Ricky Gervais is a British comedian and actor born in 1961 in Reading, England. He studied philosophy at University College London where he met his future wife. After university he pursued a brief career in music before moving into comedy writing and television production. In the 2000s, he cocreated and starred in the hit BBC sitcom The Office with Stephen Merchant. The Office was later adapted for American television. Stephen Merchant is a British comedian, writer and actor born in 1974 in Bristol, England. He studied film and television at university with aspirations of being a director and performer. He met Ricky Gervais in 1997 and they formed a successful writing partnership, cocreating The Office. Merchant has also appeared in films such as