Aisling Bea Biography
Aisling Bea born Aisling Cliodhnadh O’Sullivan, is an Irish actress, comedian and writer. She was born on 16 March 1984 in County Kildare, Ireland.
Bea was educated at a Catholic convent school and then studied French and philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. She was part of a student sketch comedy group and moved to London after graduation to study acting. In 2008, she completed a two-year course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Having been a working writer and actress for years, she gave stand-up a go in 2011. A year later, Aisling became the first woman in 20 years to win the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny? competition for new stand-ups. A year later, her debut solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, C’est La Bea sold out it’s entire run, received four and five star reviews across the board and she was nominated for the Foster’s Best Newcomer Award (formerly The Perrier Award). Another year later in 2014, she won the British Comedy Award for Best Female TV Comedian. Her second Edinburgh hour in 2015, Plan Bea sold out it’s entire run in three days and had extra shows added due to demand. She is currently working on a new tour show for 2019.
Aisling is a regular stand up on the LA circuit where she spends a third of her year. She performs all over the world from London to LA to Malaysia and in July 2107 played Montreal Just For Laughs Festival for a second time. Other festival appearances include Riot LA, Sketchfest San Francisco, Latitude and Electric Picnic.
Her other appearances have included The Stand Up To Cancer Great British Bakeoff (Channel 4/ 4OD), Travel Man with Richard Ayoyade (available to watch on 4OD), , The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV), Would I Lie To You? (BBC1), Insert Name Here (BBC), Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC), Sunday Brunch (Ch4) and Channel 4’s nerve-wrecking live 9 hour Alternative Live Election Show coverage with Jeremy Paxman and David Mitchell.
Aisling Bea
She has appeared on almost every TV panel show in the UK and in 2016 became the first ever female team captain of long running show 8 Out Of 10 Cats with Jimmy Carr. She is part of the 2017 cast of hit Dave show Taskmaster and is a regular on big shows like Qi (BBC1/ Netflix) formerly with Stephen Fry and now with the inimitable Sand Toksvig, 8 Out of Ten Cats Does Countdown (Ch4), James Corden’s A League of Their Own (Sky), The Big Fat Quiz of Everything (Ch4), @Midnight (Comedy Central US) and The Last Leg (Ch4).
She’s had script and treatment commissions for films and TV shows with Grand Pictures, Big Talk, Rough Cut, Citrus Productions and the Irish Film Board. She was a lead writer on BBC NI sketch show LOL, had a sitcom Desperate written with Brona C Titley in development at the BBC and has had two Radio 4 series.
Aisling was also named Irish Tatler’s Entertainment Woman of the Year 2013.
Aisling does LOADS of podcasts, they include, The Guilty Feminist, An Irishman Abroad, Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas’ How Did This Get Made?, Eugene Mirman’s Hold On and The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast, to name a few. She performed her own short story Kill Dilly on Radio 4’s afternoon readings Comic Fringes and her Radio 4 series Micks and Legends, which she co-wrote with Yasmine Akram, was nominated for a Chortle award and given a second series which aired in February 2014.
In 2015, she trained in actual wrestling to take part in the one off spectacle The Wrestling, where comedians and real WWF wrestlers battled each other.
In November 2017, her article about her father’s death by suicide first published for The Guardian, ‘My father’s death has given me a love of men, of their vulnerability and tenderness’, “went viral”.
She has been a script writer for over a decade. She and Emmy nominated Catastrophe’s Sharon Horgan have had a series commissioned by Channel 4 with Sharon’s production company Merman. Aisling is now writing Happy AF to air in 2019.
She is a very active member of the London Irish community. She is a patron of the London Irish Centre for whom she has organised fundraising gigs like “The Big Dishgo” raising thousands of pounds for young Irish immigrants. She was an active campaigner for the Repeal the 8th Campaign for Abortion reform in Ireland and still is for ethical clothing and more transparency in the clothing industry. She also supports the Help Refugees charity.
Aisling Bea Age
She was born on 16 March 1984 in County Kildare, Ireland. Her father, Brian, was an equine vet who died when she was three years old. Bea and her younger sister, Sinéad, were raised by their mother, Helen, a secondary school teacher, jockey trainer and former professional jockey.
Aisling Bea Sister
Her sister Sinead O’Sullivan, an established film costume designer has published a Costume Directory (@thecostumedirectory on Instagram) to raise awareness of more ethical clothing practices within the industry. They were both named “40 Irish Women Under 40 to watch out for” by Image Magazine. She has given speeches for the London Irish Women’s Network, read poetry for the official Bloomsday Celebrations at the London Irish Embassy and has also spoken at campaigns and protests for gender equality.
Aisling Bea Family
Her late grandfather Micheál O’Suilleabháin was a Gaelic novelist and poet, her grandaunt Siobháin Ní Shúilleabhain was a prolific Gaelic writer and dramatist and her mother Helen O’Sullivan (neé Moloney) is a retired professional flat-race jockey.
Aisling Bea Boyfriend
In April 2018, The Sun’s Bizarre column revealed that Aisling was dating Welsh actor turned political activist Michael Sheen.
The pair attended the Olivier Awards in London, arriving separately but meeting up at the after-party at the Natural History Museum.
A source said: “They met through mutual friends and Michael is pretty smitten, telling people he is off the market.”
Aisling Bea Married
She is not married.