Rowan Atkinson

2.1. Early Life and Education

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January 1955, in Consett, County Durham, England. He is the youngest of four sons born to Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945. His older brothers include Paul, who died in infancy, Rodney Atkinson, a prominent Eurosceptic economist, and Rupert. Atkinson was raised as an Anglican.

He received his early education at the Chorister School, Durham, a preparatory school, and later attended St Bees School. During his time at Durham Choristers, he was a schoolmate of future Prime Minister Tony Blair. After achieving high grades in science at A-level, Atkinson secured a place at Newcastle University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 1975. He then pursued postgraduate studies at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college his father had attended in 1935, where he earned an Master of Science (MSc) degree in Electrical Engineering. His master's thesis, published in 1978, focused on the application of self-tuning control. In recognition of his achievements, he was made an Honorary Fellow of The Queen's College in 2006.

2.2. Early Career and Collaborations

Atkinson first garnered national attention in August 1976 while performing with The Oxford Revue at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival. Prior to this, he had already been writing and performing sketches for various shows in Oxford. He was involved with the Etceteras, the revue group of the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), and the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS). It was during this period that he formed crucial collaborations with screenwriter Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, both of whom he met at the Oxford University Dramatic Society. These partnerships would continue to shape his career for decades.

After graduating from university, Atkinson toured with comedian Angus Deayton, with Atkinson performing as the straight man in their act. His early television appearances included a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 titled Canned Laughter. He gained further national exposure through his performances on the third The Secret Policeman's Ball in June 1979, which was broadcast on the BBC. He subsequently appeared in televised skits with various notable performers, including Elton John, John Cleese (in a sketch titled "Beekeeping"), and Kate Bush, with whom he performed the humorous song "Do Bears...?" for the British charity event Comic Relief in 1986. His solo television skits, often without dialogue, included comedic routines such as playing an invisible drum kit and an invisible piano. In October 1979, Atkinson made his first appearance on Not the Nine O'Clock News for the BBC, a show produced by his friend John Lloyd. He featured prominently in the show alongside Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones, and Mel Smith, and was also one of the main sketch writers.

2.3. Personal Life

Rowan Atkinson met makeup artist Sunetra Sastry in the late 1980s when she was working for the BBC. They married in February 1990 in a private ceremony at the Russian Tea Room in New York City, with Stephen Fry serving as the best man. The couple had two children, a son named Ben and a daughter named Lily. Their son, Ben, later became an army officer in the Brigade of Gurkhas. The family resided in Apethorpe, Northamptonshire. Atkinson and Sastry separated in 2014 and were granted a divorce on 10 November 2015, on the grounds of his "unreasonable behaviour."

In 2013, Atkinson began a relationship with comedian Louise Ford, who is 28 years his junior, after they met while performing in a play together. Ford ended her relationship with comedian James Acaster to be with Atkinson. He has one child with Ford.

Atkinson is a well-known car enthusiast and holds a category C+E (formerly "Class 1") lorry driving licence, which he obtained in 1981. He acquired this license due to his fascination with lorries and as a practical measure to ensure employment as a young actor, a skill he has also utilized in his comedy work. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned television series The Driven Man, a collection of sketches depicting Atkinson driving around London, attempting to resolve his obsession with cars and discussing it with various individuals, including taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen, and psychotherapists. A passionate participant in car racing, he portrayed racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play Full Throttle in 1995.

Atkinson has raced various cars, including a Renault 5 GT Turbo for two seasons in its one-make series. From 1997 to 2015, he owned a rare McLaren F1. This car was involved in an accident in Cabus, near Garstang, Lancashire, with an Austin Metro in October 1999. It sustained further significant damage in a serious crash in August 2011 when it caught fire after Atkinson reportedly lost control and hit a tree. He suffered a shoulder injury in this incident. The extensive damage to the vehicle required over a year for repairs and resulted in the largest insurance payout in Britain at the time, totaling 910.00 K GBP. His car collection has also included a Honda NSX, an Audi A8, a Škoda Superb, and a Honda Civic Hybrid.

In July 2001, Atkinson crashed an Aston Martin V8 Zagato at an enthusiasts' meeting at the Croft Racing Circuit in Darlington but emerged unharmed. Conservative Party politician Alan Clark, a devotee of classic motor cars, recounted in his published Diaries a chance encounter with Atkinson in May 1984. Clark, who offered Atkinson a lift in his Rolls-Royce after finding his Aston Martin DBS V8 with its bonnet up, noted his disappointment in Atkinson's "bland reaction" to being recognized, describing him as "chétif" (frail or sickly). Atkinson has stated that he would never own a Porsche, despite acknowledging them as "wonderful cars," explaining, "Somehow, the typical Porsche people - and I wish them no ill - are not, I feel, my kind of people." In July 2011, Atkinson appeared as the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on the BBC's Top Gear, driving the Kia Cee'd around the track in 1:42.2. This time placed him at the top of the leaderboard at that point, quicker than the previous record holder, Tom Cruise, though it was later surpassed by Matt LeBlanc.

In February 2024, a report by the House of Lords partially attributed poor sales of electric cars in the UK to Atkinson, suggesting he had "damaged" the public's perception of the vehicles. This criticism stemmed from a June 2023 opinion piece by Atkinson in The Guardian, where, as an early adopter of electric vehicles, he described them as "fast, quiet and, until recently, very cheap to run," but also highlighted concerns about battery issues and misleading beliefs regarding their environmental impact.

In March 2001, during a holiday in Kenya, Atkinson experienced a harrowing incident when the pilot of his private plane fainted. Atkinson managed to maintain control of the aircraft in the air until the pilot regained consciousness and was able to safely land the plane at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

3.1. Radio

Atkinson's radio career includes starring in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1979 titled The Atkinson People. This series featured satirical interviews with fictional great men, all of whom were portrayed by Atkinson himself. The show was co-written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones.

3.2. Television

Atkinson's television career is marked by several highly successful and influential comedy series, alongside notable dramatic roles.

3.2.3. Mr. Bean (Live-Action)

Rowan Atkinson's other globally recognized creation, the hapless Mr. Bean, first appeared on New Year's Day in 1990 in a half-hour special produced for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has frequently been likened to a modern-day Buster Keaton due to his reliance on visual and physical comedy. However, Atkinson himself has stated that Jacques Tati's character Monsieur Hulot was the primary inspiration for Mr. Bean. Atkinson describes the essence of Mr. Bean as being "entirely selfish and self-centred and doesn't actually acknowledge the outside world. He's a child in a man's body. Which is what most visual comedians are about: Stan Laurel, Charlie Chaplin, Benny Hill."

Several sequels to the original Mr. Bean television special aired until 1995, and the character later made a successful transition to feature films. Bean (1997) was directed by Mel Smith, Atkinson's former colleague from Not the Nine O'Clock News, and achieved international success. A second film, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in 2007, also becoming an international success and drawing further inspiration from Jacques Tati's film Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

In November 2012, Atkinson indicated his intention to retire the Mr. Bean character, telling The Daily Telegraph that "The stuff that has been most commercially successful for me - basically quite physical, quite childish - I increasingly feel I'm going to do a lot less of. Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I also think someone in their 50s being childlike becomes a little sad. You've got to be careful." He also noted that the role had, to some degree, typecast him. Despite these comments, Atkinson stated in 2016 that he would never truly retire the character of Mr. Bean. Appearing on The Graham Norton Show on the BBC in 2018, Atkinson told Graham Norton that while it was unlikely Mr. Bean would reappear on television again, "you must never say never."

Mr. Bean has continued to make special appearances. In October 2014, Atkinson appeared as Mr. Bean in a television advertisement for Snickers. In 2015, he starred alongside Ben Miller and Rebecca Front in a sketch for BBC Red Nose Day in which Mr. Bean attends a funeral. In 2017, Atkinson reprised the role of Mr. Bean in the Chinese film Huan Le Xi Ju Ren. In February 2019, he appeared as Mr. Bean in a commercial for the Emirati-based telecommunications company Etisalat, where he also narrated and took on multiple characters, including a Scottish warrior, a Victorian gentleman and lady, a football player, a jungle man, a man with a chainsaw, a racing car driver, and a masked Spanish vigilante.

One of his most notable special appearances as Mr. Bean was during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in London. In a comedic sketch during a performance of "Chariots of Fire", Atkinson played a repeated single note on a synthesizer. He then entered a dream sequence where he joined the runners from the film of the same name (about the 1924 Summer Olympics), comically beating them in their iconic run along West Sands at St. Andrews by riding in a minicab and tripping the front runner.

The character of Mr. Bean has also achieved immense popularity online. In October 2018, Atkinson received YouTube's Diamond Play Button for his channel surpassing 10 million subscribers on the video platform. By 2018, the channel had accumulated over 6.5 B views, making it one of the most-watched channels globally. Mr. Bean is also among the most-followed Facebook pages, boasting over 94 M followers in July 2020, a number that surpassed major figures and franchises such as Rihanna, Manchester United, or Harry Potter.

3.3. Animated Mr. Bean

In January 2014, ITV announced a new animated series featuring Mr. Bean, with Rowan Atkinson returning to provide the voice for the character. The series was initially expected to be released online as a web-series later in 2014, with a television broadcast to follow shortly thereafter. On 6 February 2018, Regular Capital announced that a fifth series of Mr. Bean: The Animated Series would be produced in 2019, with Atkinson again voicing the character. This series consisted of 26 episodes. The first two segments, "Game Over" and "Special Delivery," aired on 29 April 2019 on CITV in the UK and on Turner channels worldwide. All five series, totaling 104 episodes, were also sold to the Chinese children's channel CCTV-14 in February 2019, further expanding the character's global reach.

3.4. Film

Rowan Atkinson's film career encompasses a mix of supporting roles, voice acting, and successful leading performances that built upon his established comedic characters.

3.4.1. Leading Film Roles

Atkinson achieved significant success as a leading man in films, often bringing his iconic television characters to the big screen. His television character Mr. Bean made his cinematic debut with Bean (1997), which garnered international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), also proved to be an international hit, drawing inspiration from Jacques Tati's film Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot.

He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English film series. He played the titular role in Johnny English (2003), followed by Johnny English Reborn (2011), and Johnny English Strikes Again (2018). In February 2024, it was announced that a fourth Johnny English film was in production. In 2023, Atkinson starred as Father Julius, a priest, in Wonka, a film that serves as a prequel to the Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, exploring Willy Wonka's origins.

3.5. Theatre

Atkinson has a notable stage career, performing live on-stage skits. He appeared with members of Monty Python in The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) in London, an event held for Amnesty International. In 1980, Atkinson embarked on a four-month tour of the UK. A recording of his stage performance at the Grand Opera House, Belfast was subsequently released as Live in Belfast.

In 1984, Atkinson appeared in a West End production of the comedy play The Nerd alongside a 10-year-old Christian Bale. The Sneeze and Other Stories, a collection of seven short Anton Chekhov plays translated and adapted by Michael Frayn, was performed by Rowan Atkinson, Timothy West, and Cheryl Campbell at the Aldwych Theatre in London in 1988 and early 1989.

In 2009, during the West End revival of the musical Oliver!, based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Atkinson took on the role of Fagin. His portrayal and singing of Fagin at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London received favorable reviews, and he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Entertainment.

On 28 November 2012, Rowan Atkinson reprised his role as Blackadder at the "We are Most Amused" comedy gala for The Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was joined by Tony Robinson as Baldrick for the sketch, which featured the first new Blackadder material in 10 years, depicting Blackadder as the CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling bank facing an inquiry over the banking crisis.

In February 2013, Atkinson took on the titular role in a 12-week production of the Simon Gray play Quartermaine's Terms at Wyndham's Theatre in London. The production, directed by Richard Eyre, featured costars Conleth Hill (from Game of Thrones) and Felicity Montagu (from I'm Alan Partridge). In December 2013, he revived his schoolmaster sketch for Royal Free Hospital's Rocks with Laughter at the Adelphi Theatre. A few days prior to this, he performed a selection of sketches in a small coffee venue in front of only 30 people.

3.6. Commercials and Special Appearances

Rowan Atkinson has frequently appeared in television commercials, lending his comedic talent to various brands. These include Kronenbourg (as a customs officer), Appletiser (as a fisherman), and public service campaigns like "Give Blood" (as a doctor). He was particularly well-known for his long-running series of advertisements for Barclaycard, where he played Richard Lathum, a clumsy espionage agent, a character that later inspired his role in the Johnny English films. He also appeared as Mr. Bean in commercials for REMA 1000, M&M's, Nissan Tino, Snickers, and as Agent One for Etisalat.

Beyond commercials, Atkinson has made numerous special appearances in television specials and documentaries. These include The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1981), Peter Cook & Co (1980), and The Innes Book of Records (1980). He hosted Saturday Live in 1986 and appeared in the television film Bernard and the Genie in 1991. He wrote and starred in the television documentary The Driven Man (1991) and Rowan Atkinson Live (1992). He was also a host and writer for the documentary series Funny Business (1992). In 1995, he played Captain Henry "Tim" Birkin in the biographical television film Full Throttle. He was featured in The Story of Mr. Bean in 1997. Atkinson participated in several Comic Relief telecasts, portraying The Doctor in Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death (1999), Nasty Neville in Popsters (2001), Martin Bashir in Lying to Michael Jackson (2003), Peter Piper/Spider-Plant Man in Spider-Plant Man (2005), and himself in The Greatest Worst Bits of Comic Relief (2007). He also appeared in We Are Most Amused (2008) and Blackadder Rides Again (2008). Mr. Bean made a cameo in Bondi Rescue (2010), and Atkinson appeared as himself on Top Gear (2011). He played the Archbishop of Canterbury in Live from Lambeth Palace sketches (2013) and Henry VIII of England in Horrible Histories (2015). He reprised his role as Rufus in Red Nose Day Actually (2017) and Father Gerald in One Red Nose and a Wedding (2019). In 2018, he appeared as a bartender in the music video for Olly Murs' "Moves".

4.1. Comedic Style

Atkinson is perhaps best known for his masterful use of physical comedy, particularly evident in his iconic Mr. Bean persona. While Mr. Bean relies heavily on non-verbal communication, many of Atkinson's other characters are more language-dependent. He frequently portrays authority figures, such as priests or vicars, who deliver absurd lines with a completely deadpan expression. Journalist Anwar Brett observed that while Atkinson's deadpan wit is apparent, he approaches his comedy with great seriousness, stating, "Although his deadpan wit is in evidence as he speaks, Atkinson-beloved to Blackadder as much as Bean fans-takes his comedy very seriously." Oliver Parker, director of Johnny English, commented on Atkinson's remarkable ability to maintain focus during comedic moments on set: "There's a scene where Johnny English is in a meeting going up and down on an office chair. Rowan's focus is astonishing in that scene, because everybody else - he hadn't realised - was having to hold back, and when I said 'cut!' there was an explosion of laughter."

One of his distinctive comic devices is the over-articulation of the "B" sound, exemplified by his pronunciation of "Bob" in the Blackadder II episode "Bells". This technique is partly a method to overcome his stammer, allowing him to navigate problematic consonants. Atkinson's often visually based style, which has been compared to that of Buster Keaton, sets him apart from many modern television and film comedians who rely heavily on dialogue or monologues. This talent for visual comedy has earned Atkinson the nickname "the man with the rubber face." This characteristic was even humorously referenced in an episode of Blackadder the Third ("Sense and Senility"), where Baldrick (Tony Robinson) refers to his master, Mr. E. Blackadder, as a "lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard."

4.2. Influences

Atkinson's comedic approach was shaped by several significant influences. His early comedy inspirations included the sketch comedy troupe Beyond the Fringe, composed of Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Alan Bennett, who were major figures of the 1960s British satire boom. He also cited Monty Python as an early influence, stating, "I remember watching them avidly as students at university."

He continued to be influenced by the work of John Cleese after his Monty Python days, regarding Cleese as "a major, major inspiration," adding, "I think that he and I are quite different in our style and our approach, but certainly it was comedy I liked to watch. He was very physical. Yes, very physical and very angry." Atkinson was also influenced by Peter Sellers, whose characters Hrundi Bakshi from The Party (1968) and Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther films significantly influenced Atkinson's own characters, Mr. Bean and Johnny English.

Regarding Barry Humphries' character Dame Edna Everage, Atkinson stated, "I loved that character - again, it's the veneer of respectability disguising suburban prejudice of a really quite vicious and dismissive nature." Among visual comedians, Atkinson considers Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd to be highly influential. He was also profoundly inspired by French comedian Jacques Tati, recalling, "Mr. Hulot's Holiday I remember seeing when I was 17 - that was a major inspiration. He opened a window to a world that I'd never looked out on before, and I thought, 'God, that's interesting,' how a comic situation can be developed as purely visual and yet it's not under-cranked, it's not speeded-up, it's more deliberate; it takes its time. And I enjoyed that."

6.1. Honours

Atkinson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for his outstanding services to drama and charity.

6.2. Awards and Nominations