About
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne)[1] is an English comedian, actor and writer best known for playing the title role in the British television comedy Mr. Bean and for his role as Edmund Blackadder in Blackadder.

Early life
Atkinson was born to Ella May and Eric Atkinson, Anglican farmers in the town of Consett, north-west of the city of Durham. His oldest brother is Rodney Atkinson, the outspoken eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election to Jeffrey Titford in 2000.[2][3]

He was educated at Durham Choristers School, followed by St Bees School, and studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University.[4] He continued with an MSc at Oxford (Queen's College), first achieving notice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1976.[4] 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[4] and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

Comedic style
Atkinson was a stutterer as a child, a condition which sometimes returns when he is in stressful situations. In particular, the letter "B" posed a problem for him. He managed to overcome this through over-articulation; however, this — somewhat ironically — evolved into one of his trademark comic devices (his pronunciation of "Bob" in Blackadder being a famous example). His other trademark is his Received Pronunciation (RP) British accent.

Atkinson's comedy style, which is rigorously planned and scripted — partly to ensure his stress and stutter is minimised — is often visually-based. It results in comedy as performance — like Charlie Chaplin — rather than as observation or discussion, as many of the routines of the time were. Atkinson's talent for visual comedy has seen him described as "the man with the rubber face".

Private life
Atkinson married Sunetra Sastry in 1990 in a quiet ceremony in the Russian Tea Room in New York City; Stephen Fry was best man. The couple live in a manor house in Oxfordshire, and have two children, Lily and Benjamin.

Filmography
Movie poster for Johnny English
Movie poster for Johnny English

* The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982), Himself / Various Roles
* Dead on Time (1983), Bernard Fripp
* 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 (2007), Mr. Bean