Omid Djalili is a British Iranian stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer. Djalili was born in Chelsea, London to Iranian Bahá'í parents and is a Bahá'í himself. He attended Holland Park School and then the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and Theatre studies. Djalili is a Chelsea fan. He is married to British actress and playwright Annabel Knight, with whom he has a daughter and two sons. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab... Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" in 1996. He has performed in numerous countries, including Australia, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Germany and the United States, where he had his own HBO Special and did 22 episodes of the NBC sitcom Whoopi with Whoopi Goldberg. He did his part for Comic Relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales.
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