[6] Paul James Martin was born on 9 July 1957[7] in Parsons Green, west London,[8] to an English Anglican father, Albert Martin (a train driver on the London Underground), and an Irish Catholic mother, Mary Ann Power (a medical nurse).

"[19] He gained his earliest professional credits under his birth name, including an appearance as a yokel in Time, an episode of The Young Ones in 1984.

[20] On joining Equity he found that the name Paul Martin was already taken by a juggler in Leeds, so he renamed himself after Merton, the district of London where he grew up.

[9][21] Though he had harboured serious ambitions of becoming a performing comedian since his school days, it was not until April 1982, at the Comedy Store in Soho, that his dream was realised.

[22] Merton commented that he made his professional debut, along with writing partner John Irwin, in Swansea in 1982 which led to having an "affection for Wales".

[25] Merton was due to make his West End debut in the 2021 revival of Hairspray at the London Coliseum.

After long-time Just a Minute panellist Kenneth Williams died in 1988, Merton (a fan of the show) contacted the producer at the suggestion of the host, Nicholas Parsons.

In 2000 he presented Two Priests and a Nun Go into a Pub, in which he interviewed British and Irish comedians who had (like Merton himself) been brought up as members of the Roman Catholic Church.

In 2009, Merton started a Radio 4 series in which he reads Spike Milligan's war memoirs in an audio-book fashion.

Also in 1996, Merton took a break from Have I Got News for You during its eleventh series, making only one appearance as a guest on fellow captain Ian Hislop's team.

Hislop's selections deliberately included items that Merton was known to like, such as The Beatles and the films of Charlie Chaplin.

His best role came in 1999, where Merton starred alongside Ronnie Corbett as one of the ugly sisters in ITV's Christmas pantomime of Cinderella.

His other co-stars were Julian Clary, Samantha Janus, Ben Miller, Harry Hill, Frank Skinner and Alexander Armstrong.

The show charted his beginnings in the comedy business, to the development of his improvisational skills, his mental breakdown, and the popularity of Have I Got News For You.

He was rumoured to be a possible new host of Countdown to replace both Richard Whiteley[37] and his successor, Des Lynam,[38] but decided not to pursue this.

[47][48][49] In October 2023, Merton appeared on an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip with his wife Suki.

Merton and Bill Bailey walked, talked and visited pubs on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.

[51] Merton had a relationship with producer and actress Sarah Parkinson; they were married unofficially in a service in the Maldives in 2000.

[citation needed] In a 2007 public poll featured in The Guardian, Merton was voted alongside the likes of Oscar Wilde, Spike Milligan, Noël Coward and Winston Churchill as one of the ten greatest wits of all time.

[55] The Observer's "The A–Z of Laughter", a 2003 special compiled by expert judges which featured the 50 funniest acts in British comedy by letter, applauded Merton for "bringing to Have I Got News for You a genuine surrealism that cuts through the clubbable smugness".