Mel Smith
- English
- Actor, director and writer
Press clippings
Griff Rhys Jones pays tribute to Mel Smith on the 10th anniversary of his death
I was genuinely startled last week when an old friend rang me out of the blue to say it was now ten years since Mel Smith died. I don't mean I was surprised he got in touch. He didn't want me to go and lay a wreath or anything. I just couldn't believe that it was ten whole years since July 2013, on a day just like this, a bit overcast with wood pigeons practising their school recorder scales outside, when I noticed my wife Jo had dropped her voice in the room next door and was saying things like, "oh, I'm so sorry to hear that..." and "if there is anything we can do...".
Griff Rhys Jones, Daily Mail, 29th July 2023Restless Natives review
A gleeful sense of humour powers Michael Hoffman's 1985 crime caper, part of Scotland's cinematic response to Thatcherism.
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 25th February 2021Not the Nine O'Clock News at 40
The BBC sketch show not only kick-started 'alternative comedy' and some of the most influential careers in British comedy, writes Gerard Gilbert, but also the second great age of TV satire.
Gerard Gilbert, The Independent, 16th October 2019Griff Rhys Jones says Mel Smith "visits" him in dreams
They were the best of friends as well as life-long comedy partners. So it's perhaps not surprising that Griff Rhys Jones claims to have been "visited" by the late Mel Smith in his dreams.
James Draper, The Mirror, 3rd October 2016Omid Djalili on Mel Smith
It was Mel Smith who was to have the most impact on me. The fact that he was overweight and balding, but with the audacity to wear his remaining hair long, made him an undisputed people's champion.
Omid Djalili, The Guardian, 18th March 2015Griff Rhys Jones interview
Tiggerish Griff Rhys Jones on how anger got him ahead in television, coping with rejection and why Mel Smith's death was 'very, very annoying'.
Matthew Stadlen, The Telegraph, 3rd November 2014Unseen Smith & Jones footage at Slapstick Festival
Unseen footage of Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith will be shown at the Bristol Slapstick Festival 2015.
The Bristol Post, 3rd October 2014Colin's Sandwich box set review
Mel Smith's wannabe horror writer is a timeless sitcom hero.
Michael Hogan, The Guardian, 11th September 2014Mel Smith leaves £6.5 million in his will
Mel Smith, who died of a heart attack at the age of 60 last year, left a £6.5 million fortune in a trust.
The Huffington Post, 15th April 2014TV review - Mel Smith: I've Sort of Done Things
A spirited tribute to a hell-raising comic who was a master of playing it by ear.
Will Dean, The Independent, 26th December 2013