"Know this about me: like General George S. Patton, I believe in reincarnation.  It is my firm conviction that in all my previous lives I've been a soldier, a bold warrior soul, who tragically in this incarnation has been given the body of an abject coward.  So excuse me, gentlemen, while I have a humiliating panic attack under the scanner table." ~ Rimmer from "Legion."

     Christopher Barrie was born on March 28, 1960 in Germany and was educated in Northern Ireland.  He was a boarder at a Methodist school in Belfast, where he became Head boy in his final year.  He first developed his talent for impersonation by mimicking teachers at the school.  After graduating, Chris' first job was working in a graveyard ~ filling in graves (apparently he was not "qualified" enough to dig the graves), cleaning and locking up at night.  

     Chris then took a Business Studies course at Brighton Poly, but decided that this road was not for him.  It was at this point that he thought of becoming an actor and joined a drama group, playing the lead in Dial M For Murder.  Other jobs that he took included working for Waitrose Supermarket collecting carts from the parking lot, and taking a job at the bicycle department at Harrods.  It was at this job that he began doing different impersonations (and resulted in him losing the job due to a prank played on a co-worker).  It was after a job as a van driver that he decided to try an attempt at the entertainment industry again.

     He started doing stand-up comedy at clubs, including the Comedy Store where he shared the bill with Ben Elton and future fellow Dwarf cast member Norman Lovett.  He proceeded to get a two-minute spot on the David Essex Show.  Later, in 1990, Chris would join a national theatre tour in Totally Foxed.

     Back in 1982, Chris began doing impersonations professionally.  It was during his performance at The Comedy Store that his talent was discovered by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor ~ the creators of Red Dwarf.  They recruited him to do the voice for a character named Hab in the radio sketch Dave Hollins:  Space Cadet ~ the predecessor to Red Dwarf.

     The following year, Chris' first television appearance came as he played one of the support cast for Jasper Carrott's topical series Carrott's Lib.  Along with this, he lent his voice for the television show Spitting Image (where he also worked as a puppeteer), and continued to be a voice artist for the show for the following 9 years.  He was the principal male voice on the show ~ some of his characters including Sean Connery's James Bond, Ronald Reagan, Prince Charles, Robin Day, David Coleman, Sir John Gielgud, Paul Daniels, Barry Norman, John Cole, George Bush, Jack Nicholson and Kenneth Williams. Chris also worked in the theatre, in radio and in "small, strange roles, in frankly, even stranger films."

     During casting for Red Dwarf, Chris originally auditioned for the role of Lister but was given the role of the (lovable to some) "Smeg-head" Arnold Judas Rimmer instead.  He says about Red Dwarf, "It is not the easiest of shows to produce. This show is so fantastic to do."  While starring in Red Dwarf as the selfish Rimmer, he also starred as the insensitive Gordon Brittas, the manager of a disaster-prone Leisure Centre in the BBC show The Brittas Empire.  Chris says of his character Brittas, "I don't really like him very much.  He is a sort of school teacher nightmare, someone you meet in big corporations as head of paper-clips, a petty-minded, anally-retentive sort of person - great fun to play."   

     Commenting on both Rimmer and Brittas, Chris says, "Every actor who has played two spineless idiots, two fairly unattractive kind of characters, two losers at the end of the day, should start to think about the possibility of being typecast."

     Chris also played an ex-football player turned business man Gary Prince, the lead role in the BBC football sitcom A Prince Among Men.  Other appearances include:  Blackadder the Third, The Lenny Henry Show, The Young Ones, Noel's House Party, Blue Peter, and Filthy, Rich and Catflap.

     Chris is an old car enthusiast and has an impressive collection, including a few motorcycles.  He collects automobile memorabilia as well.  "Five or ten years ago, I just wanted to drive around in a wacky car and have fun." says Chris, "Now I am far more sensible.  I think about kitchens..."  He also enjoys photography, cycling, and going for walks.

     And for the future?  Chris would like to play a romantic lead one day, but accepts the fact that due to being known for his characters such as Brittas and Rimmer, it would be difficult for people to cast him in that type of role.  He says, "It's quite exciting really, to try and find another character.  It is interesting, more than anything else to try and do something else."  

Last updated: March 2001.

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