Rowan Atkinson

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Birthday:

6 January 1955, Consett, County Durham, England, UK

Birth Name:

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson

Height:

180 cm

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees in electrical engineering. During that time, he met screenwriter Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and performed comedy revues.Later, he co-wrote and appeared in Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979), which was a huge success and spawned several best-selling books. It won an International Emmy Award and the British Academy Award for "Best Light Entertainment Programme of 1980." He won the "British Academy Award" and was named "BBC Personality of the Year" for his performing on Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979).Atkinson also appeared in several movies, including Dead on Time (1983), Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976) (aka "Monty Python Meets Beyond the Fringe"), Never Say Never Again (1983), and The Tall Guy (1989). He played "Mr. Bean" in the TV series, Mr. Bean (1990) but, apart from that and Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979), he also appeared in several other series like The Black Adder (1982) and Funny Business (1992), etc.Atkinson enjoys nothing better than fast cars. He has been married to Sunetra Sastry since 1990, and they have two children, named Benjamin and Lily. Show less «

People think because I can make them laugh on the stage, I'll be able to make them laugh in person. That isn't the case at all. I am essenti...Show more »

People think because I can make them laugh on the stage, I'll be able to make them laugh in person. That isn't the case at all. I am essentially a rather quiet, dull person who just happens to be a performer. Show less «

[commenting in 2004 on Britain's proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill] To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational an...Show more »

[commenting in 2004 on Britain's proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill] To criticize a person for their race is manifestly irrational and ridiculous, but to criticize their religion, that is a right. That is a freedom. The freedom to criticize ideas, any ideas - even if they are sincerely held beliefs - is one of the fundamental freedoms of society. A law which attempts to say you can criticize and ridicule ideas as long as they are not religious ideas is a very peculiar law indeed. Show less «

Mr. Bean is essentially a child trapped in the body of a man. All cultures identify with children in a similar way, so he has this bizarre g...Show more »

Mr. Bean is essentially a child trapped in the body of a man. All cultures identify with children in a similar way, so he has this bizarre global outreach. And 10-year-old boys from different cultures have more in common than 30-year-olds. As we grow up, we acquire this sensibility that divides us. Show less «

I remember looking up Johnny English (2003) in a film guide and it said 'intermittently hilarious' - quite a good description of five good j...Show more »

I remember looking up Johnny English (2003) in a film guide and it said 'intermittently hilarious' - quite a good description of five good jokes and a lot of longueurs. I find it frustrating that, apart from Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), I have yet to be involved in a film of which I am totally proud. Show less «

The casual ease which some people move from finding something offensive to wishing to declare it criminal - and are then able to find factio...Show more »

The casual ease which some people move from finding something offensive to wishing to declare it criminal - and are then able to find factions within government to aid their ambitions - is truly depressing. Show less «

[on being overwhelmed by fans at a Toronto shopping mall] It's a bit disconcerting being treated like Madonna.

[preparing to perform onstage the title role in Simon Gray's 'Quartermaine's Terms'] It's well known that tragedy and comedy are close bedfe...Show more »

[preparing to perform onstage the title role in Simon Gray's 'Quartermaine's Terms'] It's well known that tragedy and comedy are close bedfellows. It's rare, though, that you see them placed in such intimacy. Like most tragic figures, 'Quartermaine' is unaware of his own tragedy. What I love about him is his optimism. You don't tend to feel much sympathy for pessimistic people, but those who retain their optimism, despite the sadness of their lives, are interesting, engaging and sympathetic. Show less «

If I'm denied words, Mr. Bean's physicality and attitude to life is what I seem to acquire. In 1989, we put him on TV and no doubt the motiv...Show more »

If I'm denied words, Mr. Bean's physicality and attitude to life is what I seem to acquire. In 1989, we put him on TV and no doubt the motivation was a belief that we had a character that could live in other markets and other countries. I was always envious of the fact that so many British musical artists in the late eighties, Phil Collins or David Bowie or Duran Duran or someone like that, assumed an international marketplace for their product, whereas British comedians don't. And I thought we have a tool here that will enable us to do that. Show less «

I've always required a formal setting, a stage or a film or TV studio in which to perform. And above all I need to become somebody else. I'm...Show more »

I've always required a formal setting, a stage or a film or TV studio in which to perform. And above all I need to become somebody else. I'm certainly not a stand-up comedian in any sense. Show less «

I definitely do not have the wit of Blackadder. I definitely require scriptwriters to provide that. And I don't think I'm as dark or cynical...Show more »

I definitely do not have the wit of Blackadder. I definitely require scriptwriters to provide that. And I don't think I'm as dark or cynical as Blackadder is in his view of the world. Probably I'm somewhere in between but closer to Mr. Bean. You know, the nice bits of Mr. Bean, because Mr. Bean has a very vindictive and selfish and nasty side to him. I hope I don't have too much of that. Show less «

The more success you have, the more pressure you feel to make things to a good standard, for movies you make to make money and that sort of ...Show more »

The more success you have, the more pressure you feel to make things to a good standard, for movies you make to make money and that sort of thing. One misses those days when you were 19 or 23 and you just did what made you laugh. What you and your friends thought was funny. And you did it, and if they laughed, great, and if they didn't, it didn't matter. As you get older you always think about everything so much, you're so concerned that what you do should be good and should be successful that it's the success you're pursuing rather than the fun of doing it, which is what's so great when you're younger... What's difficult for me on a movie is not playing Mr. Bean. The problem is the scripts. The problem is the shaping of the shots. The problem is the editing. The problem is all those things. Show less «