Reading isn’t usually where people expect a global comic to come from. But that’s exactly where is Ricky Gervais from. Not the polished bits either. Whitley. A council estate in Berkshire that’s always been rough around the edges.
Born 25 June 1961 at Battle Hospital. His dad, Lawrence, came from Canada during World War Two. Franco-Ontarian from Pain Court, Ontario. A bit of French Canadian, a bit of Iroquois heritage. Worked as a labourer and hod carrier. Ricky’s mom, Eva, was from Reading. They met during a blackout.
Ricky Gervais’s parents had four kids. Ricky was the youngest, born 13 years after the next one up. When he was 11, he asked his mum about the age gap. She said, “You were a mistake.” That’s proper Whitley honesty right there. No filter.
Whitley’s one of the most deprived areas in England. Ashmead Comprehensive School, where Ricky went, wasn’t exactly Eton. He’s tweeted that lunchtimes felt like The Hunger Games. Half joke, half true.
Growing Up Rough
Council housing. Rough playground. But also the community. Ricky talks about reading constantly. The Office was set in nearby Slough. Cemetery Junction, his 2010 film, was named after a real Reading spot. He’s 64 now and still bangs on about his childhood there.
My mate Chris met him at a charity do in 2018. He said Ricky spent ages talking about the old Huntley & Palmers biscuit factory. Not in some misty-eyed way. Just proper local chat. That’s him.
After school, Ricky went to University College London. Studied philosophy. Graduated in 1983. Then the 80s happened. Managed Suede before they were famous. Worked in radio. Had a new wave duo called Seona Dancing that flopped massively in Britain but somehow went massive in the Philippines years later.
Didn’t hit proper fame till The Office in 2001. He was 40. Most people would’ve packed it in. But those years watching people in offices, soaking up ordinary British life, gave him David Brent. That character couldn’t come from anywhere except someone who’d properly observed middle England.
How Old Is Ricky Gervais and What’s He Worth
As of December 2025, he’s 64. Still touring. His Netflix special Mortality was released in 2024. Still bothering people and making them laugh.
Ricky Gervais net worth is estimated at £110 million. That’s from the royalties he commands for “The Office,” “Extras”, and “After Life,” plus his stand-up, Netflix deals and hosting gigs like the Golden Globes. Not bad for a council estate kid, his mum called it a mistake.
The Relationship
Is Ricky Gervais married? Nope. But he’s been with Jane Fallon since 1982. That’s 43 years. Never married. No kids. Both wanted it that way.
Jane’s a writer. Best-selling novels. TV producer. She’s successful in her own right. They met at uni. They’re equals who decided marriage and kids weren’t for them.
People always ask why no wedding. Ricky’s answer? “There’s no point in us having an actual ceremony before the eyes of God because there is no God.” Typical.
They both split time between London and New York. The Ricky Gervais house in Hampstead is worth millions. But Reading’s still home in his head.
Why It Matters
You can’t get Ricky’s comedy without understanding Whitley. That estate shaped everything. The bluntness. No pretension. The way he takes the piss out of celebrities at award shows. That’s pure working-class Berkshire.
When he told Hollywood stars they weren’t special at the Golden Globes, that came from growing up where nobody’s special. Everyone’s just getting by. His mum saying he was a mistake? That’s the brutal honesty you get in places like Whitley.
His atheism makes sense, too. Philosophy degree aside, he grew up where religion either mattered or it didn’t. For his family, it didn’t. They got on with life.
The animal rights stuff? Partly childhood. He’s said pets were constant when his older siblings left home. Animals don’t care if you’re from a rough estate.
Still Reading Through and Through
Despite the money, Ricky’s never pretended to be posh. Doesn’t put on airs. When he tweets, it’s the same voice as someone down the pub in Reading.
He’s been back to Whitley heaps of times. Takes photos. Tweets about it. In 2019, he shared his former school alongside the caption: “Where I learned everything.” Tongue-in-cheek but also true.
The Office wouldn’t exist without that grounding. After Life’s explorations of how grief hits normal people? That’s from understanding how most folks actually live. Not in mansions. Just muddling through.
What Reading Gave Him
Where is Ricky Gervais from? Reading, Berkshire. Whitley specifically. Battle Hospital, where he was born, closed in 2005. Doesn’t even exist anymore.
But that place made him. The humour. The honesty. Everything that makes Ricky funny, annoying, or brilliant, depending on who you ask, comes from growing up somewhere most people want to escape.
He escaped. Got rich beyond what anyone from Whitley imagined. But he never forgot. Still talks about it, references it, and is at heart a working-class Berkshire kid who got lucky and worked hard.
That’s why his comedy works. He’s not punching down. He’s someone who started at the bottom, climbed up, and remembers what the bottom looked like. Ricky Gervais parents didn’t raise him to be famous. They raised him to be honest.
Turns out that honesty, wrapped in dark humour and delivered with a Reading accent, was what British comedy needed. And it started in a council estate nobody’s heard of.
