Ben Elton
Born	3 May 1959 (1959-05-03) (age 48) Catford, London, England
Occupation	comedian, writer and director
Spouse	Sophie Gare
Parents	Father: Physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton
Children	Three children

Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, writer and director. If you hold the copyright to an image (e. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... Catford[1] is an area in the London Borough of Lewisham, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Lewis Elton (born circa 1923) is a German-born British researcher into education, specialising in higher education. ... is the 123rd day of the year (124th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ...

Born in Catford, London, he is the son of the physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton and the nephew of the historian Sir G R Elton. He studied at Stillness Junior School and Godalming Grammar School and the University of Manchester. He became a stand-up comedian and comedy writer shortly after leaving university in 1980, and was a central figure in the alternative comedy scene in the 1980s. More recently he has achieved success writing lyrics for and producing musicals, and as an author. Catford[1] is an area in the London Borough of Lewisham, England. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Lewis Elton (born circa 1923) is a German-born British researcher into education, specialising in higher education. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Godalming Grammar School was a state-funded selective Grammar School, situated in Tuesley Lane, Godalming. ... The Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) was a large university in Manchester in England. ... Richard Pryor hits the money line A stand-up comedian or stand-up comic is someone that performs in comedy clubs, usually reciting a fast paced succession of amusing stories, short jokes and one-liners, typically called a monologue. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Elton is married and has three children. He lives in London and Fremantle, Western Australia. Elton has had dual citizenship with Australia since 2004.[1] This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Location of Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle ( ) is a city located within the Perth metropolitan area on Australias western coast, at the mouth of the Swan River, 19 kilometres southwest of Perths Central Business District. ... Slogan or Nickname: Wildflower State or the Golden State Other Australian states and territories Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 15  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $100,900 (4th)  - Product per capita  $50,355/person...

Work

Television

His first television appearance was a stand-up performance on the BBC2 youth and music programme The Oxford Roadshow. His first TV success though was at the age of 23 as co-writer of the television sitcom The Young Ones, in which he occasionally appeared. The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first seen in 1982, which aired on BBC2. ...

In 1983/84 he wrote and appeared in Granada Television's sketch show Alfresco, which was also notable for early appearances by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane. In 1985, Elton produced his first solo script for the BBC with his comedy-drama series Happy Families, starring Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson. Elton appeared in the fifth episode as a liberal prison governor. Shortly afterwards, he reunited Mayall and Edmondson with their Young Ones co-star Nigel Planer for the showbiz send-up sitcom Filthy Rich and Catflap. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alfresco was a British television series starring Robbie Coltrane, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Siobhan Redmond and Emma Thompson, broadcast by ITV (produced by Granada Television) between 1983 and 1984. ... Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English comedian, writer, actor, novelist, filmmaker and television personality. ... James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian and writer known as Hugh Laurie. ... Emma Thompson (born 15 April 1959) is an Emmy-, BAFTA- and Academy Award-winning English actress, comedian, and screenwriter. ... Robbie Coltrane, OBE (born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950) is a Scottish Television and Film actor. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Happy Families was a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton which appeared on the BBC in 1985 and told the story of the dysfunctional Fuddle family. ... Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 12 July 1958) is a BAFTA Award-winning English comedian, actress, and comedy writer. ... Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... Nigel George Planer (born February 22, 1953 in London) is an English actor, novelist and playwright. ... Filthy, Rich and Catflap was a BBC sitcom produced in 1987. ...

In 1985 Elton began his successful writing partnership with Richard Curtis. Together they wrote Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth. Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson, was a worldwide hit, winning four BAFTAs and an Emmy. Elton and Curtis also wrote Atkinson's 1986 hit stage show, The New Review, and Mr Bean's famous exam episode. While writing Blackadder 4, he mentioned that the First World War was a particularly apt subject for a situation comedy. Before writing the series, he and the writers read a number of books about the war and found that Richard Curtis in London, 1999 Richard Curtis CBE, (born 8 November 1956), is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, best known for the TV programmes Blackadder and The Vicar of Dibley as well as movies such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Love Actually. ... Blackadder II was the second series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986. ... Blackadder the Third was the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September 1987 to 22 October 1987. ... Blackadder Goes Forth was the fourth and final series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989. ... This article has been illustrated as part of WikiProject WikiWorld. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... An Emmy Award. ... Mr. ...

Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest selling live acts[2]. After a regular slot on Saturday Live — later moved and renamed Friday Night Live — which was seen as a UK version of the USA's Saturday Night Live, he became the host of the programme. Saturday Live was an innovative television comedy and music show broadcast in the UK by Channel 4 from 1985 to 1987. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late night 91-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City that has been broadcast live by NBC on Saturday nights since October 11, 1975. ...

In 1990 he starred in his own stand-up comedy and sketch series entitled The Man from Auntie, which had a second series in 1994. (The title plays on The Man from UNCLE; "Auntie" is a nickname for the BBC). In 1991 Ben won the Royal Television Society Writers' Award. // A nickname is a name of a person or thing other than its proper name. ...

The Ben Elton Show (1998) followed a format similar to that of The Man from Auntie and featured (somewhat incongruously) Ronnie Corbett, a comedian of the 'old-guard' that the 'alternative comedians' of the 1980s were the direct alternative to, as a regular guest. It was his last high-profile network programme in the UK as a stand-up comedian. Ronnie Corbett in Extras Ronald Balfour Corbett, OBE (born 4 December 1930 in Edinburgh, commonly credited as Ronnie Corbett) is a British comedian and actor, best known as one of The Two Ronnies. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In April 2007, Get a Grip, a new show began broadcasting on ITV1. Featuring a combination of 'comic sketches' (similar to those seen on The Ben Elton Show) and staged studio discussion between Elton and 23-year-old Alexa Chung, the show's aim was to, "contrast Elton's middle-aged viewpoint with Chung's younger perspective," (although Elton is wholly responsible for the script). Get A Grip is a television series shown on ITV1 in the United Kingdom. ... ITV1 is the name, in England, Wales and the Scottish borders, for a terrestrial, free-to-air television channel, broadcast in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. ... Alexa Chung (born November 5, 1983) is an English television presenter, actress and former model. ...

Elton will also be appearing in the ITV version of BBC Radio 2 sitcom Teenage Kicks.^[2][3]

Behind the camera

Elton also wrote and produced The Thin Blue Line, a studio-based sitcom set in a police station, also starring Rowan Atkinson, which ran for two series (in 1995 and 1996). A prime-time family show lacking the edge of his earlier work, its traditional format and characters won it the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims. The Thin Blue Line can refer to: The Thin Blue Line is a colloquial term for police and police forces. ...

He also wrote the six-part sitcom Blessed, starring Ardal O'Hanlon, which aired on BBC1 in 2005. Blessed is a BBC television sitcom written by Ben Elton and starring Ardal OHanlon as Gary, a gigantically-endowed record producer (hence the title), who is struggling to bring up two small children. ... Ardal OHanlon (born 8 October 1965) is an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his roles in television sitcoms as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted and George Sunday in My Hero. ...

Radio

Elton co-starred with Adrian Edmondson on Teenage Kicks, a sitcom for BBC Radio 2. A television version is currently in production for ITV. Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and is the most popular station in the UK. It broadcasts throughout the UK on FM radio between 88 and 91 MHz from its studios in Western House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. ...

Novels

Elton published his first novel, Stark, in 1989. Set in Australia, Stark became a number one bestseller and has gone on to sell well over a million copies.^[4] It was made into a Australian TV film in 1993 in which Elton starred. Stark is a 1989 novel written by Ben Elton. ...

He has written ten novels since then:

• Gridlock (1991), UK No 1
• This Other Eden (1993), UK No 1
• Popcorn (1996), UK No 1 and Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain Gold Dagger Award for fiction
• Blast from the Past (1998), UK Top 5
• Inconceivable (1999), UK Top 5 (later made into a film, see below)
• Dead Famous (2001), UK Top 5
• High Society (2002), UK No 1 and WH Smith's People Choice Fiction Award
• Past Mortem (2004), UK Top 5
• The First Casualty (2005), UK Top 5
• Chart Throb (2006)
• Blind Faith (2007)

Gridlock is a novel by Ben Elton. ... This Other Eden is a satirical novel written by Ben Elton. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Blast from the Past is a 1998 novel by Ben Elton, published by Bantam Press. ... Categories: | | | ... Dead Famous is a comedy/whodunit novel by Ben Elton in which ratings for a reality TV show, very similar to Big Brother, rocket when a housemate is murdered. ... High Society is a novel by the British author Ben Elton. ... Dust jacket of the 2004 hardcover edition Past Mortem is a detective novel by Ben Elton first published in 2004. ... The First Casualty is a novel by the British author Ben Elton. ... Chart Throb is a 2006 novel by the author/comedian/director Ben Elton. ...

Films

Ben Elton had appeared in amateur dramatic productions as a youth, notably as The Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver!. The Artful Dodger is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. ... Oliver! is a British musical, with music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. ...

While previously appearing in bit parts in his own TV series, he began his professional film acting career when he starred as CD in the Australian/BBC TV film adaptation of his novel Stark, released in 1993. This ABC co-production was directed by Nadia Tass and filmed in Australia.

He played Verges to Michael Keaton's Dogberry in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. Michael Keaton (born Michael John Douglas on September 9, 1951) is an American actor best known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, and Beetlejuice, and his portrayal of Batman in the two Tim Burton directed films. ... Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated Northern Irish-born actor and film director. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ...

Behind the camera

Elton wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, which was released under the title Maybe Baby (2000) starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson. It was a moderate UK success and was distributed globally.^[5] The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival. Maybe Baby is a 2000 British film, written and directed by Ben Elton based upon his book Inconceivable, starring Hugh Laurie, Joely Richardson. ... James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE (born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian and writer known as Hugh Laurie. ... Joely Richardson Joely Richardson (born January 9, 1965 in the U.K.) is a British actress, who was born into a theatrical family. ...

Musicals

Elton collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on The Beautiful Game in 2000, writing the book and lyrics (Lloyd Webber wrote the music). The Beautiful Game won the London Critics Circle Award for best new musical. Elton went on to write a number of compilation shows featuring popular songs taken from the back catalogues of pop/rock artists. The first of these was the musical We Will Rock You with music by the rock band Queen. This was successful in London and won the 2003 Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best New Musical. It has since opened in the US, Australia, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Canada. Tonight's the Night based on the songs of Sir Rod Stewart opened in November 2003. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is a highly successful English composer of musical theatre, and also the elder brother of Julian Lloyd Webber. ... The Beautiful Game is also a term used to describe the game of football. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... The subject of this article seems to fail one of the following consensually-accepted Wikipedia inclusion guidelines: If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand the article to establish its notability, citing reliable sources, so as to avoid it being considered for deletion. ... Look up sir in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Roderick David Stewart, CBE (born January 10, 1945), is a Scottish singer born and raised in London. ...

Stage

Elton studied Drama at the University of Manchester and has written three West End plays. The Victoria University of Manchester (VUM) was a large university in Manchester in England. ...

• Gasping (1990) was first performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It starred Hugh Laurie and featured the voice of Stephen Fry.
• Silly Cow (1991) again performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It was written for and starred Dawn French.
• Popcorn (1996) was adapted for the stage and went on a UK-wide tour. It also toured Australia in a production starring Marcus Graham and Nadine Garner in its Eastern-States seasons. Popcorn won the TMA Barclays Theatre Award for best new play and the Olivier Award for best comedy. The Paris production of Popcorn ran for a year and was nominated for seven Moliere Awards.
• Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Dawn French (born 11 October 1957) is a British comedian and actress best known for being part of a comic duo with her comic partner Jennifer Saunders and for playing the lead role in The Vicar of Dibley as Geraldine Granger. ... Marcus Graham is an actor from Perth, Australia, who has starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. ... Nadine Lynette Garner (born 14 December 1970 in Knoxfield, Melbourne, Victoria) is a leading Australian actress. ... The Laurence Olivier Awards, previously known as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, were renamed in honour of British actor Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier in 1984, having first been established in 1976. ... Since opening in March 1990, West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds has established a reputation both nationally and internationally as one of Britains most exciting producing theatres, winning awards for everything from its productions to its customer service. ...

Stand-up comedy

In 1981, when his live act took off, Elton was hired by The Comedy Store in London as its compère.

In 2005 Elton did his first stand-up tour since 1997, touring the UK with "Get a Grip". He toured Australia and New Zealand with the same show in 2006.

Awards

In 2007, Ben Elton was made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, in recognition of the work that he has carried out with students. Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a school in the English city of Liverpool that offers training in Acting, Dance, Music, Sound Technology, Arts Management, Technical Theatre, and Theatre Design. ...

Criticism

Anne Robinson put Ben Elton into Room 101 in protest at his hosting the Royal Variety Performance. She argued that he should be sent to the room "for being a total and utter hypocrite and going back on everything he stood for in the 80s and 90s". He was put in for a second time (the only person ever to experience this dishonour) in 2007 by comedian Mark Steel (whose style has been compared with Elton.)^[6] In his 2005 show Stand-up Comedian, comic Stewart Lee remarked upon the fact that Ben Elton is more widely despised than Osama Bin Laden due to the fact that the latter has "at least lived his life according to a consistent set of ethical principles". This article is about the English television hostess. ... This page is about the TV series Room 101. ... The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held in the United Kingdom once each year, and often in a theatre in Londons West End although it is increasingly being held outside of London. ... Mark Steel (born 1961) is an English socialist columnist and comedian. ... Stewart Lee (born April 5, 1968 in Solihull) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director probably best known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically-acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera. ... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ...

Toby Young summarises similar criticisms when he writes: Toby Young (born Toby Daniel Moorsom Young in 1963) is a homuncular high-flying British journalist, author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, the tale of his disastrous five-year attempt to make it in the U.S. as a contributing editor at Conde Nast Publications Vanity Fair...

Though Young earlier said that criticism aimed at Elton is "down to sour grapes", and that "he may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Britain would surely be a poorer place without him."^[8] West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland. Along with New Yorks Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in...

Elton has also been criticised for writing a musical with Conservative Party supporter Andrew Lloyd Webber. In his defence, Elton has said "if I were to refuse to talk to Tories, I would narrow my social and professional scope considerably. If you judge all your relationships on a person's voting intentions, I think you miss out on the varieties of life." [3] The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and the oldest political party in the United Kingdom. ...

Elton has also been criticised for co-writing a song that was performed at the inauguration of US President George W. Bush. When questioned on this, Elton remarked that he did not see it as a celebration of Bush, more a celebration of the presidency of the United States, and said that whilst he "despises" Bush's policies, he was "not sufficiently right-wing to invoke a South African-style boycott."^[9] Ben Elton was also willing to work with Queen, the band which broke the cultural embargo on Apartheid South Africa by performing in Sun City in 1984.^[10] George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... The presidential seal is a well-known symbol of the presidency. ... Queen are an English rock band formed in 1970 in London by guitarist Brian May, singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, with bassist John Deacon joining the following year. ... A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... The Bridge of Time facing the Entertainment Centre Sun City is a luxury South African casino resort, situated in the North West Province. ...

References

1. ^ I Have a Cunning Plan - 20th Anniversary of Blackadder, BBC Radio 4 documentary broadcast 23rd August 2003. Excerpts available at bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/interviews/
2. ^ Chortle.co.uk: Getting His Kicks on TV
3. ^ British Sitcom Guide: Teenage Kicks to switch to BBC2?
4. ^ plymouthpavilions.com
5. ^ IMDb: Maybe Baby
6. ^ thisislancashire.co.uk: Mark Steel
7. ^ The Sound of No Hands Clapping, Toby Young, Da Capo Press 2006, p.212
8. ^ Toby Young - Ben Elton profile
9. ^ BBC News: Ben Elton denies Bush reports
10. ^ Freddie Mercury Bio

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

External links

• french article about Ben Elton in Wikipédia
• Get a Grip at itv.com
• Podcast Interview with Ben Elton
• Interview with Andrew Denton on ABC TV Australia
• Ben Elton Knows The Truth
• Ben Elton at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Comedy Guide - Ben Elton