Ben Miller

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Ben Miller, (born 1966) is a British comedian, director and actor.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Career
- 1.2 Personal life
2 Awards
3 Selected Filmography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Miller was born in London, England and grew up in Nantwich, Cheshire.^[1] His father, Michael Miller, was a lecturer in American Literature at Birmingham City University, and his mother Marion taught English at South Cheshire College. He has two younger sisters, Leah and Bronwen.

He was educated at Malbank School, his local comprehensive school in Nantwich, and then at St Catharine's College, Cambridge where he studied Natural Sciences. He remained at Cambridge to study for a PhD in quantum physics, entitled: "novel quantum effects in quasi-zero dimensional mesoscopic electron systems."^[2]

[edit] Career

While studying for his thesis, a friend offered Miller £10 a day to ferry around some judges for an arts festival.^[3] He consequently met his collaboration comedy partner, fellow Cambridge student Alexander Armstrong, at TBA Sketch Comedy Group, a comedy club which ran at the Gate Theatre Studio, Notting Hill throughout the 1990s. They performed their first full-length show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994 and returned in 1996, when they were nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award.^[4]

Their success resulted in the commissioning of the television series Armstrong and Miller, which ran for four series in total throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s; one on the Paramount Comedy Channel and three on Channel Four. The duo had their own radio show with the same name on BBC Radio 4 in 1998, which featured many of the sketches and characters from their TV series, and a second show Children's Hour with Armstrong and Miller later in the same year. After a six year break, the show was recommissioned for Hattrick Productions as The Armstrong and Miller Show, and ran on BBC1 in Autumn 2007.^[2]

In 2001 he starred in Steve Coogan's first feature film, the British comedy The Parole Officer.^[5] In 2003 he played the role of 'Bough', sidekick to Rowan Atkinson's titular character in the film Johnny English. In 2004 he co-starred in The Prince and Me. In 2004 and 2005, he starred in two consecutive series of the BBC television series The Worst Week of My Life,^[6] alongside Sarah Alexander,^[1] followed in 2006 by a three-part Christmas special, The Worst Christmas of My Life. In 2007 he starred as James Lester in ITV's sci-fi drama Primeval,^[4] and the Australian movie Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance as Mr Jonathan.^[3]

Until 2007, Miller provided the voice for the ITV Digital and now PG Tips Monkey, in a popular series of television adverts featuring Johnny Vegas.^[7]

He has recently begun working behind the camera and directed the television pilot -- which subsequently became the first episode -- of Steve Coogan's 2006 British BBC TV Comedy series Saxondale.

In 2004, Miller guest-starred alongside Martin Clunes in the second series of Doc Martin as a park ranger with an obsessive imaginary friend.

In 2008 he appeared on three ITV1 series, as television producer Jonathan Pope in Tony Jordan's series Moving Wallpaper, reprising his role as Lester in Primeval, and also starred in Thank God You're Here on 12 January 2008.

On the 3rd episode of Lily Allen & Friends, Miller said that Armstrong & Miller is coming back Spring 2009 for a new series.

[edit] Personal life

While at Cambridge, he acted with and dated Rachel Weisz.^[8] He is now married to Belinda Stewart-Wilson (who is set to guest star alongside Miller in Series 3 of Primeval). A talented musician, Miller plays the guitar and drums,^[1] and likes yoga.^[6] Miller was best man to Alexander Armstrong in 2004, but let slip in an interview that during the stag event in Taunton, Somerset the group iced cakes, and describe the weekend as "utterly bizarre, probably the most effeminate stag do in history."^[9] At St. Catharine's, he played in a band called the Dear Johns, with Andy Edwards and Eoin Patterson. They released one 7" single, entiled "Shame".

[edit] Awards

Miller was awarded a Judge's Commendation for his portrayal of Hamlet at the 1990 National Student Drama Festival. Ben co-wrote MindGym, winner of the first BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for comedy in 1998, with Tim Wright and Adam Gee.