Alan Bennett
Birthday: Born in 1934-05-09 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
Alan Bennett is an English playwright, screenwriter and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years. His collaboration as writer and performer with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival brought him instant fame. He gave up academia, and turned to writing full time, his first stage play Forty Years On being produced in 1968. His output includes The Madness of George III and its film incarnation The Madness of King George, the series of monologues Talking Heads, the play The History Boys, and popular audio books, including his readings of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Winnie-the-Pooh. Description above from the Wikipedia article Alan Bennett, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Credits
The South Bank Show
Character: Self
The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience....
The Secret Policeman's Ball
Character: Self
A series of benefit shows staged initially in the United Kingdom to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policeman's Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty and other social and political causes in succeeding years....
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Osric
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, ...
Play for Today
Character: Denis Midgley
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration....
Fortunes of War
Character: Lord Pinkrose
Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet. Other cast members included Ronald Pickup, Robert Stephens, Alan Bennett, Philip Madoc and Rupert Graves. The series stays relatively faithful to the original novels, with no notable departures from their plot....
A Dance to the Music of Time
Character: Sillery
A Dance to the Music of Time is a four-part adaptation of Anthony Powell's 12-volume novel sequence that aired on Channel 4 in 1997. The series is a sharp, comic portrait of upper-class and bohemian England, spanning almost a century, from the early 1920s to modern times....
Talking Heads
Character: Graham Whittaker
A series of dramatic monologues written for BBC television by the acclaimed British playwright Alan Bennett....
Meg and Mog
Character: Owl
British children's series about a well-meaning witch, her anarchist cat, an owl and a bit of magic. Together, these odd characters create a colorful and eventful world - spiced with mystery....
The Abbey with Alan Bennett
Character: Self
In this captivating and insightful documentary, Alan Bennett takes on the role of a guide to Westminster Abbey. He unveils a side of history that is lesser-known yet intriguing, and is granted entry into the unseen corners and secret chambers that remain hidden from the eyes of tourists....
Selling Hitler
Character: Hugh Trevor-Roper
Based on the book by Robert Harris, this is a comic-dramatisation of the true story of the one of the most famous forgery cases in the world, the infamous 'Hitler Diaries' of the early 1980s. Jonathan Pryce stars as the German journalist Gerd Heidemann who convinces himself that he has discovered a set of secret diaries written by the leader of the Third Reich and tries to convince the world, making a fortune for himself in the process....
Family Guy
Character: Alan Bennett (voice)
Sick, twisted, politically incorrect and Freakin' Sweet animated series featuring the adventures of the dysfunctional Griffin family. Bumbling Peter and long-suffering Lois have three kids. Stewie (a brilliant but sadistic baby bent on killing his mother and taking over the world), Meg (the oldest, and is the most unpopular girl in town) and Chris (the middle kid, he's not very bright but has a passion for movies). The final member of the family is Brian - a talking dog and much more than a pet,...
Building Sights
Character: Self - Presenter
Personal reflections on the best of 20th Century architecture....
Omnibus
Character: Self
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the Am...
BBC2 Play of the Week
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
An anthology of plays and novels adapted into feature length TV movies, broadcast on BBC2 from September 1977 to April 1979....
Movie Credits
In Love and War
Character: Porter
After teenage ambulance driver Ernest Hemingway takes shrapnel in the leg during World War I, he falls in love with Agnes von Kurowsky, a beautiful older nurse at the hospital where he's sent to recover. Their affair slowly blossoms, until Hemingway boldly asks Agnes to be his wife and journey to America with him....
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
Character: Self
The Secret Policeman benefit shows for Amnesty International brought together comedy grand masters - from Python and Beyond the Fringe - and performers then relatively unknown, like Rowan Atkinson. Narrated by Dawn French, the programme includes interviews with many of the comedians and musicians who took part: John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Sting, Lenny Henry and many more. The shows and their stars had a huge effect on modern British comedy. There are few comics today whose careers h...
Beyond the Fringe
Character: Various Characters
A TV version of the stage show originally performed at the Edinburgh Fringe (August 1960) and in London (Fortune Theatre, May 1961) and Broadway (October 1962)....
Pleasure at Her Majesty's
Character: Self
The first of the Amnesty International comedy benefit galas. The title is a play on the phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure (the show was performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, London). This show came to be considered part of the Secret Policeman's Ball series of shows that it inspired, although it pre-dated the first show in the series by three years. The event was organized by a team of three: Monty Python member John Cleese, Amnesty's Assistant Director Peter Luff and Transatlantic Records executiv...
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
Character: Self - Various Roles
Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock...
Some Interesting Facts About Peter Cook
Character: Self
A documentary about the life of British satirist and founder of 'Private Eye' Peter Cook....
The Wind in the Willows
Character: Mole
Jailed for his reckless driving, rambunctious Mr. Toad has to escape from prison when his beloved Toad Hall comes under threat from the wily weasels, who plan to build a dog food factory on the very meadow sold to them by Toad himself....
The Willows in Winter
Character: Mole
Hailed as the "rightful heir" to "The Wind in the Willows", William Horwood's critically acclaimed sequel comes to magical life in this beautifully animated feature-length classic. Join four of the best-loved characters in children's literature for their heart-warming and hilarious new adventure along the Riverbank, narrated by Academy Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave....
Eric Ravilious: Drawn to War
Character:
One of Britain’s greatest landscape artists, Eric Ravilious, is killed in a plane crash while on commission as Official War Artist in Iceland in 1942. His life is as compelling and enigmatic as his art, set against the dramatic wartime locations that inspire him. This film brings to life this unique and still grossly undervalued British artist caught in the crossfire of war 80 years ago, whose legacy largely sank without trace, until now…...
Selling Hitler
Character: Hugh Trevor-Roper
In 1981, Gerd Heidemann, a war correspondent and reporter with the German magazine Stern, makes what he believes is the literary and historical scoop of the century: the personal diaries of Adolf Hitler. Over the next two years, Heidemann and the senior management figures at Stern secretly pay 10 million German marks to a mysterious 'Dr Fischer' for the sixty volumes of 'Hitler's diaries'. However, to the dismay of all, it is discovered after the publication of first extract that the diaries ar...
Stewart Lee: Tornado
Character: Self
The Bafta-winning Stewart Lee performs his latest touring show, focusing on a bizarrely erroneous description of his work on Netflix and a mind-boggling review from Alan Bennett....
Books: The Last Chapter?
Character: Self
Will the rise of electronic books mark the final chapter in the love story between traditional books and their readers? Alan Yentob discusses the subject with a host of writers....
Intensive Care
Character: Denis Midgley
When Denis Midgley's father is rushed to hospital, Midgley drops everything to be by his side. They've never really got on, so Midgley wants to be sure he's there if his father ever regains consciousness. As he hates his job as a schoolteacher, and his home-life with his wife, her senile mother and their insolent teenage son, he has no qualms about lingering around the hospital. But as days turn into weeks, his father obstinately refuses to 'slip away', and Denis' motivation for staying by his f...
Afternoon Off
Character: Mr Petty
Lee, a Chinese man, works as a waiter in a hotel in England, despite speaking very little English. Told that a girl called Iris might be interested in him, on his afternoon off work he buys a box of chocolates and sets off to find her....
Talking Heads
Character:
Six monologues tell the stories of six different repressed souls: a man dominated by his mother, a vicar's wife, an inveterate letter writer, a hopeful actress, a recently widowed woman, and an elderly shut-in....
The Madness of King George
Character: 2nd MP
Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger attempt to prevent the king's political enemies, led by the Prince of Wales, from usurping the throne....
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
Character: Mole (voice)
Animation telling of the adventures of Mouse, Mole, Rat and Owl. Before giving a Twelfth Night party, Mouse makes a snowmole for Mole. In a dream, Snowmole takes him to a land where his every wish is granted. But dreams can become nightmares and wishes can sometimes backfire!...
Little Dorrit
Character: The Bishop
Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked....
Alice in Wonderland
Character: Mouse
Alice in Wonderland (1966) is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe....
The Young Visiters
Character: Narrator (voice)
The Young Visiters, written in twelve days by nine-year-old Daisy Ashford in 1890, is a surreal blend of naiveté, precocious perception and inadvertent social satire....
Dreamchild
Character: Mock Turtle (voice)
Eighty-year-old Alice Hargreaves is about to visit Columbia University to attend a reception in honor of author Lewis Carroll. As a child, Alice had a close friendship with the writer, and their relationship was the creative catalyst for Carroll's most beloved work. However, as Alice reflects on her experiences with the author, she realizes the complexity of their bond has had lasting, deeply felt ramifications....
The Native Hue of Resolution
Character:
A documentary celebrating 20 years of the work of Kaleidoscope, an organisation devoted to the preservation of archive television....
Alan Bennett's Diaries
Character: Himself
Documentary about British author and actor Alan Bennett. Recorded over the course of a year, the film features a number of intimate encounters with Bennett, including a trip to New York to receive an award from the city's public library, a national radio appearance and a visit to his local community-run library in Primrose Hill, London. Reflecting on key periods of his life as well as providing observations on current events....
The Importance of Being Morrissey
Character: Self
Featuring interviews by famous fans and followers, this rare documentary encapsulates the essence of the controversial, enigmatic, and deliciously melancholic bard....
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Character: Hector
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for a unique evening of unforgettable performances, broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world....
Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Character: Narrator (voice)
A repressed night-school teacher, secretly homosexual, struggles to cope with his demanding, eccentric mother....
Being Alan Bennett
Character: Himself
Documentary providing a rare glimpse into the life of Alan Bennett, one of the UK's best-loved writers, with interviews, archive footage and new work....
Every Home Should Have One
Character: Defence Solicitor
Teddy works for a large advertising company. Given the seemingly impossible task of selling frozen porridge, he decides to produce commercials that make the product seem sexy. This leads him to confrontation with the "Keep Television Clean" movement, of which his wife is a senior member....
Long Shot
Character: Neville's Doctor
Against the backdrop of the 1977 Edinburgh Film Festival, two low-budget filmmakers attempt to talk up some finance as they hunt for cash, cast and ‘name director’ Sam Fuller to shoot their Aberdeen-set oil-boom adventure ‘Gulf and Western’. Along the way, they encounter a plethora of filmmaking luminaries including Wim Wenders, Stephen Frears, John Boorman, Bill Forsyth and Alan Bennett....
A Visit from Miss Prothero
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Arthur Dodsworth has recently retired. He lives alone except for his budgie and memories of his late wife Winnie. One afternoon his nap is interrupted by the doorbell; his former secretary, Peggy Prothero, has come to visit. A brash, charmless woman who seems to take no pleasure in anything but putting people down, Miss Prothero wants to fill her old boss in on all the changes that have taken place at work since he left. Dodsworth isn't very curious, and as the visit wears on it puts a little st...
Dinner at Noon
Character: Himself - Presenter
Writer Alan Bennett visits a hotel in the north of England, observes the guests, and reminisces about his experiences of staying in boarding-houses as a child....
Did I Say Hairdressing? I Meant Astrophysics
Character: (voice)
This animated clip comments on different educational opportunities for boys and girls, and points out the positive impact of making all opportunities available to both sexes....
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Character: Justice Shallow
When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is beseiged by suitors....
The Lady in the Van
Character: Alan Bennett (2014)
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years....
Julie Walters and Friends
Character:
Julie Walters stars in new sketches by four accomplished writers who helped make her famous....
Stop All the Clocks: W.H. Auden in an Age of Anxiety
Character: Himself
Thirty years after his BBC film The Auden Landscape, director Adam Low returns to the poet and his work. Following surges of popularity - from featuring in Four Weddings And A Funeral to being the poet New Yorkers turned to after 9/11 - Low reveals how Auden’s poetry helps us to better understand the 21st century and the tumultuous political climate in which we now live....
Alan Bennett: 90 Years On
Character:
In May 2024, Alan Bennett turned 90. This film celebrates the life and long career of one of Britain's best-loved playwrights. Part frank reflection on the ageing process, part remembrance of the joys of youth, Alan is aided by the films he has written and the documentaries he has presented in his quest to understand the person he has become....