We've known Rowan Atkinson’s supremely subversive silliness for over 40 years, as he has famously playedextraordinary fools happily.
Rowan Atkinson's career has the structure of a joke: a grave, shy man fated to make others laugh. It's a good joke. Atkinson is Britain's most successful comic actor since Peter Sellers and Dudley Moore. His global franchises, Johnny English and Mr. Bean, have grossed billions of pounds.
With Mr. Bean, he almost single-handedly resurrected physical comedy. He created the best British sitcom character of our lifetimes with Blackadder - he calls it The Blackadder- and Blackadder is very talkative. But, as he points out, all comedy is subjective. He is 67 years old and has been famous for over 40 years.
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, an English actor, comedian, and screenwriter, was born on January 6, 1955 in Consett, County Durham, England. In a 2005 poll of fellow comedians, Atkinson was named one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy and one of the top 50 comedians ever by The Observer.
At The Queen's College, Oxford, Atkinson earned a master's degree in electrical engineering. Atkinson began writing and performing his first sketches while studying at Oxford. He made his Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut in Oxford revues. Later, he began performing in theatre clubs and on BBC Radio 3 comedy shows.
He was a movie buff. He was the president of the school film society and once saw Jacques Tati's Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot four times in one day. He, too, enjoyed mending: he carried a screwdriver in his top pocket, tinkered with tractors, and learned how to rewire a house.
"Even with the advances in technology since the last century," he says, he can still rewire a house. He repaired the photocopier in the fringe office at the Edinburgh Festival.
He achieved success in TV roles such as Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979-82), Blackadder (1983-89), and The Thin Blue Line (1995-96), but Atkinson rose to international prominence by writing and starring in the TV sitcom Mr. Bean (1990-95). Mr Bean, as described by Atkinson, is a character who is "a child in a grown man's body." Mr. Bean's series has helped him secure a place in the popular culture of several countries.
Mr. Bean is a slow-witted, sometimes ingenious, selfish, and generally likeable buffoon who brings unusual schemes and connivance to everyday tasks.
Throughout his more than 40-year career, 66-year-old Atkinson has been recognized for his contributions to film and television. He was awarded the CBE in 2013 for his contributions to drama and charity.
The screenwriter and actor has also received BAFTA and Olivier nominations.
Atkinson struggled with fame: "As a private individual, I much prefer to keep my cards very close to my chest," he says. "I don't really want to be known as a person." I want to be remembered for my work, not for who I am or what I believe."
"Man vs. Bee," Atkinson's new Netflix series, premiered on June 24. The comedian plays Trevor, a bumbling father who gets a new job as a house sitter at a luxurious mansion filled with priceless artwork, classic cars, and a dog named Cupcake. When a bee enters the house and forces Trevor to pull out all the stops to get rid of it, shenanigans and chaos ensue.
