Lappish Mafia". In this his voice is used along with the other actors of League of Gentlemen such as Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss. The dialogue was written by Simon Pegg and other actors included Pegg himself and Woody Harrelson, amongst others.
Psychoville aired June 2009 and marked his return to BBC2. It was co-written by Shearsmith and his League of Gentlemen cohort Steve Pemberton. Both Shearsmith and Pemberton star in the series and play numerous characters, similarly to the League of Gentlemen. Shearsmith will appear in John Landis' upcoming black comedy Burke and Hare, to be released on the 29th October 2010.
As of November 9th, 2010, Shearsmith will be playing the title character in Ghost Stories , written and directed by fellow league member Jeremy Dyson and magician Andy Nyman.
He lives in North London with his wife Jane, whom he married on 14 February 2001 in Islington, and their two children Holly and Danny. Holly appeared in the first episode of Psychoville as the little princess who Mr. Jelly terrorises at her birthday party.
