Alan Bennett Biography
Author and actor Alan Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1934.
He attended Leeds Modern School and learned Russian at the Join Services School
for Linguists during his National Service, during which he attended Cambridge
University. He applied for a scholarship at Oxford University from which
he graduated with a first-class degree in History.
After some time teaching and studying at Oxford, in 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.
His first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. 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 received worldwide recognition with his
screen adaptation of his play The Madness of King George III, which was
nominated for an Academy Award. He followed this success with The History
Boys, which won thee Olivier awards and six Tony awards. In 1997 Bennett
revealed that he was being treated for cancer, and, believing it would be
published posthumously, he wrote Untold Stories. In fact, his cancer went
into remission, enabling him to continue to write and perform.
He lives in London with his partner of over fourteen years, Rupert Thomas.
This biography was last updated on 07/25/2011.
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