Ben Elton

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Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian and writer. Born in Catford, London (he is the son of the physicist and educational researcher Lewis Elton and the nephew of the historian Sir 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 1980s. More recently he has achieved success writing lyrics and books for musicals.

Elton is married and has three children. He lives in London and Fremantle, Western Australia. Elton has had dual citizenship with Australia since 2004.[1]

Contents

[edit] Television

In 1981, when his live act took off, Elton was hired by The Comedy Store in London as its compère. TV work followed as a result. Around this time there was a much-publicised falling out between Elton and fellow Comedy Store compère Alexei Sayle. His first television appearance was a stand-up performance on the BBC2 youth and music programme The Oxford Roadshow. His first TV success though was at the age of 23 as co-writer of the television sitcom The Young Ones. Elton occasionally appeared in the show in bit parts.

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 and Blackadder Goes Forth. Blackadder, starring Rowan Atkinson, was a worldwide hit, winning four BAFTAs and an Emmy. Elton and Curtis also wrote Atkinson's 1986 hit stage show, The New Review, and Mr Bean's famous exam episode.

Elton became a stand-up comedian primarily to showcase his own writing, but became one of Britain's biggest selling live acts[2]. After a regular slot on Saturday Live — later moved and renamed Friday Night Live — which was seen as a UK version of the USA'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 1991 Ben won the Royal Television Society Writers' Award.

Elton also wrote and produced The Thin Blue Line, 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 lacking the edge of his earlier work, its traditional format and characters won it the 1995 British Comedy Award and both the public and professional Jury Awards at Reims.

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 his last high-profile network programme in the UK as a stand-up comedian.

In 2001, the ex-Daily Mirror journalist and presenter Anne Robinson metaphorically put Elton into "Room 101" on the TV show of the same name (see criticism, below), along with "Welsh people".

Elton has since directed Blessed, starring Ardal O'Hanlon, which aired on BBC1 in 2005.

In 2007, Elton will be appearing in his own ITV sketch show, Get a Grip, alongside 23-year-old Alexa Chung. It will "contrast his middle-aged viewpoint with her younger perspective." He is also recording a pilot TV version of Teenage Kicks.[1]

[edit] Novels

Elton published his first novel, Stark, in 1988. Set in Australia, Stark became a number one bestseller and has gone on to sell well over a million copies.[2] It was made into a TV film in 1993 in which Elton starred. He has written ten novels since then: Gridlock (1991) UK No 1; This Other Eden (1993) UK No 1; Popcorn (1996) UK No 1 and Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain Gold Dagger Award for fiction; Blast from the Past (1998) UK Top 5; Inconceivable (1999) UK Top 5 (later made into a film, see below); Dead Famous (2001) UK Top 5; High Society (2002), UK No 1 and WH Smith's People Choice Fiction Award, Past Mortem (2004) UK Top 5; The First Casualty (2005), UK Top 5; and Chart Throb (2006).

[edit] Films

Ben Elton had appeared in amateur dramatic productions as a youth, notably as The Artful Dodger in the musical Oliver!. He began his professional acting career when he starred as CD in the Australian/BBC TV film adaptation of his novel Stark, released in 1992. This ABC co-production was directed by Nadia Tass and filmed in Australia. 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 was released under the title Maybe Baby (2000) starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson. It was a moderate UK success and was distributed globally.[3] The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival .

[edit] Musicals

Elton collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber 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 and Canada. Tonight's the Night based on the songs of Sir Rod Stewart opened in November 2003.

[edit] Stage

Elton studied Drama at the University of Manchester and has written three hit West End 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 Graham and Nadine Garner in its Eastern-States seasons. Popcorn won the TMA 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 Moliere Awards. Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

[edit] Recently

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 2006 Elton confessed in an interview for a Channel 4 documentary, Is Benny Hill Still Funny?, that he was actually a great admirer of the late comedian, who died in 1992. In the 1980s Elton had criticised Benny Hill's style of comedy in numerous forums, including an interview on the Terry Wogan programme Wogan. In 1994 Elton guest starred in an episode of Harry Enfield and Chums in a sketch entitled "Benny Elton" which satirised Benny Hill and also Elton's own image as a politically correct spoilsport.

Elton co-stars with Adrian Edmondson on the new BBC Radio 2 comedy show Teenage Kicks.

[edit] Criticism

Anne Robinson put Ben Elton into Room 101 in protest at his hosting the Royal Variety Performance. She argued that he should be sent to the room "for being a total and utter hypocrite and going back on everything he stood for in the 80s and 90s". He was put in for a second time in 2007 by comedian Mark Steel (whose style has been compared with Elton.)[4]

Toby Young summarises similar criticisms when he writes:

“ Ben Elton. Do you know this guy? He started out as an "alternative" comedian, railing against Thatcherism and the like, and now earns a fortune writing the librettos for truly awful West End musicals. I mean, his name has become a byword for shameless hackery. He's the biggest sell-out of his generation.[5] ”

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." [3]

Elton has also been criticised for co-writing a song that was performed at the inauguration of US President George W. Bush. When questioned on this, Elton remarked that he didn't see it as a celebration of Bush, more a celebration of the presidency of the United States, and said that whilst he "despises" Bush's policies, he was "not sufficiently right-wing to invoke a South African-style boycott".[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chortle.co.uk: Getting His Kicks on TV
  2. ^ plymouthpavilions.com
  3. ^ IMDb: Maybe Baby
  4. ^ thisislancashire.co.uk: Mark Steel
  5. ^ The Sound of No Hands Clapping, Toby Young, Da Capo Press 2006, p.212
  6. ^ BBC News: Ben Elton denies Bush reports

[edit] External links

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