Rowan Atkinson [Hardcover]

Bruce Dessau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

Rowan Atkinson first came to the public's attention in the classic comedy series Not the Nine O'Clock News in the late 1970s. His play on music hall mannerisms and a natural acting ability allowed him to achieve huge success in his next outing as the dastardly Black Adder, one of the most popular comedy series ever produced by the BBC. In the 1980s he created, with Richard Curtis (who went on to write Four Weddings and a Funeral), Mr Bean. Mr Bean is an international success. It is shown all over the world and in the autumn of 1997 a major movie - Bean The Ultimate Disaster Movie was released to international success. This is the first in depth biography of Rowan Atkinson, his career and life. Atkinson is regarded as one of the finest comedians to have appeared in the last twenty years. But where does his talent lie? How did he develop the comic timing and brilliant ability to find exactly the right character from Black Adder to Mr Bean. Atkinson is a very private person. His cont ributions to Comic Relief are well-known as is his passion for cars and the fact he studied electronics at Durham and Cambridge, but little else has come to light as he rarely consents to publicity and has only been interviewed twice over the last ten years. Bruce Dessau delves behind the comic mask.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Time Out and Guardian journalist Dessau has written frequently on British comedy; his works include Bean There Done That, a guide to the popular television show Mr. Bean, starring his latest subject, Rowan Atkinson. This first full-length biography of the famous comedian was published in Great Britain in October 1999. Unfortunately, it reads like the clippings summary it is, lacking any cooperation (which would have added some sorely missed depth) from Atkinson, his family, or such colleagues as Ben Elton, Griff Rhys Jones, or Richard Curtis, though they are discussed at length. The product is not really a biography but a synopsis of theater appearances, television shows, and films and a history of Atkinson!s car collection. Of course, Atkinson!s ardent admirers will be thankful for any information about his early career as a student participant in the lively Oxford theater scene, the comedy revue Not the Nine O!Clock News, and the Blackadder and Mr. Bean series, which have been imported to the United States by public television. Recommended for fans only."Lisa N. Johnston, Sweet Briar Coll., VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Rowan Atkinson first came to prominence in the late 1970s in the classic British comedy series ³Not the Nine O¹Clock News.² His enormously funny mannerisms and natural acting ability later won him huge success in ³Blackadder,² one of the most popular British comedy series in history. In the 1980s, he created the television series ³Mr Bean² with Richard Curtis (³Four Weddings and a Funeral²), which in 1997 was made into an internationally successful motion picture. Rowan Atkinson is regarded as one of the finest comedic actors to have appeared in the last 20 years, but little is known about this very private star. Now, in this first full-length biography, journalist Bruce Dessau delves behind the comic mask. Bruce Dessau¹s previous book was Bean There Done That.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Orion Books Ltd (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752800884
• ISBN-13: 978-0752800882
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,384,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Detailed about the work, superficial about the man, April 18, 2001

By 

Andrew McCaffrey "The Grumpy Young Man" (Satellite of Love, Maryland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rowan Atkinson (Paperback)

This biography is an excellent account of the various television shows, films and stage productions that Rowan Atkinson has performed in during the course of his career. Starting with some plays that he did as a school-boy, it continues right up to the year 2000 with his Comic Relief CURSE OF THE FATAL DEATH sketches and the BLACKADDER BACK AND FORTH one-off special. Unfortunately, while the book is bursting at the seams with information and facts about his professional life, we never really learn much about Mr. Atkinson himself. This is perhaps hardly surprising, after all it's fairly well-known that he hates to give interviews and will often times appear on a chat show in his Mr. Bean character in order to promote the series without having to give anything of himself away. Throughout the book one only catches a glimpse of the man behind that face. We learn rather superficial details, such as his love for automobiles and his shyness in person, but we never really get to see how much of an impact his public and private lives have on each other.

There has obviously been a lot of research that has gone into this book. To compensate for the lack of material from the mouth of Rowan Atkinson himself, the author instead quotes from a variety of his friends, but the bulk of the information comes from his co-workers. It's very interesting to see how Atkinson kept with the same people he had worked with since his graduate school days. The same names keep cropping up over and over and it becomes clear that Atkinson knows to stick with a winning team. One also learns the origin of some of the most famous Mr. Bean sketches, many of which date back to his stage persona from the late 1970s. I was fascinated to see the evolution of the Bean character. While many of his live shows incorporated a silent character, it wasn't until the 90s that he brought most of his most famous material to television.

This book is recommended for fans of Rowan Atkinson's work. Do not expect an in-depth look at his personal life, because until Atkinson starts giving more interviews or writes his autobiography, there simply won't be anything on the market resembling one. However, as far as detailing his many accomplishments in the field of comedy, you won't get any better than this book.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Eh, August 31, 2001

By 

MK Writer "hedwig_owl" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rowan Atkinson (Paperback)

Something of a lesson in not judging a book by its cover (or the blurb on the back). After purchasing this book, I was disappointed to learn in the opening acknowledgements that this was an unauthorized biography and that not even one of Atkinson's friends or close business associates agreed to be interviewed by Bruce Dressau, which in my mind, somewhat discredits the biography. On the other hand, if you're an American who didn't stumble upon Blackadder until it began airing on public television in the 90's (the way I did), this book isn't a bad read. It closely follows his career from his Oxford days up through The Thin Blue Line, which was interesting, especially when you see that seeds of certain characters (particularly Mr. Bean) took root early on in his career. Other than that, though, don't expect to gain any insight as to Rowan Atkinson the man, because there isn't any. The author tries to draw parallels between things like Atkinson's love of cars and his performing (if I had the book by my side now I'd subject you to the metaphor)but they just don't fly. I also realized, after reading the book, that the numerous articles that he quotes from (since no one was willing to talk to him) are mostly available on the internet. So while I'm willing to say that I learned something about British comedy and Rowan Atkinson, in the end I was still disappointed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Enigmatic After 278 Pages, November 12, 2006

By 

Robert I. Hedges - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rowan Atkinson (Hardcover)

Until an authorized biography is written with the cooperation of Rowan Atkinson, this book will have to do. Because none of Atkinson's close companions (or the man himself) would be interviewed for the book, the author had to resort to sources such as published interviews and the like. While not an ideal situation, the general outline of Atkinson's life does successfully emerge, though with substantial interpretation required of Dessau.

The book is more a summary of Atkinson's career than an in-depth biography (for obvious reasons) and in that regard it is quite detailed. Atkinson emerges as the shy and reclusive youth with a penchant for "pulling faces" and physical humor. Although obviously his material has matured over the years, a persistent theme of the book is the essential "brainy physicality" of Atkinson's catalog. This physical humor obviously leads to comparisons with John Cleese (the two are friends,) who emerges as a mentor of sorts for Atkinson. I was especially amused at the prospect of Atkinson participating in the corporate training films made by Video Arts, Cleese's film company (see page 100 for details.) I appreciate also that Atkinson never lost touch with his roots as he participated in several projects centered on the schools he attended (he went to Durham School with Tony Blair) and Newcastle, his home town. I found it interesting that Atkinson's first date with his future wife Sunetra was to see Dire Straits, the band fronted by Newcastle's other famous progeny, Mark Knopfler.

The book does detail the shows and characters Atkinson became famous for, notably Mr. Bean, and my personal favorite, Blackadder. It also supplies a fairly detailed amount of information on several other ventures of less critical note (for instance, please feel free to read page 165 for a full account of the travails of attempting to get a piece of toast to stick to Jeff Goldblum's bottom) or import, such as his small roles in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "The Tall Guy."

As for genuine biographical insight, the book mostly outlines Atkinson's love for cars (and vehicles of all kinds; he's very proud to have a commercial truck drivers license) and racing. In the end, Atkinson seems not to have changed that much: he's still reclusive, shy, and intellectual, but of course, now he's the top paid actor in Britain.

I awarded this book four stars for a couple of reasons. While it isn't that insightful into Atkinson's inner being, it is the best that could be hoped for given the source restrictions faced by the author. It does yield a detailed professional history, and it gives us at least a glimpse of the enigma that is Rowan Atkinson.