Portrait of Nigel Planer

Birthday profile

Nigel Planer

Nigel Planer, English actor and screenwriter

Born
February 22, 1953
Age in 2026
73
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1953

About Nigel Planer

Nigel George Planer is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom The Young Ones and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom Filthy, Rich and Catflap and narrating the children's animated series Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including original casts of Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He has also appeared in Hairspray. He won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage, and BAFTA awards. Planer is best known for his role as Neil, the hippie housemate in the BBC comedy The Young Ones, which ran for two series broadcast in 1982 and 1984. His father, George (d. 2016), established a company that pioneered technology in controlled-rate freezers, IVF and stem cell research. With Christopher Douglas, he created the spoof actor character Nicholas Craig, who appears in book, radio, TV and article form as well as live; including, in 2011, in Stewart Lee's At Last!

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Nigel Planer timeline

  1. Planer is best known for his role as Neil, the hippie housemate in the BBC comedy The Young Ones, which ran for two series broadcast in 1982 and 1984.
  2. He won a BRIT award in 1984 and has been nominated for Olivier, TMA, WhatsOnStage, and BAFTA awards.
  3. With Christopher Douglas, he created the spoof actor character Nicholas Craig, who appears in book, radio, TV and article form as well as live; including, in 2011, in Stewart Lee's At Last!
  4. His father, George (d. 2016), established a company that pioneered technology in controlled-rate freezers, IVF and stem cell research.

The world when Nigel Planer was born

Nigel Planer was born in 1953. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1953

  • #1 song"Doggie in the Window" – Patti Page
  • Top movieFrom Here to Eternity
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookCasino Royale – Ian Fleming

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentEdmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summit Mount Everest
  • Top headlineCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II
  • Technology milestoneWatson and Crick discover the structure of DNA
  • Defining fadTV dinners
  • Notable inventionTV dinner
  • World population2.68 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonMinneapolis Lakers (NBA)
  • U.S. population159.0M

1953 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Nigel Planer's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19532026
Gas$0.29$3.45/gal
Average home$9,500$435,000
Average income$5,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.60$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population159.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.