Comedian and animal campaigner Ricky Gervais celebrated his 60th birthday in his usual style today, tweeting a stunning airbrushed image of his standing majestically in his mansion grounds. Ah no, actually it was a selfie of him scrunched up in the bath, cross-eyed and most of all, just good old Ricky. He commented on the tweet, "Got a day off. Playing tennis & going to an actual pub! I guess I'd better do a Twitter Live on Sunday to thank the #BollocksGang for all their wishes & gifts."

Born in Reading, in the UK, in 1961, Gervais' first foray into entertainment was as part of the new wave pop due Seona Dancing in 1983. The group didn't exactly set the UK charts alight, failing to make it to the UK charts, although they did have one hit in the Philippines. His TV break came in 1998, when he made his first appearance on the box in Channel 4's Comedy Lab. He appeared in one of several pilot shows of the series, the one off Golden Years, in which he played a David Bowie obsessed character called Clive Meadows.

Gervais stuck with Channel 4 for a number of years, appearing on The 11 O'clock show as a replacement of Ali G, and his own show Meet Ricky Gervais, the latter of which was not exactly a hit and has been ridiculed by the actor himself in the years since. It was soon after this that along with Stephen Merchant, Gervais' best known creation, David Brent, came into being, and in 2001 the first six episode series of The Office aired on the BBC. After winning an army of fans and awards, The Office was remade for audiences in many countries, including the long running US version starring Steve Carell.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Gervais has never created a series that he has allowed to go on indefinitely until it becomes repetitive and boring. Much like the old classic British series' like Fawlty Towers and Porridge, Gervais is well known for ending his series' after two or three seasons. This is true of The Office, Extras, The Ricky Gervais Show, An Idiot Abroad, which pushed the unlikely star Karl Pilkington into the public eye more than ever before, and Derek. His latest series, Afterlife for Netflix has been a huge success, taking on the difficult subject of the death of a loved one as a show that makes you laugh out loud one minute and want to weep for his character's vulnerability the next. There are not many shows that can go from a fart gag to an attempted suicide with ease, but that is the quality of Gervais at his best. In May last year, Gervais signed a new contract with Netflix for numerous projects including the third season of Afterlife.

Gervais has also made numerous film appearances, including smaller roles in the animation Valiant, For Your Consideration, Stardust and three Night At The Museum movies as well as having lead roles in Ghost Town, The Invention of Lying, Muppets Most Wanted, Special Correspondents and the mockumentary David Brent: Life on The Road.

As well as his TV and movie work, Gervais is also one of the UK's most successful stand-up comedians, having sold out numerous tours since making his debut in the late 1990s. Through his stand-up shows such as Animals, Science and Humanity, Gervais has allowed his honest, blunt and not for the easily offended humor take apart every subject from God to disabilities, to the way the internet can misinterpret anything if someone decides to take offense to it. From the man who gave us the quote, "Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right", it is not surprising that he does occasionally court controversy, but it is massively outweighed by the people who see through the persona and get the message he is delivering. His new tour and Netflix special, SuperNature, was announced in 2018 and has only just started warm up shows in the last few days.

Gervais has never been one to shy away from saying what needs to be said, and as well as his near the knuckle comedy style, he is a strong campaigner against animal cruelty and very rarely minces his words on the matter. His love of animals is something that was mentioned in many of the posts by his fans wishing him a happy birthday, with some tweeting pictures of dogs they had adopted on the back of some of his campaigning. Here are some of the many birthday messages received by the star to mark the occasion, which has surely been topped by the recent announcement that he will be received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.