English comedian and actor Eddie Izzard was BOTD in 1962. Born in Yemen and raised in Ireland and Wales, Izzard identified as transgender at four (and now uses she/her pronouns). She studied drama at the University of Sheffield, developing a stand-up comedy routine with a friend, and began performing in London comedy clubs in the 1980s. She came to wider public attention in 1991 with her “Raised by Wolves” routine in a televised AIDS benefit. Famous for her eccentric stream-of-consciousness monologues, surreal Monty Python-inspired humour and unashamedly left-wing politics, she was one of the first comics to identify as a transvestite, often performing in dresses and make-up. Izzard has an equally eccentric career as a film actor, appearing in independent films Velvet Goldmine and Shadow of the Vampire and Hollywood blockbusters Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen. She won an Emmy Award for a television recording of her 1998 show Dress to Kill and was nominated for a Tony for her Broadway debut in the play A Day in the Life of Joe Egg. In 2003, Izzard received an honorary doctorate from the University of East Anglia for her work promoting “modern languages and tolerance of other cultures and lifestyles”, and for “transcend[ing] national barriers” with humour. In recent years, she made headlines by running 43 marathons in 51 days to raise money for charities. Her latest project, a one-person theatre show based on Shakespeare‘s Hamlet, premiered in 2024.