Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner (born Christopher Graham Collins; 28 January 1957) is an English writer, comedian, TV and radio presenter, and actor. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was awarded the Best Comedy Entertainment Personality.

Early life

Skinner was born in West Bromwich, England, and grew up in a council house in neighbouring Oldbury. He was the youngest of four children born to former semi-professional footballer John Collins (1918-1989) and his wife Doris (1919-1988). He has two older brothers, Keith and Terrence, and an older sister, Nora. His father, who was born in West Cornforth, County Durham, played for Spennymoor United before the Second World War, and met his mother in a local pub after Spennymoor had played West Bromwich Albion in an FA Cup game in 1937.

Skinner attended Moat Farm Infant School from 1961 to 1964, St. Hubert's Roman Catholic Junior School from 1964 to 1968, and then Oldbury Technical Secondary School from 1968 to 1973. He passed two O-levels in summer 1973 and took A-levels in English Language and Art, along with several O-level resits, at Oldbury Technical School Sixth Form. He subsequently took 4 A-levels (including English Language and Literature) at Warley College of Technology and graduated from Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) in 1981 with a degree in English. This was followed by a Masters degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick in Coventry the following year.

Frank Skinner (composer)

Frank Skinner (31 December 1897 – 9 October 1968) was an American composer and arranger.

Skinner was born in Meredosia, Illinois. A graduate of the Chicago Musical College (now known as the Chicago Conservatory of Music), 16-year-old Frank found employment in vaudeville and began playing in local areas with his brother Carl on drums. They were billed as the Skinner Brothers dance band. From there they began playing on the steamboats that went up and down the Illinois river. It was during this time that he began writing and arranging music for dance bands. This work brought him to New York, where from 1925 to 1935 he arranged about 2000 popular songs for Robbins Publishing. By the time he left Manhattan for Hollywood, he had written two books on arranging for dance bands.

After a short period at MGM, working on musical settings for The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Skinner was hired by Universal Studios. Over the course of his 30 years there, he composed music for more than 200 films. Although he continued to work on musicals, he quickly mastered the art of dramatic scores, eventually earning five Academy Award nominations (1938–43). He died in Beverly Hills, California.

Frank Skinner (disambiguation)

Frank Skinner (born 1957) is a British comedian.

Frank Skinner may also refer to: