“I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance.” ~Stephen Fry
Actor and comedian Stephen Fry.
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How did a comedian become an Internet innovation leader?
Actor and personality Stephen Fry has a very public life. After starring for years on various British television comedies with the now House star Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry has become a prolific host, writer and investor. His exploits have led him to become one of the most influential people on the internet. Stephen Fry has over 5 million Twitter followers with one of the highest clickthrough rates of any celebrity, making his Tweets as valuable as the beauty peddling Kim Kardashian. Between his website, blog, podcasts and activity on social media, Fry could be cornered as a business leader that is helping to shape our culture.
Fry has invested in several Internet startups, including the new company Ticckle, with which he remains very active. His videos on the topic discussion site dominate the trending page. In 2011, he backed Summly, a news summarization site for smart phones that was recently purchased by Yahoo. One if his newest investments is in HeadCastLab, which helps users create talking animated heads through the use of audio recordings. Stephen Fry is helping to launch HeadCastLab with a series of “head casts” through his own mobile device app, “Fry App.”
In addition to his many Twitter followers, Fry has an active website community with a lively forum page and a forum to promote books, podcasts, videos and pictures created through his production company, SamFry. Fry’s products and offerings are a perfect example of how culture is shifting to user created content and sharing, and his activities show we are only at the beginning. In addition to all of his online activities, Fry continues to act, including an upcoming appearance in The Hobbit. He also hosts several television shows, and writes and produces film projects.
Fry is an outspoken atheist, humanist, and gay rights advocate and has spoken candidly about his experiences with depression, including a suicide attempt. He has been honored multiple times for his work to promote progressive culture, including the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University.
