Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton (born
May 3,
1959) is an
English comedian and
writer. Born in
Catford,
London to a
Jewish immigrant family of academics (he is the son of the educational researcher
Lewis Elton and the nephew of the historian
G. R. Elton), he studied at
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 early 1980s. He has also achieved success writing musicals.
In 1980 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. He also performed and hosted the
BBC comedy show
The Oxford Roadshow, however his live act took off when, after a series of storming performances, he was hired by
The Comedy Store in
London as its compere, and more TV work followed as a result.
His first major TV success was as co-writer of the television
sitcom The Young Ones. Conceived by
Rik Mayall and
Lise Mayer, Elton was brought in by Mayall to piece scripts and jokes together. Elton occasionally appeared in the show in bit-parts.
In 1985, Elton became the youngest sole scriptwriter for the BBC when his idyllic comedy-drama series
Happy Families, starring
Jennifer Saunders and
Adrian Edmondson, was aired. 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.
Elton's reputation as the hottest new comic writer led to a call from
Richard Curtis who was looking for a second opinion before writing the second series of
Blackadder, the first series of which had been disliked by BBC bosses. Elton answered the plea and duly injected more cynicism into the main character, played by
Rowan Atkinson, and created more of a disdainful relationship between Blackadder and servant Baldrick, played by
Tony Robinson. The three series he co-wrote (set in
Elizabethan,
Regency and
First World War eras) were a huge success and remain arguably his most widely admired TV work.
Elton's writing plaudits were not being matched by those he received as a stand-up performer. He had become a regular turn on
Saturday Live — later moved and renamed
Friday Night Live — which was seen as a UK version of
Saturday Night Live. He later became the host of the programme, which involved Elton performing a series of topical routines, often with the intent of using his known
left wing sympathies to attack the
Conservative government of the time and especially the
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (or "Thatch", as he called her). The more
right wing sections of the British press started to scorn him, and the image of Elton with his long hair, red '
Buggles glasses and - most famously - his midnight blue, sparkly suit became one of the most endearing of the late
1980s in the UK.
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 U.N.C.L.E.; "Auntie" is a
nickname for the
BBC).
A similar format was used for
The Ben Elton Show which aired in 1998. This show seemed to mark the beginning of his decline in the spotlight with an incongruous regular guest being
Ronnie Corbett - a comedian of the very same 'old-guard' the '
Alternative Comedians' of the 80s existed as the alternative to. His more recent television sitcoms are
The Thin Blue Line, set in a
police station and also starring Atkinson which ran for two series (1995, 1996); and
Blessed (television) starring Ardal o'Hanlon which aired on BBC1 in 2005.
In 2001 when the British journalist and presenter
Anne Robinson metaphorically put him 'into
Room 101' on the TV show of the same name, Anne argued that Ben should be sent to the room "for being a total and utter hyprocrite and going back on everything he stood for in the 80s and 90s".
Prolific and ambitious, he began writing novels and plays, including
Stark (1989, made into a TV film in 1993 in which Elton starred);
Gridlock (1991);
This Other Eden (1993);
Popcorn (1996);
Blast from the Past (1998); the semi-autobiographical
Inconceivable (later made into a film, see below);
Dead Famous (2001), a variation on the classical
whodunit of the 1930s and 1940s set around a reality TV series akin to
Big Brother;
High Society (2002), a novel exploring the social consequences of drug illegality in Britain,
Past Mortem (2004), a whodunit examining the motivations behind those who connect with old schoolfriends via the
web site Friends Reunited, and
The First Casualty (2005), another whodunit, based around a murder in the First World War trenches.
Ben Elton starred as CD in the Australian/BBC TV film adaptation of his novel Stark, released in 1993.
He played Verges to
Michael Keaton's Dogberry in
Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of
Much Ado About Nothing.
Behind the camera, Elton wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel
Inconceivable, which movie was released under the title
Maybe Baby (2000). The film was nominated for a prize at the German "Emden Film Festival," but did not win.
More recently, he has embarked on a career in musical theatre, co-writing
The Beautiful Game with
Andrew Lloyd Webber, and then the rock musicals
We Will Rock You with music by
Queen and
Tonight's the Night with music by
Rod Stewart.
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 starring
Emma Noble,
John Major's former daughter-in-law. It also toured Australia in a production starring
Marcus Graham and
Nadine Garner in its Eastern-States seasons.
Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.
As of 2004 Ben Elton splits his time between semi-permanent bases in
Notting Hill in London and
Fremantle, Western Australia. Elton became an
Australian
citizen in 2004 and now enjoys
dual citizenship of the UK and Australia. His wife,
Sophie Gare, is a
saxophonist in an all-girl band called
The Boom Babies.
In 2005 Ben wrote and directed Televison sitcom
Blessed for BBC1.
In 2005 Ben 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.
In 2006, Ben hosted a segment on
ITV's coverage of
The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday LIVE.
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