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Twice a BAFTA award-winning English satirist, writer, and director, Bird was the son of chemist shopkeeper Horace Bird and his wife Dorothy (née Haubitz). Born in Bulwell, Nottingham, he graduated from the Cambridge Footlights troupe. He was best known for his long collaboration with fellow Cambridge alumnus John Fortune, with whom he appeared in the groundbreaking BBC satire That Was the Week That Was (1962), also contributing scripts. His greatest success came later supporting Rory Bremner in the long-running improvisational political sketch show Bremner, Bird and Fortune (1997). Bird was especially recognized for his satirical portrayals of political figures like Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
His notable roles included a private detective in 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968), a university vice-chancellor in A Very Peculiar Practice (1986), a careless civil servant in If It Moves, File It (1970), the pompous barrister John Fuller-Carp in Chambers (2000), and Professor Peter Plum in season 4 of the game show Cluedo (1990). He also guest-starred in episodes of well-known TV series such as Armchair Thriller (1978), Yes, Prime Minister (1986), One Foot in the Grave (1990), Jonathan Creek (1997), and Midsomer Murders (1997). Bird struggled with drug and alcohol dependency during the mid to late 1970s, which significantly impacted his physical and mental health for a period.
He was married and divorced twice: first to Ann Stockdale, daughter of a US ambassador to Ireland, and then to television presenter Bridget Simpson. His third wife, concert pianist Libby Crandon, passed away in 2012.
