Ben Elton
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English
comedian
, author
, playwright
and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy
movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones
and Blackadder
, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV. He was a high-profile frontman of 1980s left-wing political satire. Since then he has published thirteen novels and more lately become known for writing the musical We Will Rock You
(2002) and Love Never Dies (2010), the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera
.
, London, the son of an English teacher mother and physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton
. He is the nephew of the historian Sir G. R. Elton. Elton's father is of German Jewish descent and his mother is of English background. He studied at Stillness Junior School and Godalming Grammar School
in Surrey
, South Warwickshire College
and the University of Manchester
. Elton is married to Sophia Gare (an Australian saxophonist) and has three children (two sons and one daughter). He lives in Fremantle
, Western Australia and in East Sussex
, England. Elton has had dual British/Australian citizenship since 2004.
His uncle, Sir Geoffrey Elton, claimed to be the only notable person to have complained about the fourth series of Blackadder - though he later "changed his mind"
He is a Labour Party
supporter and was named as a financial donor to the party in 1998.
. 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.
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.
In 1985 Elton began his successful writing partnership with Richard Curtis
. Together they wrote Blackadder II
, Blackadder the Third
(in one episode, Elton appeared as a bomb-wielding anarchist
) and Blackadder Goes Forth
. Blackadder
, starring Rowan Atkinson
, was a worldwide hit, winning four BAFTAs and an Emmy.
Elton and Curtis were inspired to write Blackadder Goes Forth
upon finding the First World War to be a particularly apt subject for a situation comedy. This series, which dealt with greater, darker themes than prior Blackadder episodes, was widely praised for Curtis's and Elton's scripts, in particular the final episode. Before writing the series, the pair read a number of books about the war and found that
Elton and Curtis also wrote Atkinson's 1986 stage show, The New Review, and Mr Bean's infamous "exam" episode.
Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest selling live acts. After a regular slot on Saturday Live — later moved and renamed Friday Night Live — which was seen as a UK version of the US's Saturday Night Live
, he became the host of the programme.
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 1989 Elton won the Royal Television Society Writers' Award.
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 Elton's last high-profile network programme in the UK as a stand-up comedian.
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 was wholly responsible for the scripts).
In a 2007 interview with Third Way Magazine
, Elton accused the BBC of allowing jokes about vicars, but not imams. "And I believe that part of it is due to the genuine fear that the authorities and the communities have about provoking the radical elements of Islam".
On the 10 October 2010 Elton headlined the first episode of Dave's One Night Stand
.
Elton worked on Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth
, a live one-hour variety show which debuted on 8 February 2011 on the Nine Network
in Australia. Live from Planet Earth was axed by the Nine Network on Wednesday 23 February 2011 after airing three episodes, despite having six episodes commissioned. The show's final airing rated at about 200,000 viewers.
, 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, its traditional format and characters won it the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims.
He also wrote the six-part sitcom Blessed
, starring Ardal O'Hanlon
, which aired on BBC1 in 2005.
on a sitcom based on the song "Teenage Kicks
" for BBC Radio 2
. A television version of Teenage Kicks
for ITV
has been made; Elton appeared in the pilot but was replaced by Mark Arden
when it went to series production.
), except for Stark, originally published by Sphere Books
, which was made into an Australian TV serial in 1993 starring Elton.
On a publicity tour for Past Mortem
in 2004, Elton mused on the high school reunion theme and his own drama college reunion: "We’d had a very happy time all together, so there were no old scores to be settled really, we’d been a pretty happy bunch. And yet one person, who’d been a bit of a golden boy – he certainly went out with a girl I was besotted and unrequitedly in love with – he came up and he said, ‘Why did you come? Was it to show off?’. That really surprised me, that anyone would think that … he came kind of carrying my agenda. It was weird. I hasten to add I didn’t think my life to be more successful than anybody else’s. If you’re happy and honest and fulfilled in what you do, then you’re having a successful life."
in the musical Oliver!
While previously appearing in bit parts in his own TV series, he began his professional film acting career when he starred as CD in Stark
, the Australian/BBC TV series adaptation of his novel, released in 1993. This ABC co-production was directed by Nadia Tass
and filmed in Australia.
Elton played the role of Verges in Kenneth Branagh
's film adaptation of William Shakespeare
's Much Ado About Nothing
, also released in 1993.
and Joely Richardson
. It was a moderate UK success and was distributed globally. The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival.
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, Canada, and The Netherlands. Tonight's the Night
, based on the songs of Rod Stewart
, opened in November 2003. Elton most recently worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber
on the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera
, Love Never Dies.
and has written three West End
plays.
as its compère.
He released two albums of stand-up comedy, Motormouth (1987) and Motorvation (1988).
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.
, in recognition of the work that he has carried out with students.
by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.
In 1998 Elton was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party
.
summarises often repeated criticisms when he writes:
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." He is also one of the few items to have been put into Room 101
twice: first by Anne Robinson
in 2001, and then by Mark Steel
. In 2009, his ad hominem
jibes at Queen Elizabeth II
and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
, were deemed by Peter Hitchens
to be lacking in "wit, style or substance."
Elton says of criticism towards him "I would have loved a honeymoon period, but I've been irritating journos from the beginning. Originally I was knocked for being too left-wing, and now apparently I've sold out and I'm too right-wing, but all the time I've been being me, and that certainly isn't the person I recognise in anything that's written about me." He denies being anti-establishment though, "I wrote a sitcom for the BBC when I was 21! How the fuck can I be anti-establishment? From the first interview I ever did, I talked about Morecambe and Wise
, and every time they wanted me to talk about Lenny Bruce
I'd say, 'Yeah, he's fine, but he doesn't make me laugh the way Eric
'n'Ernie
do." He also points out he was a socialist at a time when "the media was on the whole slavishly worshipping of Thatcher
". He said of his political views "I believe in the politics of Clement Attlee
. I'm a Welfare State
Labour
voter."
He parodied himself though in the sketch 'Benny Elton' for Harry Enfield's Television Programme
in 1994, which saw him sending up his 'right on' Socialist image as a politically correct spoilsport chasing Page Three models around a park to chastise them and tricking heterosexual couples into becoming gay.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
and Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV. He was a high-profile frontman of 1980s left-wing political satire. Since then he has published thirteen novels and more lately become known for writing the musical We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
(2002) and Love Never Dies (2010), the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
.
Personal life
Elton was born in CatfordCatford
Catford is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Architecture:...
, London, the son of an English teacher mother and physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton
Lewis Elton
Ludwig Richard Benjamin Elton is a German-born British physicist and researcher into education, specialising in higher education....
. He is the nephew of the historian Sir G. R. Elton. Elton's father is of German Jewish descent and his mother is of English background. He studied at Stillness Junior School and Godalming Grammar School
Godalming Grammar School
Godalming Grammar School was a state-funded selective grammar School taking both boys and girls, situated in Tuesley Lane, Godalming, England.-History:...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, South Warwickshire College
Stratford-upon-Avon College
Stratford-upon-Avon College is a further education college in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England.It offers a wide variety of courses ranging from Pre-Entry Level to National Diplomas, A Levels and degree level courses.- History :...
and the University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
. Elton is married to Sophia Gare (an Australian saxophonist) and has three children (two sons and one daughter). He lives in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Western Australia and in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, England. Elton has had dual British/Australian citizenship since 2004.
His uncle, Sir Geoffrey Elton, claimed to be the only notable person to have complained about the fourth series of Blackadder - though he later "changed his mind"
He is a Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
supporter and was named as a financial donor to the party in 1998.
Television
His first television appearance was a stand-up performance on the BBC1 youth and music programme The Oxford Road ShowOxford Road Show
Oxford Road Show was a pop music magazine show broadcast on BBC2 from the BBC's New Broadcasting House, Oxford Road, Manchester between 1981 and 1985. The show featured music, pop music news and competitions. Later it was known as "ORS 84" and "ORS 85"...
. His first TV success though was at the age of 23 as co-writer of the television sitcom The Young Ones
The Young Ones (TV series)
The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
, in which he occasionally appeared.
In 1983/84 he wrote and appeared in Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
's sketch show Alfresco
Alfresco (TV series)
Alfresco is a British television series starring Robbie Coltrane, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Siobhan Redmond and Emma Thompson, produced by Granada Television and broadcast by ITV from May 1983 to June 1984...
, which was also notable for early appearances by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
, Hugh Laurie
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
and Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
. In 1985, Elton produced his first solo script for the BBC with his comedy-drama series Happy Families
Happy Families (TV series)
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....
, starring Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
and Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
. 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
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
for the showbiz send-up sitcom Filthy Rich and Catflap.
In 1985 Elton began his successful writing partnership with Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis
Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, Love Actually and The Girl in the Café, as well as the hit...
. Together they wrote Blackadder II
Blackadder II
Blackadder II is 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
Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
(in one episode, Elton appeared as a bomb-wielding anarchist
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
) and Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is 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 on BBC One....
. Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
, starring Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
, was a worldwide hit, winning four BAFTAs and an Emmy.
Elton and Curtis were inspired to write Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is 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 on BBC One....
upon finding the First World War to be a particularly apt subject for a situation comedy. This series, which dealt with greater, darker themes than prior Blackadder episodes, was widely praised for Curtis's and Elton's scripts, in particular the final episode. Before writing the series, the pair read a number of books about the war and found that
Elton and Curtis also wrote Atkinson's 1986 stage show, The New Review, and Mr Bean's infamous "exam" episode.
Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest selling live acts. After a regular slot on Saturday Live — later moved and renamed Friday Night Live — which was seen as a UK version of the US's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, he became the host of the programme.
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
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
for the BBC). In 1989 Elton won the Royal Television Society Writers' Award.
The Ben Elton Show (1998) followed a format similar to that of The Man from Auntie and featured (somewhat incongruously) Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
, a comedian of the "old guard" that the "alternative comedians
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
" of the 1980s were the direct alternative to, as a regular guest. It was Elton's last high-profile network programme in the UK as a stand-up comedian.
In April 2007, Get a Grip
Get A Grip (TV series)
Get a Grip was a television series shown on ITV in the United Kingdom. It aired on Wednesday nights in April/May 2007 and was hosted by Ben Elton and Alexa Chung.The programme was made by Phil McIntyre Productions and Big Bear Films....
, a new show, began broadcasting on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. 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
Alexa Chung
Alexa Chung is an English television presenter, model and contributing editor at British Vogue.She currently hosts Gonzo with Alexa Chung for MTV UK, and is scheduled to host Thrift America for PBS in 2011...
, the show's aim was to "contrast Elton's middle-aged viewpoint with Chung's younger perspective" (although Elton was wholly responsible for the scripts).
In a 2007 interview with Third Way Magazine
Third Way Magazine
Third Way Magazine is a UK current-affairs magazine written from a Christian perspective. It is distinctively biblical, fairly highbrow and culturally aware...
, Elton accused the BBC of allowing jokes about vicars, but not imams. "And I believe that part of it is due to the genuine fear that the authorities and the communities have about provoking the radical elements of Islam".
On the 10 October 2010 Elton headlined the first episode of Dave's One Night Stand
Dave's One Night Stand
-External links:* at Dave's official website...
.
Elton worked on Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth
Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth
Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth was a 2011 Australian comedy television series produced by FremantleMedia which aired on the Nine Network. The program was performed and broadcast live as a sketch comedy and variety show...
, a live one-hour variety show which debuted on 8 February 2011 on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
in Australia. Live from Planet Earth was axed by the Nine Network on Wednesday 23 February 2011 after airing three episodes, despite having six episodes commissioned. The show's final airing rated at about 200,000 viewers.
Behind the camera
Elton also wrote and produced The Thin Blue LineThe Thin Blue Line (TV series)
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson set in a police station that ran for two series on the BBC from 1995 to 1996...
, 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, its traditional format and characters won it the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims.
He also wrote the six-part sitcom Blessed
Blessed (TV series)
Blessed was a BBC television sitcom written by Ben Elton and starring Ardal O'Hanlon as Gary, a record producer, who is struggling to bring up two small children...
, starring Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon 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.-Early life:...
, which aired on BBC1 in 2005.
Radio
Elton co-starred with Adrian EdmondsonAdrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
on a sitcom based on the song "Teenage Kicks
Teenage Kicks
"Teenage Kicks" is a 1978 song originally recorded by Northern Irish punk rock group The Undertones. Composed by the band's principal songwriter, John O'Neill, it was championed by DJ John Peel, and was his all-time favourite song.-John Peel:...
" for BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
. A television version of Teenage Kicks
Teenage Kicks (TV series)
Teenage Kicks is a British sitcom starring Adrian Edmondson, Ed Coleman and Laura Aikman, filmed at Teddington Studios. Originally as a radio show for BBC Radio 2 in 2007, it was turned into a TV series by Phil McIntyre Productions for ITV...
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
has been made; Elton appeared in the pilot but was replaced by Mark Arden
Mark Arden
Mark Arden is an English comedian and actor, best known for being one half of comic double act "The Oblivion Boys" with Stephen Frost....
when it went to series production.
Novels
He has published thirteen novels since 1989, all published by Black Swan (an imprint of TransworldTransworld (company)
Transworld Publishers Inc. is a British publishing division of Random House and belongs to Bertelsmann, one of the world's largest media groups. It was established in 1950, and for many years it was the British division of Bantam Books. It publishes fiction and non fiction titles by various...
), except for Stark, originally published by Sphere Books
Sphere Books
-History:Founded in 1961, Sphere Books began work on its first publication, the 1962 paperback edition of Gottfried Benn's The Trainee Man. Originally part of The Thomson Corporation, Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin...
, which was made into an Australian TV serial in 1993 starring Elton.
- StarkStark (novel)Stark is a 1989 novel by comedian Ben Elton. It was commercially and critically successful in the United Kingdom and Australia. It was Elton's first novel, and launched his writing career...
(1989) - GridlockGridlock (novel)Gridlock is a 1991 novel by Ben Elton.-Plot summary:The novel depicts a near-future London in which traffic congestion has reached almost critical levels, such that accidents in a few key places could bring the entire city's traffic network to a halt. The government is aware of the problem and...
(1991), UK No 1 - This Other EdenThis Other Eden (novel)This Other Eden is a satirical novel written by Ben Elton.-Plot introduction:The novel is set in the reasonably near future. Earth is being devastated by Mankind's continued exploitation, and it seems obvious that the environment will collapse sometime in the near future...
(1993), UK No 1 - Popcorn (1996), UK No 1 and Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain Gold Dagger Award for fiction
- Blast from the PastBlast from the Past (novel)Blast from the Past is a 1998 novel by Ben Elton, published by Bantam Press and later adapted into a stage performance by the West Yorkshire Playhouse...
(1998), UK Top 5 - InconceivableInconceivable (novel)Inconceivable is a 1999 novel by Ben Elton, following a childless couple's efforts to conceive. The story is told in the form of journal entries by the two principal characters. It was adapted into the film Maybe Baby, which was directed by Elton....
(1999), UK Top 5 (later made into a film, see below) - Dead FamousDead Famous (novel)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...
(2001), UK Top 5 - High SocietyHigh Society (novel)High Society is a darkly comic novel by English author Ben Elton. The story focuses on Peter Paget, a Labour Party MP, and his mission to legalise all recreational drugs in the UK.-Plot summary:It also follows several other characters:...
(2002), UK No 1 and WH Smith's People Choice Fiction Award - Past MortemPast MortemPast Mortem is a detective novel by Ben Elton first published in 2004. It is about a serial killer on the loose in England, mainly in the London area, and Scotland Yard's attempts at tracking him or her down...
(2004), UK Top 5 - The First CasualtyThe First CasualtyThe First Casualty is a historical crime novel by English author Ben Elton, set during the First World War.-Synopsis:In June 1917, whilst recovering from shell shock inside a military hospital, beloved war poet and dedicated soldier Viscount Abercrombie is inexplicably shot dead...
(2005), UK Top 5 - Chart ThrobChart ThrobChart Throb is a 2006 novel by Ben Elton. It was released in hardback on 6 November 2006 in the UK, and 9 January 2007 in the US. It is a satire of The X-Factor/Pop Idol style reality TV programmes.-Plot summary:...
(2006) - Blind FaithBlind Faith (novel)Blind Faith is an English dystopian novel by writer and comedian Ben Elton, published in 2007.-Setting:The story takes place in London approximately 50 years after many parts of the Earth have been subjected to rising water due to global warming...
(2007) - Meltdown (2010)
On a publicity tour for Past Mortem
Past Mortem
Past Mortem is a detective novel by Ben Elton first published in 2004. It is about a serial killer on the loose in England, mainly in the London area, and Scotland Yard's attempts at tracking him or her down...
in 2004, Elton mused on the high school reunion theme and his own drama college reunion: "We’d had a very happy time all together, so there were no old scores to be settled really, we’d been a pretty happy bunch. And yet one person, who’d been a bit of a golden boy – he certainly went out with a girl I was besotted and unrequitedly in love with – he came up and he said, ‘Why did you come? Was it to show off?’. That really surprised me, that anyone would think that … he came kind of carrying my agenda. It was weird. I hasten to add I didn’t think my life to be more successful than anybody else’s. If you’re happy and honest and fulfilled in what you do, then you’re having a successful life."
Films
Ben Elton had appeared in amateur dramatic productions as a youth, notably as The Artful DodgerThe Artful Dodger
Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. As a result he has become the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin...
in the musical Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
While previously appearing in bit parts in his own TV series, he began his professional film acting career when he starred as CD in Stark
Stark (TV miniseries)
Stark is a 1993 British-Australian television miniseries, based on the bestselling novel Stark by comedian Ben Elton. The three-episode series, directed by Nadia Tass, was an international coproduction between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting...
, the Australian/BBC TV series adaptation of his novel, released in 1993. This ABC co-production was directed by Nadia Tass
Nadia Tass
Nadia Tass is a film director, producer and actress, originally from Macedonia, northern Greece, who moved to Australia in the 1960s. She began her career as an actress appearing in the television series Prisoner. Ms...
and filmed in Australia.
Elton played the role of Verges in Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
's film adaptation of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....
, also released in 1993.
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 LaurieHugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
and Joely Richardson
Joely Richardson
Joely Kim Richardson is an English actress, most known recently for her role as Queen Catherine Parr in the Showtime television show The Tudors and Julia McNamara in the television drama Nip/Tuck...
. It was a moderate UK success and was distributed globally. The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival.
Musicals
Elton collaborated with Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
on The Beautiful Game
The Beautiful Game (musical)
The Beautiful Game is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton about a group of teenagers growing up amid religious intolerance in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1969....
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
We Will Rock You (musical)
We Will Rock You is a jukebox musical, based on the songs of Queen and named after their hit single of the same name. The musical was written by British comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor...
with music by the rock band Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
. 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, Canada, and The Netherlands. Tonight's the Night
Tonight's The Night (2003 musical)
Tonight's the Night is a "compilation musical" by comedian Ben Elton, based on the music of Rod Stewart. It opened in October 2003 at the Victoria Palace Theatre, and ran for just over a year...
, based on the songs of Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, opened in November 2003. Elton most recently worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
on the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, Love Never Dies.
Stage
Elton studied Drama at the University of ManchesterVictoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
and has written three West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
plays.
- 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 GrahamMarcus GrahamMarcus Graham is an Australian television and stage actor who has also starred in several films, including Mulholland Drive and Josh Jarman. He was known as a teenage heartthrob in the early 90s while starring in the Australian TV soap E Street as the character "Wheels"...
and Nadine GarnerNadine GarnerNadine Lynette Garner is an Australian actress.-Biography:Garner first came to public attention in 1985, as Tamara Henderson in the Australian TV series, The Henderson Kids, and then in her debut film The Still Point...
in its Eastern-States seasons. Popcorn won the TMATMA AwardsThe TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
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 Molière Awards. - Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire PlayhouseWest Yorkshire PlayhouseThe West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city...
.
Stand-up comedy
In 1981, when his live act took off, Elton was hired by The Comedy StoreThe Comedy Store, London
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard had visited the previous year...
as its compère.
He released two albums of stand-up comedy, Motormouth (1987) and Motorvation (1988).
In 2005 Elton did his first stand-up tour since 1997, touring the UK with Get a Grip. He toured Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with the same show in 2006.
Awards
In 2007, Ben Elton was awarded an Honorary Rose for lifetime achievement at the Rose d'Or festival. He was also made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing ArtsLiverpool Institute for Performing Arts
The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts is, despite its young age, one of the United Kingdom's leading institutions for the performing arts. The university is situated in the English city of Liverpool...
, in recognition of the work that he has carried out with students.
Politics
Prior to the 1987 general election (UK), Elton lent his support to Red WedgeRed Wedge
Red Wedge was a collective of musicians who attempted to engage young people with politics in general, and the policies of the Labour Party in particular, during the period leading up to the 1987 general election, in the hope of ousting the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.Fronted by...
by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign.
In 1998 Elton was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Criticism
Toby YoungToby Young
Toby Young, MA, FRSA is a British journalist and the author of How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, the tale of his stint in New York as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair magazine...
summarises often repeated criticisms when he writes:
Elton has also been criticised for writing a musical with Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
supporter Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
. 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." He is also one of the few items to have been put into Room 101
Room 101 (TV series)
Room 101 is a BBC comedy television series based on the radio series of the same name, in which celebrities were invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign them to a fate worse than death in Room 101, named after the torture room in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is...
twice: first by Anne Robinson
Anne Robinson
Anne Josephine Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter, known for her assertive views and acerbic style of presenting. She was one of the presenters on the long-running British consumer affairs series, Watchdog, from 1993 to 2001 before returning in 2009...
in 2001, and then by Mark Steel
Mark Steel
Mark Steel is a British socialist columnist, author and comedian. He was a member of the Socialist Workers Party from his late teens until 2007.-Early life:...
. In 2009, his ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
jibes at Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
, were deemed by Peter Hitchens
Peter Hitchens
Peter Jonathan Hitchens is an award-winning British columnist and author, noted for his traditionalist conservative stance. He has published five books, including The Abolition of Britain, A Brief History of Crime, The Broken Compass and most recently The Rage Against God. Hitchens writes for...
to be lacking in "wit, style or substance."
Elton says of criticism towards him "I would have loved a honeymoon period, but I've been irritating journos from the beginning. Originally I was knocked for being too left-wing, and now apparently I've sold out and I'm too right-wing, but all the time I've been being me, and that certainly isn't the person I recognise in anything that's written about me." He denies being anti-establishment though, "I wrote a sitcom for the BBC when I was 21! How the fuck can I be anti-establishment? From the first interview I ever did, I talked about Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
, and every time they wanted me to talk about Lenny Bruce
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider , better known by the stage name Lenny Bruce, was a Jewish-American comedian, social critic and satirist...
I'd say, 'Yeah, he's fine, but he doesn't make me laugh the way Eric
Eric Morecambe
John Eric Bartholomew OBE , known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the award-winning double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death of a heart attack in 1984...
'n'Ernie
Ernie Wise
Ernest Wiseman OBE , known by his stage name Ernie Wise, was an English comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, who became an institution on British television, especially for their Christmas specials.-Career:Ernest Wiseman was the eldest of five children, and changed...
do." He also points out he was a socialist at a time when "the media was on the whole slavishly worshipping of Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
". He said of his political views "I believe in the politics of Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
. I'm a Welfare State
Welfare State
The Welfare State is a commitment to health, education, employment and social security in the United Kingdom.-Background:The United Kingdom, as a welfare state, was prefigured in the William Beveridge Report in 1942, which identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness...
Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
voter."
He parodied himself though in the sketch 'Benny Elton' for Harry Enfield's Television Programme
Harry Enfield's Television Programme
Harry Enfield's Television Programme was a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse...
in 1994, which saw him sending up his 'right on' Socialist image as a politically correct spoilsport chasing Page Three models around a park to chastise them and tricking heterosexual couples into becoming gay.