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Joe Pasquale
English comedian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Joseph Ellis Pasquale (born 20 August 1961) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter. He is well-known for his squeaky, high-pitched voice.[2]
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In 1987 he was the runner-up on the TV talent show New Faces, since then he has appeared in numerous TV and stage appearances, as well as stand-up shows, plays, musicals and pantomimes. In 2004 he went on to win the fourth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and participated in the eighth series of Dancing on Ice in 2013. He also hosted the revived version of the game show The Price Is Right.
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Early life
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Joseph Ellis Pasquale was born as the third of four children to Joe and Ethel. He is of Italian descent through his grandfather, who came to the United Kingdom soon after World War II. In a 2006 interview, Pasquale revealed "He couldn't speak English, so he filled out the immigration form wrong. His Christian name was 'Pasquale', but he wrote it where his surname should have been. His actual surname was Trascini".[3]
Pasquale attended Torrells Comprehensive School for his secondary education.[3] At the age of 13, he got run over and broke his leg. Due to this, he skipped a year of schooling and could not do his exams.[4]
Pasquale eventually left school aged 15 and took a series of dead-end jobs, including working at his father's margarine factory in Purfleet, a tea boy and errand boy in the civil service, porter at Smithfield meat market in London, working at the Ford Dagenham automotive plant, manning a garage forecourt, building site labourer, and a swimming pool attendant –despite not being able to swim.[3]
He then got a job at as a Greencoat at a Warner Holiday Camp in Lowestoft, where he became a bingo caller and refereed wrestling matches.[3]
He later became Entertainments Manager at another Warner Holiday Camp, in Torquay.[3]
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Career
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Television
Pasquale rose to fame in 1987, when he appeared on New Faces. He auditioned as a bet with a friend, and every time he answered one of the director's questions, the judging panel laughed even more. A week later, his secretary at the holiday camp told him he will be competing. During the course of the series, Pasquale smashed a guitar, did magic tricks, and met Ken Dodd who gave him a couple of jokes to perform, and he won the round immediately after the advice. He eventually finished runner-up.[4]
On 28 December 1996 he starred in his own show The Joe Pasquale Show.[5]
From 2007–2008, Pasquale voiced Nine the Cat in CBBC's adaptation of Frankenstein's Cat.[citation needed]
In March 2020, he guest starred in an episode of the BBC daytime soap opera Doctors as himself, in an episode titled "The Joe Pasquale Problem".[6]
On 6 December 2004, he won the fourth series of the UK television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.[7]
In January 2013, Pasquale became one of twelve celebrities participating in the eighth series of Dancing on Ice, with skating partner Vicky Ogden.[8] They were eliminated on 10 February, claiming sixth place.
In 2025 he appeared as "The Maverick", a guest chaser on the ITV game show Beat the Chasers. He was masked and used a voice changer before revealing his identity at the end of the show.[9] Pasquale also briefly appeared in the Taskmaster season 20 episode 'A 1970s camping kettle.', for which he recorded a bit for contestant Reece Shearsmith.[10]
Stage
Pasquale has starred in numerous Christmas pantomimes for various venues across the UK.
In 1999, Pasquale made his stage acting debut in Larry Shue's The Nerd before playing Guildenstern in a UK tour of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 2004 and in 2007, Pasquale played Leo Bloom in the UK tour of Mel Brooks's musical The Producers opposite Cory English and Russ Abbot. He also played Tony Grimsdyke in a UK tour of Doctor in the House opposite Robert Powell in 2012 and played King Arthur in Monty Python's Spamalot at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End on a UK tour from 2013 to 2016.
In 2018, Pasquale played Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, based on the BBC sitcom, on a UK tour. In 2021, Pasquale played Al in John Godber's April in Paris on a UK tour opposite Sarah Earnshaw.
Pasquale joined Bradley Walsh, Brian Conley and Shane Richie as part of "The Prat Pack" for a one-night-only sold-out concert at the London Palladium on 30 March 2024. Following the Palladium concert, the four reunited to celebrate the opening of Fareham Live on 28 September 2024. The four will tour the UK in April and May 2025.[11]
Allegations of plagiarism
Pasquale has been accused of joke theft by Stewart Lee, who incorporated his allegations as part of Lee's comedy routine. Frank Skinner accused Pasquale of plagiarism in 2010, in using a routine about a rollercoaster prank from one of Skinner's DVD performances.[12]
Other work
Pasquale wrote the musical stage version of Rentaghost which toured the UK in 2006.[13]
On 24 September 2005, the 30-minute Breakout Trust DVD, entitled "It's a Boy", was published.[14] Pasquale starred as the voice of an Innkeeper named Garralus. Alongside him were performers such as Cannon and Ball, and Sir Cliff Richard. The production was a new take on the nativity story and was released in time for Christmas 2005.
Pasquale performed the voice of a rat in the 2006 film Garfield 2, also as the voice of The Dentist in 2008's Horton Hears a Who![citation needed]
Pasquale also provided the voice over for Underdog, a cartoon dog mascot of personal injury firm National Accident Helpline.[15]
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Stage and screen credits
Theatre
Pantomime
Other theatre
Stand-up VHS and DVDs
- Live and Squeaky (1996)
- Twin Squeaks (20 October 1997)
- The Crazy World of Joe Pasquale (26 October 1998)
- Bubble and Squeak (13 November 2000)
- The Everything I Have Ever Done & The First of Many Goodbye Tours (1 November 2004)
- Does He Really Talk Like That? The Live Show (21 November 2005)
- Return of the Love Monkey (20 November 2006)
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Personal life
Pasquale has overcome a fear of flying, and has a pilot's licence. He studied Earth Sciences at the Open University and was hoping to graduate with a BSc degree in 2014.[16] He moved to Norfolk in 2022.[17]
Pasquale has had an interest in geology since childhood, but was unable to pursue qualifications due to missing his school exams after being hit by a car.[18] On the recommendation of his friend Brian Blessed, he began an Open University course in geology; Blessed and Pasquale made a television pilot about geology in 2017, which was not broadcast.[19]
On 5 August 2023, Pasquale revealed on Kate Thornton's White Wine Question Time podcast that he had accidentally impaled himself on a pair of prop moose antlers in Skegness.[20][21] Pasquale, 61 at the time, described himself as "lucky to be alive", and recalled having tripped initially but then contorting evasively as he fell "like Tom Cruise in the new Mission Impossible film" to avert greater injury.[22]
His son, Joe Tracini,[23] is an actor and singer, known for playing Dennis Savage in Hollyoaks.
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References
External links
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