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John Oliver To Host The Daily Show - And 10 Other British Comedians Who Have Made It In America

John Oliver - And 10 Other British Comics Who Have Made It In America
The Huffington Post UK
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Britain's very own John Oliver just went from big to bigger - with the news that he'll be standing in for Jon Stewart when the 'Daily Show' host takes an extended hiatus this summer.

"Don’t worry, it’s still going to be everything that you love about 'The Daily Show,' just without the thing that you love the most about it," said Oliver - who'll be stepping into Stewart's shoes for eight weeks from 10 June.

36-year-old Oliver joined 'The Daily Show' in 2006 - after Ricky Gervais told Jon Stewart about his talents - and he's been a popular fixture on the show ever since.

He isn't the first British boy done good in America, of course. See who else* has wowed our friends across the Pond...

10 British Comedians In Hollywood
Russell Brand(01 of10)
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Clearly Hollywood's idea of the consummate, sexy British rogue, Brand has gone from St Trinian's to modern-day Arthur - via Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek.
Simon Pegg (02 of10)
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We tip our hats to Nick Frost, too, of course, but it's Pegg that's really broken out - with roles in the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and Star Trek, and leading man status in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.
Sacha Baron Cohen(03 of10)
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We first knew him as Staines 'gangsta' Ali G - but now he's Borat, Bruno, The Dictator and the voice of Julien the lemur in Madagascar.
John Cleese(04 of10)
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Hollywood loves Monty Python, of course - but with Bond films, Harry Potter movies and A Fish Called Wanda under his belt, Cleese is the Brit who really carved his own Stateside film career.
Steve Coogan(05 of10)
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He broke through with Hollywood hits Night At The Museum and Tropic Thunder, but obviously both of those will be mere blips compared to the film we're really waiting for: Alan Partridge: The Movie. Aha!
Ricky Gervais(06 of10)
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No sooner had Wernham Hogg become Dunder Mifflin than the former The 11 O'Clock Show star had written, directed and starred in Cemetery Junction and The Invention Of Lying, bagged a role in Night At The Museum 2 and hosted the Golden Globes.
Stephen Merchant(07 of10)
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Gervais's right-hand man and West Country boy done good, Merchant seems to be carving himself a niche as the Obligatory Weird And/Or British Friend (as seen in the Farrelly Brothers comedy Hall Pass and romcom I Give It A Year).
Rowan Atkinson(08 of10)
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To us, he may always be Blackadder, but to Hollywood, he's the rubberfaced money machine that is Johnny English and Mr Bean. Not forgetting Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux, of course.
Matt Lucas(09 of10)
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His Hollywood breakthrough may have only just happened, but given that Bridesmaids was one of the biggest comedy hits in box office history, we somehow think that Lucas - who also starred in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland - has many more big screen roles ahead of him.
The Inbetweeners(10 of10)
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OK, so '10' is a whole cast (and crew). But this list wouldn't be complete without The Inbetweeners, who made the most successful British comedy movie in history, grossing over $45m from a film which cost just $3.5m to make. And if it's one thing Hollywood loves, it's that kind of math(s).

*who's currently alive (so no Dudley Moore, Charlie Chaplin, et al)

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