"Funniest Comedian MICHAEL FENTON STEVENS vs RAY STEVENS"
MICHAEL FENTON STEVENS
Michael Fenton Stevens (born 12 February 1958) is an English actor and comedian. He is best known for being a founder member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees and the voice behind the Spitting Image 1986 number 1 hit "The Chicken Song". He also starred in KYTV, its Radio 4 predecessor, Radio Active and Benidorm as Sir Henry since Series 4 which was first broadcast in 2011, and as an anchor on 3rd & Bird on CBeebies. Fenton Stevens featured in regular roles as Hank in the 1996 series The Legacy of Reginald Perrin, and as Ralph in Andy Hamilton's 2003 television sitcom Trevor's World of Sport, as well as in the Radio 4 version of the latter which was broadcast in 2004. Stevens had previously appeared in a guest role in Drop the Dead Donkey, another television comedy series written by Hamilton, and appears regularly in various roles in Hamilton's Radio 4 sitcom Old Harry's Game. He has also featured in Ian Hislop's sitcom My Dad's the Prime Minister as the Home Secretary. He plays the eponymous Inspector Steine in Lynne Truss' long-running Radio 4 comedy series. From 2004 until 2005 he appeared in two series of Julia Davis's dark comedy series Nighty Night as the Reverend Gordon Fox. He also appeared in various roles in the Tertiary, Quandary and Quintessential Phases of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series. In 2007, he played Michael Wenton Weeks in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. He has provided the voice of Mr Beakman, a toucan, in the CBeebies show 3rd & Bird. He has a recurring role in the sitcom My Family as Mr Griffith, the boss of the dental corporation "Cavitex". He has played Sir Henry in Benidorm since Series 4 which was first broadcast in 2011. Notable guest appearances have been as the next door hotel guest in "Mr. Bean in Room 426"; and alongside Hee Bee Gee Bees bandmate Angus Deayton as the brother-in-law of Deayton's character in an episode of One Foot in the Grave. He played a guest role in Coronation Street in November 2004. In 2006, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio adventure The Kingmaker. He also appeared in Series 3 Episode 3 of Outnumbered, as a substitute player called 'Lance' in a tennis match, and in the "Music 2000" episode of Look Around You as the chairman of the Royal Pop and Rock Association. He is a very successful Pantomime Dame, having written and appeared in a number of pantos over the years. From December 2006 until January 2007, he starred in and wrote the Cambridge Arts Theatre pantomime version of Aladdin in the role of Widow Twankey. In 2015, Stevens appeared as Dr. John Radcliffe in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Helen Edmundson's Queen Anne. In 2020, with help from his son John Fenton Stevens, a series of podcasts have been released called My Time Capsule with guests such as Stephen Fry, Rebecca Front, Rick Wakeman, Mark Gatiss, Rufus Hound, David Mitchell, Anthony Head, Chris Addison, Rev Richard Coles, Griff Rhys Jones, Richard Herring and David Baddiel.
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RAY STEVENS
Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as comedic hits such as "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". He has worked as a producer, music arranger, songwriter, television host, and solo artist; been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and the Christian Music Hall of Fame; and received gold albums for his music sales. In 2019, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. At 18, Stevens signed to Capitol Records' Prep Records division in 1957, and produced the singles "Silver Bracelet" and a cover of "Rang Tang Ding Dong", which met with a positive review from Billboard. The latter was originally recorded by doo-wop group The Cellos in 1957. In 1958, Bill Lowery created the National Recording Corporation (NRC), and hired Stevens to play numerous instruments, arrange music, and perform background vocals for its band. Stevens signed with Mercury Records in 1961. With Mercury, he had several hits including "Harry the Hairy Ape," "Funny Man," the original recording of "Santa Claus Is Watching You," "Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving, Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills," and "Ahab the Arab." "Ahab the Arab" reached no. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1962. In 1966, Stevens signed with Monument Records and started to release serious material such as "Mr. Businessman" in 1968, a Top 30 pop hit; "Have a Little Talk With Myself" and the original version of "Sunday Morning Coming Down" in 1969, which became Stevens' first two singles to reach the country music charts. O.C. Smith covered the Stevens-penned "Isn't It Lonely Together", and Sammy Davis Jr. covered "Have a Little Talk With Myself." Stevens continued to release comedic songs, and in 1969 he had a Top 10 pop hit with "Gitarzan." Stevens also became a regular on The Andy Williams Show during 1969–1970, and hosted his own show, The Ray Stevens Show, in 1970. In Australia, Ross D. Wyllie reached the top 20 with his cover of Stevens' Funny Man. Stevens' collection of Hot 100 hits is evenly divided between serious and comedy. According to Time-Life Records "Country Collection" from around 1986, the LP jacket for Waylon Jennings' "Country Collection" (courtesy of RCA Records) states that Ray Stevens sang background vocals and played the organ on "Only Daddy That'll Walk the Line." As an A&R man, music producer, writer, and arranger, Stevens assisted many artists at Mercury Records and Monument Records, 1961 through early 1970, including Ronnie Dove, Brenda Lee, Brook Benton, Patti Page, Joe Dowell, Dusty Springfield, and Dolly Parton. "My True Confession," a Top-10 on the R&B chart in 1963 for Brook Benton, was written by Stevens and Margie Singleton. Stevens was the arranger for the Doyle Holly recording of "My Heart Cries For You," which had been recorded previously by Stevens during the late 1950s on the NRC label.
