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Ben Elton (born May 3, 1959) is an English
comedian and writer. Born in Catford, London of an
immigrant family of academics (he is the nephew of
the historian Geoffrey Elton|G. R. Elton), he
studied at Godalming Grammar School and the
University of Manchester. He became a stand-up
comedian and comedy writer shortly after leaving
university in 1980, and was a central figure in
the alternative comedy scene in the early 1980s.
He has also achieved success wriiting musicals.

==TV==
In 1980 he wrote and appeared in Granada
Television's sketch show Alfresco, which was also
notable for early appearances by Stephen Fry, Hugh
Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane but
which received poor ratings. He also performed and
hosted the BBC comedy show The Oxford Roadshow
which again was not well-received. However, his
live act took off when, after a series of storming
performances, he was hired by The Comedy Store in
London as its compere, and more TV work followed
as a result.

His first major TV success was as co-writer of the
television Situation comedy|sitcom The Young Ones
(television series)|The Young Ones. Conceived by
Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, Elton was brought in by
Mayall to piece scripts and jokes together. Elton
occasionally appeared in the show in bit-parts.

In 1985, Elton became the youngest sole
scriptwriter for the BBC when his idyllic
comedy-drama series Happy Families
(TV_programme)|Happy Families, starring Jennifer
Saunders and Adrian Edmondson, was aired. Elton
appeared in the fifth episode as a liberal prison
governor. Shortly afterwards, he reunited Mayall
and Edmondson with their Young Ones co-star Nigel
Planer for the showbiz send-up sitcom Filthy, Rich
and Catflap which was not well received at the
time but has ultimately aged better than The Young
Ones.

Elton's reputation as the hottest new comic writer
led to a call from Richard Curtis who was looking
for a second opinion before writing the second
series of Blackadder, the first series of which
had been disliked by BBC bosses. Elton answered
the plea and duly injected more cynicism into the
main character, played by Rowan Atkinson, and
created more of a disdainful relationship between
Blackadder and servant Baldrick, played by Tony
Robinson. The three series he co-wrote (set in
Elizabeth I|Elizabethan, George III|Regency and
First World War eras) were a huge success and
remain arguably his most widely admired TV work.

Elton's writing plaudits were not being matched by
those he received as a stand-up performer. He had
become a regular turn on Saturday Live —
later moved and renamed Friday Night Live —
which was seen as a UK version of Saturday Night
Live. He later became the host of the programme,
which involved Elton performing a series of
topical routines, often with the intent of using
his known left wing sympathies to attack the
Conservative government of the time and especially
the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (or "Mrs
Thatch", as he called her). The more right wing
sections of the British press started to scorn
him, and the image of Elton with his long hair,
silver glasses and - most famously - his blue,
sparkly suit became one of the most endearing of
the late 1980s in the UK.

In 1990 he starred in his own stand-up comedy and
sketch series entitled The Man from Auntie, which
had a second series in 1994. (The title plays on
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; "Auntie" is a nickname
for the BBC).

A similar format was used for The Ben Elton Show
which aired in 1998. His most recent television
sitcom was The Thin Blue Line (television)|The
Thin Blue Line, set in a police station and also
starring Atkinson, which ran for two series (1995,
1996). Though never leaving the public eye,
Elton's writing and performing credits for TV
since The Thin Blue Line have been limited. He has
appeared on occasional talk shows, but mainly to
plug projects in the theatre or in paperback.

==Novels==

Prolific and ambitious, he began writing novels
and plays, including Stark (1989, made into a
television series in which Elton starred);
Gridlock (novel)|Gridlock (1991); This Other Eden
(1993); Popcorn (film)|Popcorn (1996); Blast From
the Past (novel)|Blast From the Past (1998);
Inconceivable (later turned into a film); Dead
Famous (2001 in literature|2001), a variation on
the classical whodunnit of the 1930s and 1940s set
around a reality TV series akin to Big Brother
(television)|Big Brother; High Society
(novel)|High Society (2002 in literature|2002), a
novel exploring the social consequences of drug
illegality in Britain; and Past Mortem (2004 in
literature|2004), another whodunnit examining the
motivations behind those who connect with old
schoolfriends via the web site Friends Reunited.

==Films==

Ben Elton made a brief appearance
alongside Michael Keaton in Kenneth Branagh's
adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing. 

Behind the camera, Elton wrote and directed the
film adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, which
was re-titled Maybe Baby (2000.

==Musicals==

More recently, he has embarked on a career in
musical theatre, co-writing The Beautiful Game
with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and then the rock
musicals We Will Rock You with music by Queen
(band)|Queen and Tonight's The Night (2003
musical)|Tonight's the Night with music by Rod
Stewart.

==Stage==

Popcorn (film)|Popcorn (1996) was adapted for the
stage and went on a UK-wide tour starring Emma
Noble, John Major's former daughter-in-law. It
also toured Australia in a production starring
Marcus Graham and Nadine Garner in its
Eastern-States seasons.

==Currently==

As of 2004 Ben Elton splits his time between
semi-permanent bases in Notting Hill in London and
Fremantle, Western Australia.  Elton became an
Australian citizen in 2004 and now enjoys dual
citizenship of the UK and Australia.  His wife,
Sophie Gare, is a saxophonist in an all-girl band
called The Boom Babies.