Jim Sweeney

Who is Jim Sweeney?

Michael James Dominic Sweeney, best known as Jim Sweeney, is an English actor and comedian, best known for his improvisation partnership with Steve Steen.

When Sweeney was 11 years old, he moved to London with his parents, along with two brothers and a sister. He became interested in theatre and improvisation while attending Clapham College, an all-boys Roman Catholic school.

Sweeney spent the 1970s in theatre productions, creating and touring shows with Steen, who was a friend from school. The pairing's first television work as a duo came on the ITV children's show CBTV, followed by the Channel 4 comedy Little Armadillos and resident support comic slots on Rory Bremner's first sketch show for the BBC.

In 1987, Sweeney played Samuel Taylor Coleridge in an episode of Blackadder the Third, with Steve Steen alongside him as Lord Byron. He then appeared in commercials and radio comedies before acquiring a semi-regular slot as a contestant on the Channel 4 improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? from 1991 to 1993. Comedy partner Steen would later join him frequently in these appearances.