Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder and Mr. Bean.

Atkinson has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born in Consett, County Durham in 1955. His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and his wife Ella May (née Bambridge), who had married on 29 June 1945. His elder brother, Rodney Atkinson, is a eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000.

He was educated at Durham Choristers School, followed by St Bees School, and studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University. He continued with an MSc at The Queen's College, Oxford, first achieving notice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1976. At Oxford, he also acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), meeting writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show. After the success of the show, he was offered his own television series by ITV in 1978. Atkinson turned it down in favour of Not the Nine O'Clock News, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He starred on the show along with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.

The success of Not the Nine O'Clock News led to his starring in the medieval sitcom The Black Adder, which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis, in 1983. Despite a mixed reception, a second series was written, this time by Curtis and Ben Elton, and first screened in 1985. Blackadder II followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in two sequels Blackadder the Third (1987) (set in the Regency era), and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) (set in the First World War). The Blackadder series went on to become one of the most successful BBC situation comedies ever. Atkinson's other famous creation, the hapless Mr. Bean, first appeared on New Years Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened somewhat to a modern-day Charlie Chaplin. During this time, Atkinson appeared at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal in 1987 and 1989. Several sequels to Mr. Bean appeared on television in the 1990s, and it eventually made into a major motion picture in 1997. Entitled Bean, it was directed by Mel Smith, his former co-star from Not the Nine O'Clock News. A second movie was released in 2007 entitled Mr. Bean's Holiday.

Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Hitachi electrical goods, Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Most famously, he appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent in a long-running series for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in Johnny English was based.

Atkinson's film career began in 1983 with a supporting part in the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again and a leading role in Dead on Time with Nigel Hawthorne. He appeared in former Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Mel Smith's directorial debut The Tall Guy in 1989. In 1993 he played a part on Hot Shots! Part Deux, a parody of Rambo starring Charlie Sheen.

Atkinson, with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar, gained further recognition in the 1994 hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. That same year he featured in Walt Disney's The Lion King as Zazu the Hornbill. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in successful comedies, including Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), and Love Actually (2003).

In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen in 1997 with Bean to international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in March 2007 and may be the last time he plays the character. He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English in 2003. Keeping Mum<i> (2005, released in the U.S. in 2006) was a departure for Atkinson, starring in a straight role.

Atkinson was a stutterer as a child, a condition which sometimes returns when he is in stressful situations. In particular, the "B" sound posed a problem for him. He managed to overcome this through over-articulation; this evolved into one of his better-known trademark comic devices, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in a </i>Blackadder<i> episode. Another trademark is his Received Pronunciation (RP) English accent.

Because of this condition, Atkinson's style is often visually-based and rigorously rehearsed in part to ensure any stress-induced stutter is minimised. This visual style, which has been compared to Charlie Chaplin, sets Atkinson apart as most modern television and film comedies rely heavily on dialogue, and stand-up comedy is mostly based on monologues. This talent for visual comedy has led to Atkinson being called "the man with the rubber face".

Atkinson married Sunetra Sastry in 1990, having met her professionally on the set of </i>Blackadder<i>. They married quietly at the Russian Tea Room in New York City, U.S., with Stephen Fry acting as the best man. The couple have two children, Lily and Benjamin, and live in the Oxfordshire village of Waterperry.

In June 2005, Atkinson led a coalition of the UK's most prominent actors and writers, including Nicholas Hytner and Ian McEwan, to the British Parliament in an attempt to force a review of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Bill — on the grounds that the Bill would give religious groups a "weapon of disproportionate power" whose threat would engender a culture of self-censorship among artists.

With an estimated wealth of £100 million, Atkinson is able to indulge in a passion for cars that began with driving his mother's Morris Minor around the family farm. He has written for the British magazines </i>Car and Evo.

Atkinson also holds a UK HGV licence, gained because trucks held a fascination for him, and to ensure employment as a young actor.

A lover of and participant in car racing, he appeared as racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play Full Throttle in 1995. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned "Driven Man", a series of sketches featuring Atkinson driving around London trying to solve his car-fetish, and discussing it with taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen and psychotherapists.

Atkinson's car collection is dominated by Aston Martins, including the Vanquish used in Johnny English. His Aston Martin V8 Zagato, featuring a registration plate "COM1C", was driven by his character Dexter in the film The Tall Guy. Atkinson was cited for speeding in the car, just as his character was in the movie. Atkinson received a driving ban as a result of the incident. He also races in his Aston Martin V8 Zagato, from which he escaped unhurt after crashing it into a barrier at an Aston Martin owners’ club event in Yorkshire in 2001. Atkinson also owns an Aston Martin Virage.

Atkinson has also raced in other cars, including a Renault 5 Turbo for two seasons. He owns two McLaren F1s, one of which was involved in an accident with an Austin Metro. Other cars he owns include an Audi A8, a green Ferrari 456GT with raspberry leather, three Mercedes-Benzes including a silver taxi Mercedes-Benz 500E with over 320hp, and also a Bentley Mulsanne, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lancia Delta Integrale, MG XPower SV, and Subaru Sherpa.

One car he will not own is a Porsche: "I have a problem with Porsches. They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one. Somehow, the typical Porsche people — and I wish them no ill — are not, I feel, my kind of people. I don't go around saying that Porsches are a pile of dung, but I do know that psychologically I couldn't handle owning one."<i> He appeared to relent from this position when reviewing a Porsche 965 for Car magazine in the early-1990s.

* </i>The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979), a charity special for Amnesty International * Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982) * Blackadder (1983-1989) * Mr. Bean (1990–1995, 2002, 2007) * Bernard and the Genie (1991) (TV movie) * Funny Business (1992), a documentary about the craft of comedy * The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996) * The Comic Relief Red Nose Day telecasts, including appearing in: **Blackadder - The Cavalier Years as Edmund Blackadder (1988) **Mr Bean's Red Nose Day as Mr Bean (1991) **(I Wanna Be) Elected as Mr Bean (1992) **Blind Date with Mr Bean as Mr Bean (1993) **Torvill and Bean as Mr Bean (1995) **"Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death" as The Doctor (1999) **Popsters as Nasty Neville (2001) **Lying to Michael Jackson as Martin Bashir (2003) **Spider-Plant Man as Peter Piper and Spider-Plant Man (2005) **Mr Bean at a Wedding<i> as Mr Bean (2007)

* </i>The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982), himself and various roles * Dead on Time (1983), Bernard Fri pp * Never Say Never Again (1983), Nigel Small-Fawcett * The Appointments of Dennis Jennings (1989), Dr. Schooner * The Tall Guy (1989), Ron Anderson * The Witches (1990), Mr. Stringer * Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), Dexter Hayman * Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Father Gerald * The Lion King (1994), Zazu (voice) * Bean (1997), Mr. Bean * Maybe Baby (2000), Mr. James * Rat Race (2001), Enrico Pollini * Scooby-Doo (2002), Emile Mondavarious * Johnny English (2003), Johnny English * Love Actually (2003), Rufus * Keeping Mum (2005), Reverend Walter Goodfellow * Mr. Bean's Holiday<i> (2007), Mr. Bean

* </i>Rowan Atkinson Live in Belfast (1982, re-released 1996) * Not Just a Pretty Face<i> (1987, re-released 1994)

* </i>The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979) * Not The Nine O'Clock News – The Album (1980) * We Are Most Amused: The Best of British Comedy'' (1981)

*Variety Club Award for BBC Personality of the Year - 1980 *BAFTA Best Light Entertainment Performance - 1989

* * * Rowan Atkinson biography at BFI Screenonline * Interview in the Scotsman newspaper * Interview for McLaren Group re his love for cars