Ben Elton is a multifaceted talent in the world of entertainment, known for his award-winning work as a novelist, playwright, television writer, screenwriter, lyricist, and director. He is also a celebrated stand-up comedian and actor.
For nearly four decades, Elton has been one of the most successful stand-up acts in the UK and Australia. As a key figure in Britain’s alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, he has received numerous accolades, including three BAFTA Awards for Best Comedy Series (The Young Ones, Blackadder the Third, and Blackadder Goes Forth), the Royal Television Society Writer’s Award (The Man From Auntie), and a British Comedy Award (The Thin Blue Line).
In 1990, Elton co-hosted the Nelson Mandela Celebration at Wembley Stadium, later hosting the Brit Awards in 1997 and 1998, and The Royal Variety Performance in 2000. Remarkably, he writes all his own material for these events.
Elton’s theatre contributions include the plays Gasping, Silly Cow, and Popcorn. He has co-written several successful musicals: The Beautiful Game and Love Never Dies with Andrew Lloyd Webber, We Will Rock You featuring music by Queen, and Tonight’s The Night featuring music by Rod Stewart. He has won Olivier Awards for Popcorn and We Will Rock You, and a Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical for The Beautiful Game.
As a novelist, Elton has penned sixteen books, many of which have become #1 bestsellers in the UK and Australia and have been published worldwide. His notable works include Stark, Gridlock, This Other Eden, Popcorn, Blast From The Past, Inconceivable, Dead Famous, High Society, Past Mortem, The First Casualty, Chart Throb, Blind Faith, Meltdown, Two Brothers, Time and Time Again, and Identity Crisis. His achievements in literature include the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for Crime Fiction (Popcorn), the W.H. Smith People’s Choice Fiction Award (High Society), and the Prix Polar International Crime Writer Award (Amitiès Mortelles – the French edition of Past Mortem).
Elton has written and directed two films: Maybe Baby, based on his novel Inconceivable and starring Hugh Laurie, Joely Richardson, Rowan Atkinson, and Emma Thompson; and Three Summers, which won the Prix Du Jury at the Cannes Écrans Cinéma Festival and starred Magda Szubanski, Michael Caton, Robert Sheehan, and Deborah Mailman. He also wrote the movie All Is True, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Branagh, Judi Dench, and Ian McKellan.
Recently, Elton created Upstart Crow, a sitcom about the life of Shakespeare, starring David Mitchell and Gemma Whelan. The show has completed three seasons on the BBC and is set to be performed as a stage show in London’s West End in 2020. His lifetime contributions to television were recognised with the Golden Rose Award at the European Television festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
With countless career highlights and a plethora of prestigious awards, Ben Elton is a true legend of stage and screen.
