About

Known credits:
15
Birthday:
1962-03-26
Place of birth:
Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, UK
Website:

Richard Coles

Overview

Richard Keith Robert Coles FRSA FKC (born 26 March 1962) is an English writer, radio presenter and Church of England priest. He first came to prominence as the multi-instrumentalist who partnered Jimmy Somerville in the 1980s band the Communards. They achieved three UK top-10 hits, including the No. 1 record and best-selling single of 1986, a dance version of "Don't Leave Me This Way".

Coles frequently appears on radio and television as well as in newspapers and, from March 2011 until March 2023, was the co-host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live programme. He is a regular contributor to the television shows QI, Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He is the chancellor of the University of Northampton, a former honorary chaplain to the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, and a patron of social housing project Greatwell Homes in Wellingborough.

Coles was born in Northampton, England. His grandfather was a prosperous shoe manufacturer. The company struggled under Coles's father, and the family lost much of its wealth.

He was educated at the independent Wellingborough School (where he was a choirboy), and at the South Warwickshire College of Further Education (Department of Drama & the Liberal Arts) in Stratford-upon-Avon. He later attended King's College London, where he studied Theology from 1990. Coles was awarded an MA by research from the University of Leeds in 2005 for work on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians.

Coles learned to play the saxophone, clarinet and keyboards, and moved to London in 1980, where he played in theatre. In 1983, he appeared with Jimmy Somerville in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project film Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts, which won the Grierson Award. Coles joined Bronski Beat (initially on saxophone) in 1983.

Somerville left Bronski Beat, and in 1985 he and Coles formed the Communards, who were together for just over three years and had three UK top 10 hits, including the biggest-selling single of 1986, a version of "Don't Leave Me This Way", which was at number one for four weeks. The band split in 1988, and Somerville went solo.

Coles provided narration for the Style Council's film JerUSAlem in 1987 and also started a career as a writer, particularly with the Times Literary Supplement and the Catholic Herald. He took up religion in his late twenties, after "the best of times, the worst of times", pop success and the deaths of friends as a result of HIV. From 1991 to 1994 he studied for a BA in theology at King's College London. While at university, Coles became a Roman Catholic and remained so for the next ten years before returning to Anglicanism in 2001.

Coles was selected for training for the priesthood in the Church of England and began his training at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, West Yorkshire, in 2003, before being ordained in 2005. After ordination, he was a curate at St Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire and then at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge in London. He has been chaplain of the Royal Academy of Music, played Dr Frank N Furter in a local concert and conducted an atheist funeral for Mo Mowlam in 2005. ...

Source: Article "Richard Coles" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Known for

Acting

2023 George Michael: Outed Actor Self 68
Fair
2022 Good Grief? Actor Self - Presenter N/A
N/A
2021 Stand Up & Deliver Actor Self 69
Fair
2020 Long Hot Summers: The Story of The Style Council Actor Self 59
Average
2017 Tim Vine Travels Through Time Christmas Special Actor The Pope 58
Average
2017 Queer as Art Actor Self 58
Average
2017 The Big Painting Challenge Actor Presenter N/A
N/A
1990 Jimmy Somerville: The Video Collection 1984/1990 (Featuring Bronski Beat and The Communards) Actor Self - Performer N/A
N/A
1986 Days Like These Actor Self N/A
N/A
1986 JerUSAlem Actor Narrator 58
Average
1986 The Communards - Live at Full House Rock Show Actor Self N/A
N/A
1983 Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts Actor Self 58
Average

Writing

2025 Murder Before Evensong Writing Novel N/A
N/A

Production

2025 Murder Before Evensong Production Executive Producer N/A
N/A

Sound

1990 Jimmy Somerville: The Video Collection 1984/1990 (Featuring Bronski Beat and The Communards) Sound Songs N/A
N/A