I have interviewed Suzy Izzard several times over the decades when she was still called Eddie, one of the most successful stand-ups of her generation, an ‘out’ transvestite, and someone determined to break into film and TV drama. But this is the first time we’ve met since Izzard started running multiple marathons for charity, engaged fully in Labour Party politics and began to define herself as a trans woman. As a result, I find myself stumbling over names and pronouns. “I prefer Suzy and ‘she/her’,” says Izzard, 61, “but I don’t mind Eddie or ‘he/him’, which my brother still calls me. The only way you can misgender me is if you call me Cuthbert or Angela.”
It’s a smoothly practiced, disarming line. She chose ‘Suzy’ because she identified with the blonde actress Suzy Kendall after seeing the 1967 Sidney Poitier film To Sir, with Love at the age of 10. Aware of her gender fluidity from an early age, Izzard has been waiting for the terminology to catch up. She used to refer to herself as “a lesbian trapped in a man’s body”. Today she has frosted blonde hair, red nails and — there’s no way round this — an impressive bosom. She’d rather not say if she’s had surgery: “There is mental transitioning and physical transitioning but I’m going to keep that to myself.”
