A British stand-up comedian noted for his dry wit, Mark Addy made his feature film debut as Dave, the sweet and pudgy unemployed steelworker who becomes a stripper along with his mates in Peter Catteneo's "The Full Monty" (1997). The actor negotiated the fine lines between pathos and humor in his portrayal of a man self-conscious about his weight and fearing that his wife Jean finds him unattractive. Ironically, Jean thinks Dave is having an affair since he is out late rehearsing the act with the boys and concealing the true nature of his absences. Addy and Lesley Sharp (who played Jean) nicely convey the mixture of emotions in their scenes together.
Prior to "The Full Monty", Addy landed the regular role of D.C. Boyle, the bumbling gentle giant, alongside Rowan Atkinson in the British police sitcom "The Thin Blue Line" and supported Nigel Havers in the well-received 1997 British TV-movie "The Heart Surgeon". American audiences may also have seen him as another constable in the HBO mystery series "Band of Gold" (1994-95).
Addy's first major Hollywood role was as a supporting player in the Michael Keaton family fantasy "Jack Frost" (1998). He had the titular role of a bigamist in the Brit comedy "Married to Malcolm" (1998) and a luckless hit man in "The Last Yellow" before Tinseltown called again and executive producer Steven Spielberg cast Addy in the live-action role of Stone Age animated icon Fred Flintstone for the prequel "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000)--Addy did a spot-on imitation of the cartoon Everyman. Addy took a supporting role in Chris Rock's "Down to Earth" (2001), an afro-centric remake of "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"/"Heaven Can Wait" and well served a sidekick role as knight Heath Ledger's squire in the postmodern swashbuckler "A Knight's Tale" for writer-director Brian Helgeland. Following another sidekick part, this time to Guy Pearce, the hero of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" (2002), Addy received major mainstream exposure as the star of the CBS sit-com "Still Standing" (2002- ) as Bill Miller. a typical American blue-collar husband with the requiste hot wife (Jamie Gertz) and cute kids. The series was a less-amusing variation on "Everybody Loves Raymond" and, while critically dismissed, managed to draw decent ratings due to its timeslot proximity to Ray Romano's hit. The actor reunited with his "A Kinght's Tale" director Helgeland and co-stars Ledger and Shannyn Sossamon for the religious-themed secret cabal thriller "The Order" (2003), playing Thomas, Ledger's best friend, spiritual colleague and sleuthing partner.On stage, Addy has worked for a range of directors including Tony Harrison, Alan Ayckbourn and Richard Eyre.