Childhood & Early Life
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on January 6, 1955, to Eric Atkinson and Ella May, in County Durham, England. He is the youngest of the four children born to the couple, and was raised as a staunch Anglican.
He studied at Durham Choristers School, St. Bees School, and finally at Newcastle University, where he majored in Electrical Engineering.
In 1975, he continued his Electrical Engineering degree at The Queen’s College, Oxford. It was during this time he was introduced to the future screenwriter, Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and executed sketches for the Oxford Playhouse and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the following year.
Continue Reading Below
Career
He started his acting career by appearing in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 called ‘The Atkinson People’, in 1978. The next year, he did a one-of-a-kind pilot for a sitcom called, ‘Canned Laughter’.
In 1979, he starred in a television comedy sketch show titled, ‘Not the Nine O’ Clock News’ along with Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones and Chris Langham.
He earned widespread local success through his sitcom and went on to earn a role in the medieval sitcom, ‘The Black Adder’, which was aired in 1983 and continued till the next decade. Once again, he co-wrote the show with Richard Curtis.
In 1983, he made his motion picture debut with a supporting role in the James Bond film, ‘Never Say Never Again’. The same year, he was cast in a lead role for the film, ‘Dead on Time’.
From 1987 to 1989, he was called for the ‘Just for Laughs’ festival in Montreal, while shooting for the ‘Black Adder’. During this time, he was also cast in ‘The Appointments of Dennis Jennings’ and ‘The Tall Guy’.
In 1990, he was cast as the wretched, buffoon, Mr. Bean in a show titled, ‘Mr. Bean’. Little did Atkinson know that this series would end up changing his life and would cement his position as one of the greatest British actor-comedians of all time. Around the same time, he was cast in the film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic, ‘The Witches’.
In 1994, he gained further recognition with the film, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and for his voiceover for the bird, Zazu, in Disney’s, ‘The Lion King’.
A number of sequels of ‘Mr. Bean’ were made, which appeared on television until 1995. Two years later, he was cast in the film adaptation of the hit television series, which was titled, ‘Bean’. During this time, he was also cast as inspector ‘Raymond Fowler’ in ‘The Thin Blue Line’.
From 2001 to 2003, he appeared as a supporting actor in a string of films including, ‘Rat Race’, ‘Johnny English’, ‘Scooby-Doo’ and ‘Love Actually. Two years later, he appeared in the crime comedy, ‘Keeping Mum’, which also co-starred Maggie Smith, Patrick Swayze and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Continue Reading Below
In addition to his supporting roles, he hit it big once again with another ‘Bean’ film, which was a sequel to the first, titled, ‘Mr. Bean’s Holiday’, released in 2007. Two years later, he appeared in a theatre role for the musical, ‘Oliver!’ directed by Rupert Goold.
In 2011, he appeared in the sequel of the James Bond Parody titled, ‘Johnny English Reborn’, which was a hit at the box-office. The next year, he made an official proclamation stating that he was officially retiring from the character of ‘Mr. Bean’ and that there would be no more shows or films based on the famous character.
In 2013, he took on an ostensible role in a production of the play, ‘Quartermine’s Terms’ at a theater in London.
Major Works
The 1983 hit series, ‘The Black Adder’ was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson and also featured Atkinson. Voted as the ‘second-best British sitcom of all time’, this show was also ranked as the ‘20th best TV show of all time’. Rowan Atkinson, cast as Edmund Blackadder, was the series’ protagonist and established himself as one of the best actors of his time.
His role as ‘Mr. Bean’ in the ‘Mr. Bean’ series that began in 1995, is considered one of his magnum opus’ because it is believed that he created this character when he was in college and he always wanted to portray such a character. As a personality who ‘rarely spoke’ on television, he enthralled audiences with his one-of-a-kind physical humor and his relations with various people and situations. During its successful five-year run on television, Atkinson became a national celebrity for his role and the series became so popular that it spawned two film adaptations.
Family & Personal Life
He married Sunetra Sastry on February 5, 1990, and they have two children, Benjamin and Lily. The couple divorced on November 10, 2015.
Rowan Atkinson has been in a relationship with Louise Ford since 2014. She gave birth to Atkinson's third child in December 2017.
He has voiced his support for the ‘Reform Section 5 campaign,’ which is aimed at reforming/repealing of Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, which is seen as a restriction of freedom of expression.
Apart from his acting career, he is an avid car-lover and a racer. He has written for a number of car magazines, and has also appeared on the popular television shows ‘Top Gear’ and ‘Full Throttle’.
He has raced a number of cars, including the Aston Martin and owns a McLaren F1, a Honda NSX, Audi A8, and a Honda Civic Hybrid.
