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| Birth Name(s) : Rowan Atkinson |
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Full Rowan Atkinson Biography
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder and Mr. Bean.
Atkinson has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born in Consett, County Durham in 1955. His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and his wife Ella May (née Bambridge), who had married on 29 June 1945. His elder brother, Rodney Atkinson, is a eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000.
Atkinson was raised Anglican. He was educated at Durham Choristers School, followed by St Bees School, and studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University. He continued with an MSc at The Queen's College, Oxford, first achieving notice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1976. At Oxford, he also acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), meeting writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.
After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show. After the success of the show, he was offered his own television series by ITV in 1978. Atkinson turned it down in favour of Not the Nine O'Clock News, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He starred on the show along with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder
The success of Not the Nine O'Clock News led to his starring in the medieval sitcom The Black Adder, which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis, in 1983. Despite a mixed reception, a second series was written, this time by Curtis and Ben Elton, and first screened in 1985. Blackadder II followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in two sequels Blackadder the Third (1987) (set in the Regency era), and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) (set in the First World War). The Blackadder series went on to become one of the most successful BBC situation comedies of all time.As Mr. Bean in the original episode.
Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Hitachi electrical goods, Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Most famously, he appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent in a long-running series for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in Johnny English was based.
Atkinson's film career began in 1983 with a supporting part in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again and a leading role in Dead on Time with Nigel Hawthorne. He appeared in former Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Mel Smith's directorial debut The Tall Guy in 1989. In 1993 he played the part of Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux, a parody of Rambo starring Charlie Sheen.
Atkinson, with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar, gained further recognition in the 1994 hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. That same year he featured in Walt Disney's The Lion King as Zazu the Hornbill. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in successful comedies, including Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), and Love Actually (2003).
In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen in 1997 with Bean to international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in March 2007 and may be the last time he plays the character. He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English in 2003. Keeping Mum (2005, released in the U.S. in 2006) was a departure for Atkinson, starring in a straight role.
One of his better-known trademark comic devices is over-articulation of the "B" sound, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in a Blackadder episode.
Atkinson's style is often visually-based. This visual style, which has been compared to Charlie Chaplin, sets Atkinson apart as most modern television and film comedies rely heavily on dialogue, and stand-up comedy is mostly based on monologues. This talent for visual comedy has led to Atkinson being called "the man with the rubber face".
With an estimated wealth of £100 million, Atkinson is able to indulge in a passion for cars that began with driving his mother's Morris Minor around the family farm. He has written for the British magazines Car and Evo.
Atkinson also holds a UK HGV licence, gained because trucks held a fascination for him, and to ensure employment as a young actor.
A lover of and participant in car racing, he appeared as racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play Full Throttle in 1995. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned "Driven Man", a series of sketches featuring Atkinson driving around London trying to solve his car-fetish, and discussing it with taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen and psychotherapists.
In chronological order
- The Black Adder
- Blackadder II
- Blackadder: The Cavalier Years
- Blackadder the Third
- Blackadder's Christmas Carol
- Blackadder Goes Forth
- Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder II
- Baldrick
- Lord Percy Percy
- Queen Elizabeth I
- Lord Melchett
- Nursie
- Bob (Kate)
- Lord Flashheart |
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