Alan Bennett Biography (1934-)

Born May 9, 1934, in Leeds, Yorkshire, England; son of Walter (a butcher) andLilian Mary (maiden name, Peel) Bennett. Addresses: Agent: Peters, Fraser & Dunlop, Drury House, 34-43 Russell St., London WC2B 5HA, England.;Contact: c/o Chatto & Linnit Ltd., 123a Kings Rd., London SW3 4PL, England.

Nationality: British
Gender: Male
Occupation: Playwright, actor
Birth Details: May 9, 1934; Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Famous Works

CREDITS
Stage Appearances
(Stage debut) Member of ensemble, Better Late (revue), Oxford Theatre Group, Edinburgh Festival, Theatre at Cranston Street Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1959
Member of ensemble, Beyond the Fringe (revue), Edinburgh Festival,Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 1959, then (London debut) Fortune Theatre, 1961,later (Broadway debut) John Golden Theatre, 1962
Archbishop of Canterbury, Blood of the Bambergs, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1962
Reverend Sloley-Jones, A Cuckoo in the Nest, Royal Court Theatre,1964
Tempest, Forty Years On, Apollo Theatre, London, 1968
Mrs. Swabb, Habeas Corpus, Lyric Theatre, London, 1974
Down Cemetery Road: The Landscape of Philip Larkin, London, 1987
Tailor, An Englishman Abroad, London, 1988
Anthony Blunt, "A Question of Attribution," in Single Spies, National Theatre, London, then Queen's Theatre, London, 1989
Film Appearances
Defense lawyer, Every Home Should Have One (also known as ThinkDirty), 1970
Pleasure at Her Majesty's (documentary; also known as Monty Python Meets Beyond the Fringe), Roger Graef, 1976
The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1981
Neville's doctor, Long Shot, Mithras, 1981
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, United International/Almi/Cinema V, 1981
Voice of Mock Turtle, Dreamchild, Universal/Columbia/EMI/Warner Bros., 1985
The Bishop, Little Dorrit (also known as Little Dorrit's Story and Nobody's Fault), Cannon, 1987
Second member of Parliament, The Madness of King George (also known as The Madness of George III and The Madness of King George III), Samuel Goldwyn Company, 1994
Porter, In Love and War, New Line Cinema/Warner Bros., 1996
Television Appearances
Series
On the Margin, BBC (England), 1966
Host, The Alan Bennett Series, BBC, 1966-1967
Appeared as voice of Timmie Willie for The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends; also appeared in the series BBC 3 and Beyond the Fringe.
Miniseries
Lord Pinkrose, Fortunes of War, BBC (England), then MasterpieceTheatre, PBS, 1987
Graham Whittaker, "A Chip in the Sugar," Talking Heads, BBC, 1987,then on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1989
Sir Hugh "Hugo" Trevor-Roper, Selling Hitler, 1991
Ashenden, Arts and Entertainment, 1992
Professor Sillery, A Dance to the Music of Time, Channel 4 (England), 1997
Changing Stages, PBS, 2001
Specials
Beyond the Fringe (revue), BBC (England), 1964
My Father Knew Lloyd George, BBC, 1965
Augustus Hare, Famous Gossips, 1965
Streets Ahead, BBC, 1966
Mouse, Alice in Wonderland, BBC, 1967
A Day Out, BBC, 1972
"Afternoon Off," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television, 1979
Denis Midgley, Intensive Care (also known as Play for Today: Intensive Care), 1982
Justice Shallow, The Merry Wives of Windsor (also known as TheComplete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Merry Wives of Windsor), 1982
Housemaster, Breaking Up, 1986
Narrator, Dinner at Noon, BBC, 1988
Narrator, Portrait or Bust, BBC, 1993
Some Interesting Facts about Peter Cook, BBC, 1995
Host and narrator, Westminster Abbey (also known as The Abbey and Westminster Documentary), BBC, 1995, then PBS, 1996
Voice of Mole, The Willows in Winter, 1996
Telling Tales, BBC, 2000
Episodic
Graham Whittaker, "A Chip in the Sugar," 2 Monologues: In My Defence/AChip in the Sugar, broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1992
Also appeared in episodes of Jackanory and Not Only ... but Also.
Other
The Drinking Party, 1965
Narrator, Man and Music, 1986
Voice of Mole, The Wind in the Willows (animated; released theatrically in England), The Family Channel, 1996

Television Director
Miniseries
"Bed among the Lentils," Talking Heads, BBC (England), 1987, thenon Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1989
Television Executive Producer
Specials
Telling Tales, BBC, 2000
Radio Appearances
Specials
The Great Jowett, 1980
Dragon, 1982
Machiavelli, Better Halves, 1988
RECORDINGS
Audio Books
Narrator, Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, BDD Audio, 1995
Also narrator for Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, and other works by Edward Lear and A. A. Milne.
WRITINGS
Stage Plays
(With Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, and Jonathan Miller) Beyond the Fringe (comedy revue), produced at Edinburgh Festival, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1959, then Fortune Theatre, London, 1961, later John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1962, published by Souvenir Press (England), 1962, RandomHouse (New York City), 1963
Forty Years On (two-act), produced at Palace Theatre, Manchester,England, then Apollo Theatre, London, both 1968, published by Faber & Faber (London), 1969
(With Caryl Brahms and Ned Sherrin) Sing a Rude Song (two-act), produced at Greenwich Theatre, London, 1969
Getting On (two-act), produced at Theatre Royal, Brighton, England, then Queen's Theatre, London, both 1971, published by Faber & Faber, 1972
Habeas Corpus (two-act), produced at Oxford Playhouse, Oxford, England, then Lyric Theatre, London, both 1973, later Martin Beck Theatre, New York City, 1975, published by Faber & Faber, 1973, Samuel French (New YorkCity), 1976
The Old Country, produced at Oxford Playhouse, then Queen's Theatre, both 1977, published by Faber & Faber, 1978
Enjoy, produced at Richmond Theatre, Surrey, England, then Vaudeville Theatre, London, both 1980, published by Faber & Faber, 1980
Kafka's Dick, produced at Royal Court Theatre, London, 1986, published in Two Kafka Plays: Kafka's Dick [and] The Insurance Man, Faber & Faber, 1987
Office Suite (double-bill; contains "Green Forms" and "A Visit from Miss Prothero"; adaptations of television plays A Visit from Miss Prothero and Doris and Doreen), produced in London, 1987, published by Faber & Faber, 1981
Single Spies (double-bill; contains "An Englishman Abroad" and "AQuestion of Attribution"), produced at National Theatre, then Queen's Theatre, both 1989
The Lady in the Van, produced in 1990, then Queen's Theatre, 1999,published by Faber & Faber, 2001
The Madness of George III, produced at Royal National Theatre, London, 1991, then Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY, 1993, published by Faber & Faber, 1992
The Wind in the Willows (adaptation of the novel by Kenneth Grahame), produced at Royal National Theatre, 1992, published by Parkwest Publications (New York City), 1992
Talking Heads (based on his television miniseries), produced in London, 1992, published by Parkwest Publications, 1992
Screenplays
A Private Function, Island Alive, 1985, published by Faber & Faber (London), 1985
Prick Up Your Ears (adapted from a biography by John Lahr), SamuelGoldwyn Company, 1987, published by Faber & Faber, 1988
The Madness of King George (also known as The Madness of GeorgeIII and The Madness of King George III), Samuel Goldwyn Company,1994, published by Random House (New York City), 1995
Television Series
On the Margin, BBC (England), 1966
Also writer for the series Beyond the Fringe.
Television Plays
A Day Out, BBC (England), 1972
Sunset across the Bay (also known as Play for Today: Sunset across the Bay), BBC, 1975
A Little Outing, BBC, 1978
A Visit from Miss Prothero (also known as BBC2 Play of the Week: A Visit from Miss Prothero), BBC2, 1978
"Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television (England), 1978
"Doris and Doreen," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television, 1978
"The Old Crowd," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television, 1979
"One Fine Day," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television, 1979
"Afternoon Off," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London Weekend Television, 1979
"All Day on the Sands," Six Plays by Alan Bennett, London WeekendTelevision, 1979
"Our Winnie," Objects of Affection (also known as Alan BennettSeason), BBC, 1982
"A Woman of No Importance," Objects of Affection (also known as Alan Bennett Season), BBC, 1982
"Rolling Home," Objects of Affection (also known as Alan Bennett Season), BBC, 1982
"Marks, Objects of Affection (also known as Alan Bennett Season), BBC, 1982
"Say Something Happened," Objects of Affection (also known as Alan Bennett Season), BBC, 1982
Intensive Care (also known as Play for Today: Intensive Care), BBC, 1982
An Englishman Abroad, BBC, 1982
The Insurance Man, BBC, 1986
102 Boulevard Haussmann (movie), Arts and Entertainment, 1991
A Question of Attribution (based on his stage play), BBC, 1991, then on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1992
"A Chip in the Sugar," 2 Monologues: In My Defence/A Chip in the Sugar, broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre), PBS, 1992
Television Miniseries
"Bed among the Lentils," "A Cream Cracker under the Settee," and "Her BigChance," Talking Heads, BBC (England), 1987, then on Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1989, published by BBC Publications (London), 1988, Samuel French (New York City), 1998
Talking Heads 2 (also known as Talking Heads 2: Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet), BBC, 1998, PBS, 2001
Television Documentary Specials
Dinner at Noon, BBC (England), 1988
Poetry in Motion, Channel 4 (England), 1990
Poetry in Motion 2, Channel 4, 1992
Portrait or Bust, BBC, 1993
Westminster Abbey (also known as The Abbey and Westminster Documentary), BBC, 1995, then PBS, 1996
Radio Plays
Uncle Clarence, 1986
The Lady in the Van, 1990
The Clothes They Stood Up In, 1997
Collected Works
Objects of Affection and Other Plays for Television (includes Intensive Care, A Day Out, and An Englishman Abroad), BBC Publications (London), 1982
Forty Years On, Getting On, Habeas Corpus, Faber & Faber (London), 1985
The Writer in Disguise (includes Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Old Crowd, One Fine Day, Afternoon Off, andAll Day on the Sands), Faber & Faber, 1985
The Complete Talking Heads, 1998
Other
Writing Home (prose), Faber & Faber (London), 1994, Random House (New York City), 1995
The Clothes They Stood Up In (novel), 1998, Random House (New YorkCity), 2001
The Laying On of Hands: A Story (novel), Profile Books (England),2000
Father! Father! Burning Bright, 2000
Also author of Untold Stories. Contributor to Listener andLondon Review of Books.

Further Reference

ADAPTATIONS

The novel The Laying On of Hands: A Story was adapted as an audiobook.

OTHER SOURCES

Books

Bergan, Roland, Beyond the Fringe ... and Beyond: A Critical Biographyof Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, Virgin (London), 1990
Contemporary Dramatists, 6th edition, St. James Press, 1999
Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd edition, Gale, 1998
Games, Alexander, Backing into the Limelight: The Biography of Alan Bennett, Headline (England), 2001
Wolfe, Peter, Understanding Alan Bennett, University of South Carolina Press (Columbia), 1998

Periodicals

Harper's Bazaar, September, 1989, pp. 46-48
New Statesman, December 13, 1999, p. 43
New Yorker, September 6, 1993, pp. 92-101
Time, February 27, 1995, pp. 65-66
Vanity Fair, December, 1995, p. 92
Variety, May 31, 1999, p. 39
Vogue, September, 1993, pp. 324-26

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