Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work on the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean. He has also voiced the red-billed hornbill Zazu in The Lion King. Atkinson was appointed a CBE in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.
About Rowan Atkinson in brief
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson CBE is an English actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work on the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean. He also appeared in the James Bond film Never Say Never Again. Atkinson was appointed a CBE in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. He met screenwriter Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall at Oxford University in the 1970s. He was named one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy in 2007, and among the top 50 comedians ever, in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians. He has had cinematic success with his performances in the Mr. Bean film adaptations Bean and Mr Bean’s Holiday, and also in the Johnny English film series. Atkinson has also voiced the red-billed hornbill Zazu in The Lion King, and played jewellery salesman Rufus in Love Actually. His work in theatre includes the 2009 West End revival of the musical Oliver!. He is the son of Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May, who married on 29 June 1945. His three older brothers are Paul, who died as an infant; Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the UK Independence Party leadership election in 2000; and Rupert. Atkinson is the youngest of four brothers, and was educated at Durham Choristers School, a preparatory school, and then at St Bees School. In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen’s College, Oxford, the same college where his father matriculated in 1935.
His MSc thesis, published in 1978, considered the application of self-tuning control. Atkinson starred in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1979 called The Atkinson People. The series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones. The first series The Black Adder, set in medieval period, Atkinson co-wrote with Richard Curtis. After a three-year gap, in part due to budgetary concerns, a second series was broadcast, written by Curtis and Ben Elton. The final scene of Blackadder Goes Forth has been described as “bold and highly poignant” The Blackadder series became the most successful of all BBC comedies, spawning numerous television specials including Blackadder’s Christmas Carol: The Cavalier Years, Blackadder: Back & Forth and The Third World War I in World War 4. Atkinson also appeared as the titular character in Maigret. He was awarded an Olivier Award for his 1981 West End theatre performance in Rowan Atkinson in Revue. In addition to his 1981 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance, Atkinson received an Olivier award for his West End performance of The Secret Policeman’s Ball. He starred in the BBC sketch comedy show Not the Nine O’Clock News for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. The success of the show led to him taking the lead role of Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder.
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