Person Biography:
Mackenzie Crook was born Paul Mackenzie Crook on September 29, 1971, in Maidstone, Kent, England, UK. His father worked for British Airways, and his mother was a hospital manager. He attended grammar school in Dartford, where he started acting and spent his summers with his uncle in Zimbabwe.
As a young boy, Crook expressed his creativity through painting and even copied a pre-Raphaelite's painting onto the back of his biker's jacket. He also joined a local youth theater and later turned to writing comedy sketches after failing to secure a place at art college at the age of 18. Crook worked at Pizza Hut and hospitals before becoming a stand-up comedian, with the principal of the youth theater believing in his potential and becoming his manager.
Crook's big break came in 1996 with his film debut in The Man Who Fell in Love with a Traffic Cone! and later in 1997, he was scouted by Bob Mortimer at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his television debut as a stand-up comedian on The 11 O'Clock Show in 1998 and went on to work on other TV shows playing grotesques and exaggerated characters.
Crook's breakthrough role came as Gareth Keenan in the TV hit comedy The Office in 2001, earning him a British Comedy Award nomination. He also starred in the BBC show "TV to Go" and shared the screen with Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice, Heath Ledger in The Brothers Grimm, and Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland.
Depp recommended Crook for the role of Ragetti in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, which Crook has appeared in three installments. After a decade of stand-up comedy, Crook added character-actor face to his repertoire and showcased his versatility in the Pirates trilogy.
In 2004, Crook appeared in the West End stage production of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and has been working on a script for his own future project, a period production set in London. Crook has been enjoying a happy family life with his wife, Lindsay, and their son, Jude, and resides in Peter Sellers' old art-deco house in Muswell Hill, North London, where he is focused on maintaining an organic way of life.
