Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English author and Tony Award-winning playwright. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American Theatre and are presented A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama.

Life and work

Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, Yorkshire. Armley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England The son of a Co-op butcher, Bennett attended Leeds Modern School (when it was a state grammar school), learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his National Service, and gained a place at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge^[1]. Co-operative Group Limited, trading as The Co-operative Group, is a United Kingdom Consumers' co-operative, and one of the world's largest consumer-owned Leeds Modern School in Leeds, West Yorkshire was founded on July 14 1845 by Mr S A grammar school is one of several different types of School in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages The Joint Services School for Linguists (JSSL was founded in 1951 by the British armed services to provide language training principally in Russian, and "National Service" redirects here For national service in other countries see National service. Sidney Sussex College (often informally shortened to just Sidney) was founded in 1596 and named after its foundress Frances Sidney Countess of Sussex. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the However, having spent time in Cambridge during national service, and partly wishing to follow the object of his unrequited love, he decided to apply for a scholarship at Oxford University. The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the He was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford and went on to receive a first-class degree in history. Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the 4th oldest college of the University The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for Undergraduate degrees ( Bachelor's degrees and some Master's degrees History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology While at Oxford he performed comedy with a number of future successful actors in the Oxford Revue. The Oxford Revue is a comedy group featuring students from Oxford University, England. He was to remain at Oxford for several years researching and teaching Medieval History before deciding he was not cut out to be an academic.

In August 1960, Bennett, along with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, achieved instant fame by appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 &ndash 27 March 2002 was an English Actor, Comedian and Musician. Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born 21 July 1934) is a British Neurologist, Theatre and Opera director Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 &ndash 9 January 1995 was an English Satirist, Writer and Comedian. Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for several simultaneous arts and cultural Festivals which take place during August each year in Edinburgh, Satire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and Performing arts In satire human Beyond the Fringe was a British Comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett After the Festival, the show continued in London and New York. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous He also appeared in My Father Knew Lloyd George. My Father Knew Lloyd George was a one off BBC Satire written by John Bird with additional material by the cast and directed by Jack Gold A highly regarded television comedy sketch series On the Margin (1966) was regrettably erased. Around this time Bennett often found himself playing vicars, and claims that as an adolescent he assumed he would grow up to be a Church of England clergyman, for no better reason than that he looked like one. The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican

Bennett's first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. Forty Years On is a 1968 play by Alan Bennett. It was his first West End of London play Many television, stage and radio plays followed, along with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose and broadcasting, and many appearances as an actor. Bennett's lugubrious yet expressive voice (which still bears a slight Leeds accent) and the sharp humour and evident humanity of his writing have made his readings of his own work (especially his autobiographical writing) very popular. His readings of the Winnie the Pooh stories are also widely enjoyed. Winnie-the-Pooh, commonly shortened to Pooh Bear and once referred to as Edward Bear, is a fictional Bear created by A

Many of Bennett's characters are unfortunate and downtrodden, or meek and overlooked. Life has brought them to an impasse, or else passed them by altogether. In many cases they have met with disappointment in the realm of sex and intimate relationships, largely through tentativeness and a failure to connect with others.

Bennett is both unsparing and compassionate in laying bare his characters' frailties. This can be seen in his television plays for LWT in the late 1970s and the BBC in the early 1980s, and in the 1987 Talking Heads series of monologues for television which were later performed at the Comedy Theatre in London in 1992. Talking Heads is a series of dramatic Monologues written for BBC television by the acclaimed British Playwright Alan Bennett For the theatre in Melbourne Australia see Comedy Theatre Melbourne The Comedy Theatre, is a West End Theatre, and opened on Panton This was a sextet of poignantly comic pieces, each of which depicted several stages in the character's decline from an initial state of denial or ignorance of their predicament, through a slow realization of the hopelessness of their situation, and progressing to a bleak or ambiguous conclusion. A second set of six Talking Heads pieces followed a decade later.

In his 2005 prose collection Untold Stories Bennett has written candidly and movingly of the mental illness that afflicted his mother and other family members. Much of his work draws on his Leeds background and while he is celebrated for his acute observations of a particular type of northern speech ("It'll take more than Dairy Box to banish memories of Pearl Harbor"), the range and daring of his work is often undervalued – his television play The Old Crowd, for example, includes shots of the director and technical crew, while his stage play The Lady in the Van includes two characters named Alan Bennett. The Lady in the Van was based on his experiences with a tramp called Miss Shepherd who lived on Bennett's driveway in a dilapidated van for fifteen years.

In 1994 Bennett adapted his popular and much-praised 1991 play The Madness of George III for the cinema as The Madness of King George. This article is about the 1994 film For the play by Alan Bennett see The Madness of George III (play and for a 2004 political satire see The Madness of King George The film received four Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Bennett's writing and the performances of Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne CBE ( 5 April, 1929 – 26 December, 2001) was an English Actor, perhaps best Dame Helen Mirren, DBE (born 26 July 1945 is an English stage, Film and Television actress. It won the award for best art direction.

Bennett's critically-acclaimed The History Boys^[2] won three Olivier Awards in February 2005, for Best New Play, Best Actor (Richard Griffiths), and Best Direction (Nicholas Hytner), having previously won Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor and Best Play. The History Boys is a play by English playwright Alan Bennett. The Laurence Olivier Award is regarded as the most prestigious award in British theatre and is presented in recognition of artistic achievement in London theatre Richard Griffiths OBE (born July 31, 1947) is an English Tony award -winning Actor who has appeared on stage, Nicholas Hytner (born 7 May 1956) is an English producer and director The Critics' Circle Theatre Awards ("Drama Theatre Awards" in 1989 and 1990 are presented annually for the year's theatrical achievements The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955 are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Bennett himself received an Olivier Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre. The Laurence Olivier Award is regarded as the most prestigious award in British theatre and is presented in recognition of artistic achievement in London theatre ^[3]

The History Boys also went on to win six Tony Awards on Broadway, including best play, best performance by a leading actor in a play (Richard Griffiths), best performance by a featured actress in a play (Frances de la Tour), and best direction of a play (Nicholas Hytner). The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American Theatre and are presented Richard Griffiths OBE (born July 31, 1947) is an English Tony award -winning Actor who has appeared on stage, Frances de la Tour (born 30 July 1944) is an English Actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Nicholas Hytner (born 7 May 1956) is an English producer and director

A film version of The History Boys was released in the UK on 13 October 2006. Events 54 - Nero ascends to the Roman throne 409 - Vandals and Alans crossed the Pyrenees Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Bennett discussed the play and its themes in an interview on STV. STV is the brand used by both ITV licensees in Northern and Central Scotland formerly known as Grampian TV (now legally STV North Ltd ^[4]

Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford in 1987. He was also awarded a D. Litt by the University of Leeds in 1990 and a hon PhD from Kingston in 1996. The University of Leeds is a major teaching and research University in Leeds, West Yorkshire; one of the largest in the United Kingdom with However in 1998 Bennett refused an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, in protest at its accepting funding for a named chair in honour of press baron Rupert Murdoch. An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa ( Latin: 'for the sake of the honour' is an Academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding The University of Oxford (informally "Oxford University" or simply "Oxford" located in the city of Oxford, Oxfordshire, England is the A media proprietor is a person who controls either through personal ownership or a dominant position in a Public company, a significant part of the Mass media. is gay Bold text' Keith Rupert Murdoch', AC, KCSG (born Melbourne, March 11 1931 usually known as Rupert Murdoch, is an Australian-American ^[5] He also declined a CBE in 1988 and a knighthood in 1996. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages.

In September 2005, Bennett revealed that, in 1997, he had undergone treatment for cancer, and described the illness as a "bore". Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled His chances of survival were given as being "much less" than 50%. ^[6] He began Untold Stories (published 2005) thinking it would be published posthumously. In the event his cancer went into remission. In the autobiographical sketches which form a large part of the book Bennett writes openly for the first time about his homosexuality (Bennett has had relationships with women as well, although this is only touched upon in Untold Stories). Previously Bennett had referred to questions about his sexuality as being like asking a man dying of thirst to choose between Perrier or Malvern mineral water. Perrier is a brand of bottled Mineral water made from a spring in Vergèze in the Gard Département of ^[7]

Bennett earned Honorary Membership of The Coterie in the 2007 membership list. For other uses see Coterie The Coterie comprised a fashionable and famous set of English Aristocrats and Intellectuals

Bennett has lived in Camden Town in London for thirty one years, and shares his home with Rupert Thomas, his partner for the last fourteen years. Camden Town is the district of London, England around Camden High Street, in the London Borough of Camden.

Bibliography and filmography

Television work

• My Father Knew Lloyd George (also writer), 1965
• Famous Gossips, 1965
• Plato—The Drinking Party, 1965
• Alice in Wonderland, 1966
• On the Margin series (actor & writer), 1966-67
• A Day Out (also writer), 1972
• Sunset Across the Bay (also writer), 1975
• A Little Outing (also writer), 1975
• A Visit from Miss Prothero (writer), 1978
• Me—I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf (writer), 1978
• Doris and Doreen (Green Forms) (writer), 1978
• The Old Crowd (writer) with Lindsay Anderson (director), LWT 1979
• Afternoon Off (actor & writer), 1979
• One Fine Day (writer), 1979
• All Day On the Sands (writer), 1979
• Objects of Affection (Our Winnie, A Woman of No Importance, Rolling Home, Marks, Say Something Happened, Intensive Care) (also writer), 1982
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (actor), 1982
• An Englishman Abroad (writer), 1983
• The Insurance Man (writer), 1986
• Breaking Up, 1986
• Man and Music (narrator), 1986
• Talking Heads (A Chip in the Sugar, Bed Among the Lentils, A Lady of Letters, Her Big Chance, Soldiering On, A Cream Cracker Under the Settee) (also writer), 1987
• Down Cemetery Road: The Landscape of Philip Larkin (presenter), 1987
• Fortunes of War series (actor), 1987
• Dinner at Noon (narrator), 1988
• Poetry in Motion (presenter), 1990
• 102 Boulevard Haussmann (writer), 1990
• A Question of Attribution (writer), 1991
• Selling Hitler, 1991
• Poetry in Motion 2 (presenter), 1992
• Portrait or Bust (presenter), 1994
• The Abbey (presenter), 1995
• A Dance to the Music of Time (actor), 1997
• Talking Heads 2, 1998
• Telling Tales (writer, as himself), 2000

Films

• Long Shot, 1980
• Dreamchild (voice only), 1985
• The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1986
• The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, 1982
• A Private Function (screenplay), 1986
• Pleasure At Her Majesty's, 1987
• Prick Up Your Ears (screenplay), 1987
• Little Dorrit, 1987
• Wind in the Willows animated adaptation, 1994
• Parson's Pleasure (writer), 1995
• The Madness of King George (screenplay from his play "The Madness of George III"), 1995
• The History Boys (screenplay, from his play of the same name), 2006

Radio

• The Great Jowett, 1980
• Dragon, 1982
• Uncle Clarence (writer, narrator), 1985
• Better Halves (narrator), 1988
• The Lady in the Van (writer, narrator), 1990
• Winnie-the-Pooh (narrator), 1990

Stage

• Better Late, 1959
• Beyond the Fringe (also co-writer), 1960
• The Blood of the Bambergs, 1962
• A Cuckoo in the Nest, 1964
• Forty Years On (also writer), 1968
• Sing a Rude Song (co-writer), 1969
• Getting On (writer), 1971
• Habeas Corpus (also writer), 1973
• The Old Country (writer), 1977
• Enjoy (writer), 1980
• Kafka's Dick (writer), 1986
• A Visit from Miss Prothero (writer), 1987
• Single Spies (An Englishman Abroad and A Question of Attribution) (also writer and director), 1988
• The Wind in the Willows (adaptation), 1990
• The Madness of George III (writer), 1991
• Talking Heads (Waiting for the telegram, A Chip in the Sugar, Bed Among the Lentils, A Lady of Letters, Her Big Chance, Soldiering On, A Cream Cracker Under the Settee) (also writer), 1992
• The History Boys (writer), 2004; Winner of Tony Award for Best Play, 2006. Alice in Wonderland (1966 was an adaptation for BBC television of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Lindsay Gordon Anderson ( April 17 1923 — August 30 1994) was an Indian born English Feature film, Theatre Afternoon Off is a 1979 Television play by Alan Bennett. Broadcast under the umbrella title Six Plays by Alan Bennett it was produced for The Merry Wives of Windsor is a Comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597 An Englishman Abroad is a 1983 BBC television drama, based on the true story of a chance meeting of an actress Coral Browne, with Guy Burgess Talking Heads is a series of dramatic Monologues written for BBC television by the acclaimed British Playwright Alan Bennett A Question of Attribution is a 1991 television play written by Alan Bennett and commissioned by the BBC. The Abbey or The Abbey with Alan Bennett (1995 is a three-part BBC TV documentary written and hosted by playwright Alan A Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. Talking Heads is a series of dramatic Monologues written for BBC television by the acclaimed British Playwright Alan Bennett Dreamchild is a 1985 Drama Film produced by Verity Lambert, directed by Gavin Millar and written by Dennis * This article is about the 1981 Amnesty International benefit show (and resulting movies and albums &mdash the sequel to the original 1979 show A Private Function is a 1984 British Comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. Pleasure At Her Majesty's was the name given to the filmed release of A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick, the first of the Amnesty International Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 film about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. Little Dorrit is a 1988 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Charles Dickens. The Wind in the Willows is a classic of Children's literature by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. This article is about the 1994 film For the play by Alan Bennett see The Madness of George III (play and for a 2004 political satire see The Madness of King George The History Boys is a British film released in October 2006. It was adapted by Alan Bennett from his play of the same name which won the 2005 Winnie-the-Pooh, commonly shortened to Pooh Bear and once referred to as Edward Bear, is a fictional Bear created by A Beyond the Fringe was a British Comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett Forty Years On is a 1968 play by Alan Bennett. It was his first West End of London play Habeas Corpus is a comedy Stage play by the English Author Alan Bennett. Kafka's Dick is a 1986 play by Alan Bennett. It is play about the nature of fame and how reputations are made The Madness of George III is a 1991 play by Alan Bennett. It is a fictionalised biographical study of the latter half of the reign of George The History Boys is a play by English playwright Alan Bennett. What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American

Books

• Beyond the Fringe (with Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore). Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 &ndash 9 January 1995 was an English Satirist, Writer and Comedian. Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born 21 July 1934) is a British Neurologist, Theatre and Opera director Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE (19 April 1935 &ndash 27 March 2002 was an English Actor, Comedian and Musician. London: Souvenir Press, 1962, and New York: Random House, 1963
• Forty Years On. London: Faber, 1969
• Getting On. London: Faber, 1972
• Habeas Corpus. London: Faber, 1973
• The Old Country. London: Faber, 1978
• Enjoy. London: Faber, 1980
• Office Suite. London: Faber, 1981
• Objects of Affection. London: BBC Publications, 1982
• A Private Function. London: Faber, 1984
• Forty Years On; Getting On; Habeas Corpus. London: Faber, 1985
• The Writer in Disguise. London: Faber, 1985
• Prick Up Your Ears: The Film Screenplay. London: Faber, 1987
• Two Kafka Plays. London: Faber, 1987
• Talking Heads. London: BBC Publications, 1988; New York: Summit, 1990
• Single Spies. London: Faber, 1989
  • Winner of Olivier Award: England's best comedy for 1989
• Single Spies and Talking Heads. New York: Summit, 1990
• The Lady in the Van, 1989
• Poetry in Motion (with others). 1990
• The Wind in the Willows. London: Faber, 1991
• Forty Years On and Other Plays. London: Faber, 1991
• The Madness of George III. London: Faber, 1992
• Poetry in Motion 2 (with others). 1992
• Writing Home (memoir & essays). London: Faber, 1994 (winner of the 1995 British Book of the Year award). The British Book of the Year Award is given annually and promoted by the UK Publishing industry trade journal Publishing News, one of the British Book
• The Madness of King George (screenplay), 1995
• Father ! Father ! Burning Bright (prose version of 1982 TV script, Intensive Care), 1999
• The Laying on of Hands (novella), 2000
• The Clothes They Stood Up In (novella), 2001
• Untold Stories (autobiographical and essays), London, Faber/Profile Books, 2005, ISBN 0-571-22830-5
• The Uncommon Reader (novella), 2007

Translations

French

• Soins intensifs, 2006

German

• Der Rote Baron, Sein letzter Flug, 2001
• Vater, Vater, lichterloh, 2002
• Così fan tutte, (previously published as Alle Jahre wieder) 2003
• Die Lady im Lieferwagen, 2004
• Handauflegen, 2005

Italian

• La pazzia di re Giorgio, 1996
• Nudi e crudi, 2001
• La cerimonia del massaggio, 2002
• La signora nel furgone, 2003
• Signore e signori, 2004
• Scritto sul corpo, 2006
• La sovrana lettrice, 2007
• Il letto di lenticchie, ????

References

Sources

• Peter Wolfe, Understanding Alan Bennett, University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 1-57003-280-7. This article is about the University of South Carolina in Columbia
• Alexander Games (2001). Backing Into The Limelight: The Biography of Alan Bennett. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7030-9.  
• Joseph H. O'Mealy,Alan Bennett: A Critical Introduction, Routledge, 2007.

Further reading

Kara McKechnie, Alan Bennett, The Television Series, Manchester University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7190-6806-5

• Robert Hewison Footlights – A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy, Methuen, 1983
• Roger Wilmut From Fringe to Flying Circus – Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980, Eyre Methuen, 1980

External links

• Alan Bennett at the Internet Movie Database

• Bennett, Alan (1934–) Biography from screenonline
• Alan Bennett interview at stv.tv
• Faber and Faber - UK publisher of many of Alan Bennett's plays, as well as Writing Home and Untold Stories (with Profile Books)
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Alan Bennett