Inside Eddie Izzard's life - tragic loss, marathons, political ambitions and romance

dailystar.co.uk:

Hollywood icon Eddie Izzard is 60 years old today.The star, who was born on February 7 1962, rose to fame as a stand-up comedian, before appearing in films including My Super Ex Girlfriend, Velvet Goldmine and Six Minutes to Midnight.She also recently appeared in the hit Netflix series Stay Close, as the solicitor Harry Sutton.Away from the stage however, she has also led a very interesting life, which has included a high profile political career and completing epic marathons for charity, as well as speaking publicly about a tragic loss when she was younger.Eddie's parents were BP Chief Accountant Harold Izzard and Dorothy Ella, who were working in Yemen when the comedian was born.The family moved to Northern Island when Eddie was one year old, before settling in Wales.However when Eddie was just six years old and her elder brother Mark was eight, their mother died of cancer.She has since spoken openly about her death, particularly in her autobiography Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens and in the documentary, Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, where she also made an emotional revelation, saying: "I know why I’m doing this [my career]. "Everything I do in life is trying to get her [her mother] back.

I think if I do enough things . . . then maybe she will come back."Later reflecting on this comment, she told The Guardian that her death also had a huge affect on her pursuing a career as a performer, saying: "I do believe I started performing and doing all sorts of big, crazy, ambitious things because on some level, on some childlike magical-thinking level, I thought doing those things might bring her back."Although Eddie Izzard has become one of the world's most popular comedians and actors, her career.