Rowan Atkinson

Atkinson studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University and continued to The Queen's College, Oxford, where he earned a master's degree. While at Oxford, he performed in revues and became involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society and the Experimental Theatre Club.

During this period, he met screenwriter Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, beginning professional collaborations that continued throughout his career. Atkinson gained national attention after performing a schoolmaster sketch at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and he also appeared on BBC Radio 3's comedy series The Atkinson People.

Atkinson first gained broad television recognition as a writer and performer on the BBC satirical sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News, which ran from 1979 to 1982. His work on the programme earned him a British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance in 1981.

In 1983, he began playing Edmund Blackadder in the BBC sitcom Blackadder. The character developed across four historical settings, changing from an unintelligent medieval nobleman into a calculating Elizabethan courtier, a self-serving Regency-era butler and a cynical First World War army captain. Tony Robinson played Blackadder's long-suffering servant Baldrick, while Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Tim McInnerny were among the other principal performers.

The series was written by Atkinson, Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and others across its different instalments. Atkinson later revived Blackadder for television specials, charity performances and live appearances, including a 2012 comedy gala at the Royal Albert Hall.

Atkinson introduced Mr. Bean in a television special on New Year's Day in 1990. The character is a nearly mute, self-centred and physically expressive figure whose attempts to manage ordinary situations produce elaborate comic disasters. Atkinson identified Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot as a major inspiration for the role, and his visual style has also been compared with the work of Buster Keaton.

The television series Mr. Bean ran from 1990 to 1995 and attracted a large international audience. It won the Golden Rose at the 1990 Montreux Festival, an International Emmy Award and an American Cable Ace Award. The character continued in the films Bean (1997) and Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007), as well as Mr. Bean: The Animated Series.

Atkinson performed as Mr. Bean during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He also returned to the character for charity sketches, advertising campaigns and other screen appearances, extending Mr. Bean's reach beyond the original television run.

Atkinson played Police Inspector Raymond Fowler in the BBC sitcom The Thin Blue Line, which ran from 1995 to 1996. His film roles include appearances in Never Say Never Again, The Witches, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Rat Race, Scooby-Doo, Love Actually and Wonka. He also voiced Zazu in Disney's The Lion King.

The Johnny English films gave Atkinson another long-running leading character. The spy spoofs include Johnny English (2003), Johnny English Reborn (2011) and Johnny English Strikes Again (2018). The character was partly developed from an advertising role Atkinson played as the clumsy secret agent Richard Lathum.

Atkinson took a less overtly comic role as Chief Inspector Jules Maigret in ITV's Maigret television films from 2016 to 2017. His theatre work includes the West End productions The Nerd, The Sneeze and Other Stories, Oliver! and Quartermaine's Terms. He played Fagin in the 2009 revival of Oliver! and received an Olivier Award nomination for the performance.

Atkinson is particularly associated with physical comedy, exaggerated facial expressions and carefully controlled visual gags. Mr. Bean relies largely on gesture and movement, while Blackadder and many of his other characters depend more heavily on verbal wit and deadpan delivery.

He has also frequently played authority figures, including priests, police officers and other officials who deliver absurd lines with an apparently serious manner. Atkinson has discussed having a stammer, noting that it occurs less often when he is performing a role than when he is speaking as himself.

Atkinson has a longstanding interest in cars and gained a category C+E lorry driving licence in 1981. His enthusiasm for motoring became the subject of The Driven Man, a 1991 series of sketches that he wrote and performed while driving around London.

He has participated in racing events and played racing driver Henry Birkin in the television drama Full Throttle. In 2011, he appeared on Top Gear as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car and recorded a lap time that placed him at the top of the programme's leaderboard at the time.

Atkinson was married to makeup artist Sunetra Sastry from 1990 to 2015, and they have two children. He has been in a relationship with actress and comedian Louise Ford since 2014, and they have one child.

In March 2001, while travelling in Kenya, Atkinson took control of a private Cessna after its pilot fainted. He maintained the aircraft's flight until the pilot recovered and was able to land at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

Atkinson won British Academy Television Awards for his performances in Not the Nine O'Clock News and Blackadder. He also won a Laurence Olivier Award for Rowan Atkinson in Revue and received further recognition for his television, film and theatre work.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.