ROWAN ATKINSON
Date of Birth: January 6, 1955
The man with a rubber face, who can change his appearance from total buffoon
to a snobbish aristocrat in the blink of an eye, was born and raised in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. With his farmer father, Atkinson attended a
private school with his two older brothers. Following school, he furthered
his education at Newcastle University. He then went to Oxford University
to complete an electrical engineering degree. The school led him
to future screenwriter Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and performed
comedy revues at the Oxford Playhouse and later at the Edinburgh Fringe.
This led to a stint on the popular television comedy series, Not the Nine
O'Clock News, for which he wrote and acted. For his performance in
the comedy series, Atkinson personally won a British Academy Award and was
named BBC Personality of the Year. Using this experience, Atkinson continued
to work in television with Curtis, with whom he created the comedy series,
Blackadder, in 1983. Playing a variety of Blackadder characters
throughout England's history, the show became a favorite among the British
and American audiences alike. Billed as a "situation tragedy" on the BBC,
it ran three seasons and later spawned a couple of specials.
Atkinson made his major feature film bow with a small, yet comical role in
the James Bond thriller, Never Say Never Again. In the late '80s
he starred in a few films penned by Curtis. It was while they were filming
The Tall Guy that Atkinson and Curtis created Mr. Bean, an average
British Joe with a clumsy nature and a nasty streak and launched a series.
With virtually no dialogue, the comedy and its star became famous worldwide. Running for six
years, Mr. Bean developed a cult following and by the late '90s had
spawned a feature film.
Although he made strong showings in films like The Witches and
Four Weddings and a Funeral, and lent his voice to the popular animated
feature, The Lion King, Atkinson went back to television, with a new
series, The Thin Blue Line. Based on the comical adventures of a
police station, the show didn't fare well with audiences and only lasted
two seasons.
During the late '90s he started having some commercial exposure for products
like Barclaycard and M&M chocolate candy. Back into films by the start of
the new millennium, Atkinson starred in Johnny English (2003) and Keeping Mum (2005).
With wife Sunetra Sastry, Atkinson has fathered two children, Lily and
Benejamin. While not on set, he focuses his attention on fast cars and
writes for CAR, a British car magazine.
Filmography:
Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007)
Keeping Mum (2005)
Love Actually(2003)
Johnny English (2003)
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Maybe Baby (2000)
Blackadder Back and Forth (1999)
Bean (1997)
The Lion King (1994) (voice)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)
The Witches (1990)
The Tall Guy (1989)
The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (1988)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Dead On Time (1982)
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982)
Fundamental Frolics (1981)
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1981)
Monty Python Meets Beyond the Fringe (1977)