This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2009)

Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith (born 3 December 1952) is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.

Early life[link]

Smith's father, Kenneth, was born in Tow Law, County Durham, and worked at a coal mine during the Second World War looking after the pit ponies. After the war he moved to London, and married Smith's mother, whose parents owned a greengrocer's store in Chiswick, West London. When the government legalised high street betting, he turned the shop into the first betting shop in Chiswick.^[1]

Smith was born and brought up in Chiswick, over the shop. He was educated at Hogarth Primary School, Chiswick and the private Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith and New College, Oxford.^[2]

Career[link]

While at Oxford University he produced The Tempest, and this led to his joining the Royal Court Theatre production team in London, and then Bristol Old Vic. He was also associate director of Sheffield's Crucible Theatre for two years. Later, he directed a theatre production of "Not in Front of the Audience".^{[citation needed]}

Also at Oxford, he performed at the Edinburgh Fringe with the Oxford University Dramatic Society. One year they shared a venue with the Cambridge Footlights, directed by John Lloyd. Lloyd later got the opportunity to develop the idea that became the satirical BBC television series Not the Nine O'clock News. Lloyd rang Smith to ask if he wanted to do it, and Smith agreed for £100 an episode.^[3] This was followed briefly by Smith and Goody (with Bob Goody) and then the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones, co-starring Griff Rhys Jones, its title being a pun on the name of the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones. He also starred as property dealer Tom Craig in ITV drama Muck and Brass,^[4] and guest starred on The Goodies episode "Animals".^[5]. In 1989, he played the title role in the sitcom Colin's Sandwich, playing a British Rail employee with aspirations to be a writer.

In 1981, Smith and Griff Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions, a company that has produced many of the most significant British comedy shows of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge and Big Train. In 2000, the company was sold to Pearson for £62 million.^[6]

Smith co-wrote and took the lead role in the space comedy Morons from Outer Space but the film failed to make much impact. His next cinema effort was better received as director of The Tall Guy, giving Emma Thompson a major screen role. Perhaps his best-known motion picture in America is Brain Donors, the 1992 update of the comedy classic A Night at the Opera, starring Smith as a cheeky, opportunistic cab driver turned ballet promoter. Paramount Pictures considered this film the outstanding comedy of the year, but when the producers left Paramount for another studio, Paramount withdrew its support for the movie.^{[citation needed]}

In 1987, he recorded a single with Kim Wilde for Comic Relief: a cover of the Christmas song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" with some extra comedy lines written by Smith and Jones.^[7] It reached number 3 in the UK charts.^[8]

Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their earlier TV series in "The Smith And Jones Sketchbook". Smith joked that "Obviously, Griff's got more money than me so he came to work in a Rolls Royce and I came on a bicycle. But it was great fun to do and we are firmly committed to doing something new together, because you don't chuck that sort of chemistry away. Of course, I'll have to pretend I like Restoration"^[3]

Smith returned to the theatre stage after some 20 years in August 2006, appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in Allegiance, Irish journalist and author Mary Kenny's play about Churchill's encounter with the Irish nationalist leader Michael Collins in 1921.^[9] The play initially caused some controversy, with Smith proposing to flout the Scottish ban on smoking in public places, but the scene was quickly adapted after gaining the required amount of publicity. The play was directed by Brian Gilbert and produced by Daniel Jewel.^{[citation needed]}

In autumn 2006, Smith starred opposite Belinda Lang in a tour of a new comedy An Hour and a Half Late by French playwright Gérald Sibleyras, which was adapted by Smith. He will then direct a West End revival of Charley's Aunt starring Stephen Tompkinson. From October 2007 to January 2008, he played the role of Wilbur Turnblad in the London production of Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Smith is married to Pam, a former model who grew up in Easington and Durham, and the couple have houses in St John's Wood, Oxfordshire and Barbados.^{[citation needed]}

Smith ended up seriously ill in hospital in 1999 after consuming more than 50 Nurofen Plus tablets; these contain the opiate drug Codeine, which is known to be addictive. His hospitalisation was a culmination of a growing addiction to the pills. He said at the time that the pressures of film work were a contributing factor, along with a desperate need to ease the pain caused by gout. Partly as a result, he agreed to sell Talkback Productions, but Smith admitted to restlessness: "I said to my wife that I needed to do something to get me out of the house".^{[citation needed]}

Smith is a life-long fan of Rolls Royce cars, buying his first Silver Shadow at Brighton Racecourse from an advert in Sporting Life for £5,000. At present he drives a Rolls Royce Corniche.^[10]

On 31 December 2008, Smith appeared on Celebrity Mastermind whilst suffering from severe pharyngitis.^[11]

TV shows[link]

Performer[link]

• Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979)
• Smith and Goody (1980)
• Fundamental Frolics (1981)
• Alas Smith and Jones (1982)
• Weekend In Wallop (1984)
• Comedians Do It On Stage (1986)
• The Home-made Xmas Video (1987)
• The World According To Smith And Jones (1987)
• Colin's Sandwich (1988)
• Smith and Jones (1989)
• Wilt (1989)
• Amnesty International's Big 30 (1991)
• Comic Relief (1991)
• The Night Of Comic Relief (1995)
• A Gala Comedy Hour (Best Of The Prince's Trust) (1996)
• The Smith and Jones Sketchbook (2005)
• The Sittaford Mystery, an episode of Marple (2006)
• Hustle (2006)
• Celebrity Mastermind (2008)
• Rock & Chips (2 episodes, 2010–2011)
• The Ones: Series 1: The One Griff Rhys Jones (2012)

Writer[link]

• Not The Nine O'clock News (1979)
• Smith And Goody (1980)
• Fundamental Frolics (1981)
• Alas Smith And Jones (1982)
• Weekend In Wallop (1984)
• Comedians Do It On Stage (1986)
• Smith And Jones (1989)
• Amnesty International's Big 30 (1991)
• A Gala Comedy Hour (Best Of The Prince's Trust) (1996)

Producer[link]

• Too Much Sun (2000)

Filmography[link]

Director[link]

• The Tall Guy (1989)
• Radioland Murders (1994)
• Bean (1997)
• High Heels and Low Lifes (2001)
• Blackball (2003)

Actor[link]

• Babylon (1980) - Alan
• Bullshot (1983) - Crouch
• Slayground (1983) - Terry Abbatt
• Minder (1984) - Cyril Ash
• Restless Natives (1985) - Pyle
• The Supergrass (1985)
• Morons from Outer Space (1985) - Bernard; also co-wrote the script with Griff Rhys Jones
• National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) - London Hotel Receptionist
• The Princess Bride (1987) - The Albino
• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1988) - Mr. Grimshaw
• Wilt (from a novel by Tom Sharpe) (1989) - Inspector Flint
• Father Christmas (1991) - Father Christmas
• Brain Donors (aka Lame Ducks) (1992) - Rocco Melonchek
• Twelfth Night: Or What You Will (1996) - Sir Toby Belch

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mel Smith at the Internet Movie Database
• Rockin' around the Christmas tree at kimwildetv.com.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.^[1]

History[link]

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[2][dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

It was also used as a term for a drug dealer in the 1950s and 1960s and can be seen in such media as Curtis Mayfield's "No Thing On Me", William Burroughs's novel Naked Lunch, and in the Velvet Underground song "I'm Waiting for the Man", in which Lou Reed sings about going to Uptown Manhattan, specifically Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, to buy heroin.

The use of this term was expanded to counterculture groups and their battles against authority, such as the Yippies, which, according to a May 19, 1969 article in U.S. News and World Report, had the "avowed aim ... to destroy 'The Man', their term for the present system of government". The term eventually found its way into humorous usage, such as in a December 1979 motorcycle ad from the magazine Easyriders which featured the tagline, "California residents: Add 6% sales tax for The Man."

In present day, the phrase has been popularized in commercials and cinema, featuring particularly prominently as a recurring motif in the 2003 film School of Rock.^[3][4][5][6]

Use as praise[link]

The term has also been used as an approbation or form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (who is in charge)." One example of this usage dates to 1879 when Otto von Bismarck commented, referring to Benjamin Disraeli's pre-eminent position at the Congress of Berlin, "The old Jew, he is the man."^{[7][dubious – discuss]}

In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment ("you da man!") indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

See also[link]

• Absentee landlord
• Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
• New World Order (conspiracy theory)
• Ruling class
• The Establishment
• Power elite
• Corrections officer
• YTMND

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Lighter, J.E. (Ed.). (1997). Random House Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House.

Rowan Atkinson
Atkinson at the Johnny English Reborn Premiere
Birth name	Rowan Sebastian Atkinson
Born	(1955-01-06) 6 January 1955 (age 57)[1][2] Consett, Durham, England, United Kingdom
Medium	Stand up, Television, Film
Years active	1978–present
Genres	Physical comedy, Satire, Black comedy
Influences	Peter Sellers, Charlie Chaplin, Jacques Tati[3]
Influenced	Steve Pemberton David Walliams
Spouse	Sunetra Sastry (m. 1990) «start: (1990)»"Marriage: Sunetra Sastry to Rowan Atkinson" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Rowan_Atkinson)
Notable works and roles	Not the Nine O'Clock News Blackadder Mr. Bean The Thin Blue Line Johnny English
BAFTA Awards Best Light Entertainment Performance 1981 Not the Nine O'Clock News 1990 Blackadder Goes Forth Laurence Olivier Awards Best Comedy Performance 1981 Rowan Atkinson in Revue

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy,^[4] and amongst the top 50 comedians ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians.^[5] He has also had cinematic success with his performances in the Mr. Bean movie adaptations Bean and Mr. Bean's Holiday and in Johnny English and its sequel Johnny English Reborn. He also starred in the film Never Say Never Again (a spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball) in 1983.

Early life and education[link]

Atkinson, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England.^[6] His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945.^[6] His three older brothers were Paul, who died as an infant, Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000, and Rupert.^[7][8] Atkinson was brought up Anglican,^[9] and was educated at Durham Choristers School, St. Bees School, and Newcastle University.^[10] In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college his father matriculated at in 1935,^[11] which made Atkinson an Honorary Fellow in 2006.^[12] First achieving notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976,^[10] while 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^[10] and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

Career[link]

Radio[link]

Atkinson had starred in a series of comedy shows for BBC Radio 3 in 1978 called The Atkinson People. It consisted of a series of satirical interviews with fictional great men, who were played by Atkinson himself. The series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and produced by Griff Rhys Jones.^[13]

Television[link]

After university, Atkinson toured with Angus Deayton as his straight man in an act that was eventually filmed for a television show. After the success of the show, he did a one-off pilot for London Weekend Television in 1979 called Canned Laughter. Atkinson then went on to do Not the Nine O'Clock News for the BBC, produced by his friend John Lloyd. He starred on the show along with Pamela Stephenson, Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith, and was one of the main sketch writers.

The success of Not the Nine O'Clock News led to his starring in the medieval sitcom The Black Adder, which he also co-wrote with Richard Curtis, in 1983. After a three-year gap, in part due to budgetary concerns, a second series was written, this time by Curtis and Ben Elton, and first screened in 1986. Blackadder II followed the fortunes of one of the descendants of Atkinson's original character, this time in the Elizabethan era. The same pattern was repeated in the two sequels Blackadder the Third (1987) (set in the Regency era), and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) (set in World War I). The Blackadder series went on to become one of the most successful BBC situation comedies of all time, spawning television specials including Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988) and Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1988).

Atkinson's other famous creation, the hapless Mr. Bean, first appeared on New Years Day in 1990 in a half-hour special for Thames Television. The character of Mr. Bean has been likened somewhat to a modern-day Buster Keaton.^[14] During this time, Atkinson appeared at the Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal in 1987 and 1989. Several sequels to Mr. Bean appeared on television in the 1990s, and it eventually made into a major motion picture in 1997. Entitled Bean, it was directed by Mel Smith, his former co-star from Not the Nine O'Clock News. A second movie was released in 2007 entitled Mr. Bean's Holiday. In 1995 and 1997, Atkinson portrayed Inspector Raymond Fowler in the popular The Thin Blue Line television series, written by Ben Elton, which takes place in a police station located in fictitious Gasforth.

Atkinson has fronted campaigns for Kronenbourg,^[15] Hitachi electrical goods,^{[citation needed]} Fujifilm, and Give Blood. Atkinson appeared as a hapless and error-prone espionage agent in a long-running series for Barclaycard, on which character his title role in Johnny English and Johnny English Reborn was based.

He also starred in a comedy spoof of Doctor Who as the Doctor, for a "Red Nose Day" benefit.

Atkinson has also starred as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car in the motoring show, Top Gear in July 2011, where he recorded the second fastest lap in the Kia Cee'd with a time of 1:42.2.

Rowan Atkinson in 1997, promoting Bean

Film[link]

Atkinson's film career began in 1983 with a supporting part in the 'unofficial' James Bond movie Never Say Never Again and a leading role in Dead on Time with Nigel Hawthorne. He appeared in former Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Mel Smith's directorial debut The Tall Guy in 1989. He also appeared alongside Anjelica Huston and Mai Zetterling in Roald Dahl's The Witches in 1990. In 1993 he played the part of Dexter Hayman in Hot Shots! Part Deux, a parody of Rambo III, starring Charlie Sheen.

Atkinson gained further recognition with his turn as a verbally bumbling vicar in the 1994 hit Four Weddings and a Funeral. That same year he was featured in Disney's The Lion King as the voice of Zazu the Red-billed Hornbill. Atkinson continued to appear in supporting roles in successful comedies, including Rat Race (2001), Scooby-Doo (2002), and Love Actually (2003).

In 2005, he acted in the crime/comedy Keeping Mum, which also starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith and Patrick Swayze.

In addition to his supporting roles, Atkinson has also had success as a leading man. His television character Mr. Bean debuted on the big screen in 1997 with Bean to international success. A sequel, Mr. Bean's Holiday, was released in March 2007 and this, as recently mentioned by Atkinson in 2011, was the last time he played the character.^[16] He has also starred in the James Bond parody Johnny English in 2003. Its sequel, Johnny English Reborn was released on 7 October 2011.

Theatre[link]

Rowan Atkinson did live on-stage skits – also appearing with members of Monty Python – in The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979).

Rowan Atkinson appeared in the 2009 revival of the West End musical Oliver! in the role of Fagin.^[17] The production was directed by Rupert Goold. A year prior he starred in a pre-West End run of the show in Oxford, directed by Jez Bond.

Comedic style[link]

Best known for his use of physical comedy in his trademark character of Mr. Bean, Atkinson's other characters rely more heavily on language. Atkinson often plays authority figures (especially priests or vicars) speaking absurd lines with a completely deadpan delivery.

One of his better-known trademark comic devices is over-articulation of the "B" sound, such as his pronunciation of "Bob" in a Blackadder episode. Atkinson suffers from stuttering,^[18] and the over-articulation is a technique to overcome problematic consonants.

Atkinson's often visually based style, which has been compared to Buster Keaton,^[14] sets him apart from most modern television and film comedies, which rely heavily on dialogue, as well as stand-up comedy which is mostly based on monologues. This talent for visual comedy has led to Atkinson being called "the man with the rubber face": comedic reference was made to this in an episode of Blackadder the Third, in which Baldrick (Tony Robinson) refers to his master, Mr. E. Blackadder, as a "lazy, big nosed, rubber-faced bastard".

Personal life[link]

Rowan Atkinson at the Mr. Bean's Holiday premiere at Leicester Square in London (2007)

Marriage and children[link]

Rowan Atkinson first met Sunetra Sastry in the late 1980s, when she was working as a make-up artist with the BBC.^[19] Sastry is of mixed descent, being the daughter of an Indian father and a British mother.^[20] The couple married at the Russian Tea Room in New York City on 5 February 1990. They have two children and live in Oundle, Northamptonshire as well as in Ipsden, Oxfordshire and in Highbury, London.^{[citation needed]} In October 2010, his Blackadder co-star Stephen Fry confessed on The Rob Brydon Show and in his second autobiography (The Fry Chronicles) that, although he was already openly homosexual at the time, he had considered asking Sastry (who was his make-up artist) out. However, when Rowan came to him one day and asked if he could swap make-up artists because he wanted to ask Sastry out, 'all idea of [his] asking out Sunetra left [him]'.^[21] Fry was best man at Atkinson's wedding in 1990. Atkinson was formerly in a relationship with actress Leslie Ash.^[22]

Politics[link]

In June 2005, Atkinson led a coalition of the UK's most prominent actors and writers, including Nicholas Hytner, Stephen Fry, and Ian McEwan, to the British Parliament in an attempt to force a review of the controversial Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, which they felt would give overwhelming power to religious groups to impose censorship on the arts.^[23] In 2009, he criticised homophobic speech legislation, saying that the House of Lords must vote against a government attempt to remove a free speech clause in an anti-gay hate law.^[24]

Cars[link]

With an estimated wealth of £100 million, Atkinson is able to indulge his passion for cars that began with driving his mother's Morris Minor around the family farm. He has written for the British magazines Car, Octane, Evo, and "SuperClassics", a short-lived UK magazine, in which he reviewed the McLaren F1 in 1995.

Atkinson holds a category C+E (formerly 'Class 1') lorry driving licence, gained in 1981, because lorries held a fascination for him, and to ensure employment as a young actor. He has also used this skill when filming comedy material.

Atkinson in 2009

A lover of and participant in car racing, he appeared as racing driver Henry Birkin in the television play Full Throttle in 1995. In 1991, he starred in the self-penned The Driven Man, a series of sketches featuring Atkinson driving around London trying to solve his obsession with cars, and discussing it with taxi drivers, policemen, used-car salesmen and psychotherapists.^[25]

Atkinson has raced in other cars, including a Renault 5 GT Turbo for two seasons for its one make series. He owns a McLaren F1, which was involved in an accident in Cabus, near Garstang, Lancashire with an Austin Metro in October 1999. It was damaged again in a serious crash in August 2011 when it caught fire after Atkinson reportedly lost control and hit a tree.^[26][27][28] He also owns a Honda NSX. Other cars he owns include an Audi A8,^[29] and a Honda Civic Hybrid.^[30]

The Conservative Party politician Alan Clark, himself a devotee of classic motor cars, recorded in his published Diaries this chance meeting with a man he later realised was Atkinson while driving through Oxfordshire in May 1984: "Just after leaving the motorway at Thame I noticed a dark red DBS V8 Aston Martin on the slip road with the bonnet up, a man unhappily bending over it. I told Jane to pull in and walked back. A DV8 in trouble is always good for a gloat." Clark writes that he gave Atkinson a lift in his Rolls-Royce to the nearest telephone box, but was disappointed in his bland reaction to being recognised, noting that: "he didn't sparkle, was rather disappointing and chétif."^[31]

One car Atkinson has said he will not own is a Porsche: "I have a problem with Porsches. They're wonderful cars, but I know I could never live with one. Somehow, the typical Porsche people—and I wish them no ill—are not, I feel, my kind of people. I don't go around saying that Porsches are a pile of dung, but I do know that psychologically I couldn't handle owning one."^[32][33]

He appeared in episode 4, series 17 of Top Gear in the "Star in a reasonably priced car" section, where he drove the Kia Cee'd on the test track in 1"42.2, taking first place on the board, but was later beaten by Matt LeBlanc during the second episode of the eighteenth series, with a lap time of 1"42.1.

He attended the inaugural Indian Grand Prix as a guest of McLaren.

Television appearances[link]

• Canned Laughter (1979), an experimental sitcom pilot for LWT
• The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979), a charity special for Amnesty International
• Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982)
• Peter Cook & Co (1980)
• The Innes Book of Records (1980), guest appearance
• Never Say Never Again (1983)
• Blackadder as Prince Edmund (The Black Adder); Lord Blackadder (Blackadder II); Edmund Blackadder (Blackadder III); Ebenezer Blackadder (Blackadder's Christmas Carol); and Captain Blackadder (Blackadder Goes Forth) (1983–1989)
• Saturday Live as guest host (1986)
• Mr. Bean as Mr. Bean (1990–2009 various times)
• Rowan Atkinson Live as assorted characters (1992) (VHS of live sketches)
• Bernard and the Genie as Bernard's Boss (1991) (TV movie)
• Funny Business (1992), a documentary about the craft of comedy
• A Bit Of Fry And Laurie (1992), guest appearance
• The Thin Blue Line as Inspector Raymond Fowler (1995–1996)
• The Story of Bean as himself (1997)
• Blackadder: Back and Forth as Blackadder (2000)
• Mr. Bean (animated TV series) as Mr. Bean, voice (2002)
• The Comic Relief "Red Nose Day" telecasts, including appearances in:
  • Blackadder: The Cavalier Years as Edmund Blackadder (1988)
  • Nosenight sketches (1989)
  • Mr Bean's Red Nose Day as Mr. Bean (1991)
  • (I Wanna Be) Elected as Mr. Bean (1992)
  • Blind Date with Mr Bean as Mr. Bean (1993)
  • Torvill and Bean as Mr Bean (1995)
  • Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death as The Doctor (1999)
  • Popsters as Nasty Neville (2001)
  • Lying to Michael Jackson as Martin Bashir (2003)
  • Spider-Plant Man as Peter Piper and Spider-Plant Man (2005)
  • Mr Bean's Wedding as Mr. Bean (2007)
  • The Greatest Worst Bits of Comic Relief as himself (2007)
• We Are Most Amused (2008), a special show to celebrate Prince Charles' 60th birthday
• Blackadder Rides Again as himself (2008)
• Not Again: Not the Nine O'Clock News as himself (2009)

Guest appearances[link]

• Wogan (1988, 1991)
• Children in Need (1988), guest appearance as Mr. E. Blackadder
• Noel's House Party, guest appearance as Blackadder
• Going Live, guest appearance as Mr. Bean
• This Morning (1995), guest appearance as Mr. Bean
• Big Breakfast
• Parkinson (2003)
• Blue Peter (2004, 2007), guest appearance as Mr. Bean
• London Tonight (2005)
• BBC Breakfast (2007)
• Richard & Judy (2007)
• The Dame Edna Treatment (2007), guest appearance as Mr. Bean
• Top Gear (2011)

Filmography[link]

Live comedy albums[link]

• Live in Belfast (1980)
• Not Just a Pretty Face (1987)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rowan Atkinson

• Rowan Atkinson at the Internet Movie Database
• Rowan Atkinson biography at BFI Screenonline

Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones in June 2007.
Birth name	Griffith Rhys Jones
Born	(1953-11-16) 16 November 1953 (age 58) Cardiff, Wales
Nationality	British
Years active	1970s–present
Notable works and roles	Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982) Alas Smith and Jones (1982–1998)
Laurence Olivier Awards
Best Comedy Performance 1983: Charley's Aunt 1994: Absolute Turkey

Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953)^[1] is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith. With Smith, he founded television production company Talkback Productions, now part of RTL Group. He went on to develop a career as a television presenter and writer, as well as continuing with acting work.

Early life and education[link]

Rhys Jones was born in Cardiff, the son of Gwyneth Margaret (née Jones) and Elwyn,^[2] a doctor. Moving with his father's work, he attended Conifers Primary School in Midhurst, West Sussex, junior school in Epping, Essex and Brentwood School, also in Essex.^[3] While the family was resident in Essex, his father had a boat in West Mersea on Mersea Island, which they would sail around the coast of Suffolk and into The Broads.^[4]

While at Brentwood School he met Charlie Bean (later Executive Director of the Bank of England) and Douglas Adams (who would later write The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). In 1967, he appeared in Macbeth as the First Witch, alongside Douglas Adams who played Young Siward and "A Sargeant". The producer, Wiliam Barron, remarked in the programme concerning the roles of the witches: "To deprive young boy actors of any opportunity of expressing devilish glee would be to take away half the fun of playing such parts: yet it is agreed that they must not be allowed to "'hee-hee, ho-ho' at each new temptation and crime."^[5] He was part of a group whose antics led to them referred to as "The Clique" by the school's headmaster.^[6] After a short spell working as a petrol-pump attendant, he gained a gap year job on the P&O ship Uganda, working for a company organising school trips. In his autobiography, Semi-Detached (see below), he describes how he was charged with helping to look after 600 Canadian schoolgirls, followed by a similar number of younger Scottish schoolchildren, and refers to the experience as being like "St Trinians at sea".^[7] He wrote to eight of the Canadians afterwards.^[8]

Rhys Jones followed Bean and Adams to Cambridge, reading history and English at Emmanuel College, graduating with a 2:1.^[9] While at university, Jones joined Cambridge Footlights Club (of which he became Vice-President in 1976) and was also president of the ADC during his time at Cambridge. At this time, his ambitions were focused on the theatre, particularly directing.

Career[link]

He then joined BBC Radio Light Entertainment as a trainee producer, with his output including the satirical show Week Ending and Brain of Britain.^[10] An evening planned to spend watching his hero Frankie Howerd at the invitation of friends Clive Anderson and Rory McGrath, who were writing the show at the time, resulted in Rhys Jones replacing the show's producer, who had suffered from a stress-related illness from dealing with the comedian. He later produced Rowan Atkinson's show The Atkinson People for the BBC and has appeared twice on Whose Line Is It Anyway?.

Rhys Jones filled in several minor roles in the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News, and was brought in as a regular cast member from the second series onwards, replacing Chris Langham. Rhys Jones says that the reason he got the part was not due to his appearance in the initial shows, or his talent, but because producer John Lloyd was going out with his sister at the time. Rhys Jones became a regular from the commissioned second series, alongside Atkinson, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson.

Partnership with Mel Smith[link]

After Not the Nine O'Clock News, Smith and Rhys Jones decided to create and write more material together, and to start a management company.

In 1981, Smith and Rhys Jones founded TalkBack Productions, a company which has produced many of the most popular British comedy series of the past two decades, including Smack the Pony, Da Ali G Show, I'm Alan Partridge and Big Train. From 1984, Smith and Rhys Jones appeared in the comedy sketch series Alas Smith and Jones (the show's title being a pun on the American TV series Alias Smith and Jones). After the first series, the pair appeared on the big screen in Mike Hodges' sci-fi comedy movie Morons from Outer Space and then in 1989, the LWT production Wilt. They also developed TalkBack to manage other acts, and eventually sold the company to Pearson for £62 million.

Smith and Jones were reunited in 2005 for a review/revival of their previous television series in The Smith and Jones Sketchbook.

Recent work[link]

Rhys Jones was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1984 (1983 season) for Best Comedy Performance in Charley's Aunt and in 1994 (1993 season) for Best Comedy Performance for his performance in An Absolute Turkey. He also played Toad in The Wind in the Willows at the National Theatre in 1990, as well as a number of other theatre roles.

During 1999 and 2000, he featured in TV adverts for the Vauxhall range of cars as a "boffin".

Rhys Jones has developed a career as a television presenter, beginning as the co-host on several Comic Relief programmes. He presented Bookworm from 1994 to 2000 and is the presenter of the BBC's Restoration programme (he began filming its third series at Lincoln Cathedral on 3 June 2006), and has done a considerable amount of fundraising work for the Hackney Empire theatre conservation project. In 2004, he led a demonstration at the Senate House in Cambridge University for the purpose of saving architecture as a degree in Cambridge.

He provided the voices on the series of short cartoons Funnybones, for which he also sang the theme tune. Since 2006 Jones has starred in the BBC's Three Men in a Boat series, alongside Dara Ó Briain and Rory McGrath.^[11] The series has included the trio rowing the River Thames, as in the 1889 novel, sailing from London to the Isle of Wight for a sail boat race, borrowing numerous vessels to make their way from Plymouth to the Isles of Scilly. In more recent adventure the three took to the Irish Canals and Rivers on a trip from Dublin to Limerick (Dara's Greyhound Snip Nua also tagged along for the trip), went to Scotland, and sailed along the Balkan coast ending up in Venice for a gondola race.

Rhys Jones has also created and presented programmes about Arthur Ransome, Thomas Hardy, John Betjeman and Rudyard Kipling.

Rhys Jones has continued his acting career, having roles in Casualty and Marple as well as starring in Russell T Davies' drama series Mine All Mine on ITV1. His documentary series Mountain, for which he climbed fifteen British peaks during 2006,^[12] was broadcast on BBC One 29 July–26 August 2007.

Rhys Jones also returned to his mother's roots in the village of Ferndale, Wales for the purposes of an episode of the BBC One series Who Do You Think You Are?, which was broadcast 20 September 2007. In the episode, he detailed early memories and stories of his grandparents' fruit and vegetable shop on the high street and his mother's childhood concert performances at Trerhondda Chapel.

He provided the voice over for Brentwood School's 450th anniversary DVD, reading a script written by fellow Old Brentwoodian Jonathan Ruffle.^[13]

He presented a seasonal documentary, Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas, which was broadcast on 23 December 2007 on BBC One.^[14]

Since 2007, Rhys Jones has been a Vice President of the River Stour Trust, a registered charity that led by volunteers who are dedicated to the restoration and conservation of the River Stour Navigation for the benefit and enjoyment of the public. Rhys Jones says, "I am a strong supporter of the River Stour Trust and everything to do with it. The riverway is so beautiful and unspoilt, especially with the wildlife and water-lilies and bullrushes, it is just terrific. It is a great example of why rivers should be open to people...I salute the River Stour Trust for opening the locks...it is supposed to be a river that traffic travels on.”^{[citation needed]}

It was announced in June 2008 that Rhys Jones was to become the President of The Civic Trust, the nationwide charity that campaigns for better places in the built and green environment.^[15]

It'll be Alright on the Night returned with Rhys Jones as the new presenter, taking over from Denis Norden. The first programme was recorded at The London Studios on 5 September 2008.^[16] It is broadcast in one-off episodes on Saturday nights throughout the year, on ITV1.

In Greatest Cities of the World, Rhys Jones visited a different city each week. The first series, featuring London, New York and Paris, aired on primetime ITV1 in October 2008. A second series featuring Rome, Sydney and Hong Kong, was broadcast in April and May 2010.

During the summer of 2009, Rhys Jones presented the BBC programme Rivers.^[17]

He starred as Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Oliver! in London's West End from 14 December 2009 until 8 January 2011.

In January 2012 Griff returned to sketch comedy at the BBC alongside "some of the biggest names in TV", including Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander and Larry Lamb, for 1 of a 3 episode series in which comedy legends take to the stage for a mix of stand-up and sketches. It also featured a special guest appearance by former comedy partner Mel Smith in a new Head to Head sketch, referring many times to it having been 16 years since their last.^[18]

Writing[link]

Rhys Jones has written or co-written many of the programmes he has appeared in, and a number of spin-off books. In 2002, he started writing a book called To the Baltic with Bob, describing his adventures on the high seas with his sailing friend Bob, as they make their way to Saint Petersburg, port by port.^[19] Rhys Jones released the book in 2003, saying of the experience: "As a child you go out and play and you lose all track of time and space. It's harder and harder to attain that blissful state of absorption as you get older. I did a six-month sailing trip to St Petersburg with some mates just to get it back."^[8]

His early life has been captured in his autobiography, Semi-Detached, published in 2006 by Penguin Books. His book to accompany the BBC1 series Mountain was published in July 2007.

Personal life[link]

Rhys Jones met his wife, Jo, a graphic designer, while working at the BBC. He has described their first meeting by saying "The day we met, I was semi-naked and she was throwing water over me." The couple have two children, and live between homes in London (previously in Islington, now in a Grade I listed house in London's West End) and Holbrook, Suffolk; the house is situated on land just below the playing fields of the Royal Hospital School.^[20] The family have a chocolate-coloured Labrador called Cadbury.^[21] Rhys Jones owns a 45-foot-long, 50-year-old blue wooden sailing yacht named Undina, which was used in Three Men in a Boat.

A former heavy drinker, Rhys Jones is a teetotaler: "I don't drink so going to a party can become very tedious. By about 11 o'clock, everybody goes to another planet and you're not there with them, so I tend to avoid that sort of thing."^[20] He started running as a leisure pursuit in his early forties. In 2008, he presented two programmes called Losing It which were shown on BBC2, in which he discussed his own problems with anger management.

An active conservationist, Rhys Jones is the president of Civic Voice, the national organisation representing Britain's civic societies.

A resident of East Anglia, in 2002, Rhys Jones was awarded an honorary degree by the University of East Anglia.^[19] He awarded an honourary degree from the University of Glamorgan and University of Essex^[3] and an honourary D.Litt from Anglia Ruskin University^[22], is a Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama^[23] and the Royal Society of Arts and made an Honourary Fellow of his alma mater Emmanuel College, Cambridge^[24]. In 2009 he was honoured by his father's former university, the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University).^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Griff Rhys Jones

• Griff Rhys Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• TLS editor Peter Stothard remembers his schooldays with Rhys Jones
• Griff Rhys Jones - Authorised Web Site
• Griff Rhys Jones Myspace appreciation group
• Griff Rhys Jones - Vice President, River Stour Trust

Kim Wilde (born Kim Smith, 18 November 1960) is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart New Wave classic "Kids in America". In 1983, Wilde received the Brit Award for Best British Female.^[2] In 1987 she had a major hit in the US when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On" topped the charts. Starting in 1998, while still active in music, she has branched into an alternative career as a landscape gardener.

Early life[link]

The eldest child of 1950s rock 'n' roller Marty Wilde (birth name Reginald Smith) and Joyce Baker, who was earlier a member of the singing and dancing group The Vernons Girls, Kim Smith was born in the West London suburb of Chiswick and attended Oakfield Preparatory School, in the Southeast London area of Dulwich. When she was nine, the family moved to Hertfordshire, where she was educated at Tewin and later Presdales School in Ware. In 1980, at age 20, she completed a foundation course at St Albans College of Art & Design and, as Kim Wilde, was signed to RAK Records by Mickie Most.^[3]

Music career[link]

The RAK years[link]

Oakfield School in Dulwich

Wilde released her debut single "Kids in America" in January 1981. An instant success, it reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and scaled the Top 5 in other countries such as Germany, France and Australia.^[4] Although it achieved only moderate success in the US, peaking at number 25 when released in 1982, it is often regarded today as Wilde's signature song. Her debut album Kim Wilde repeated the success of the single, spawning two further hits in "Chequered Love" (Top 5 in the UK, France, Australia and Germany) and the UK-only single "Water on Glass". Her follow-up album was 1982's Select, led by the hit singles "Cambodia" and "View From a Bridge". Both were Number 1 hits in France and reached Top 10 positions in Germany and Australia. At the time, there was some controversy about Wilde's hesitation to do live concerts.^[5] Her first concerts in September 1982 took place in Denmark,^[6] before embarking on a UK-wide tour in October.^[7] Wilde's third album, Catch as Catch Can (1983) was a relative failure.^{[citation needed]} The first single from the album, "Love Blonde", was another success in France and Scandinavia, but failed to have major success in other countries. The failure of the album led to her leaving RAK and signing with MCA Records in the summer of 1984.^{[citation needed]}

The MCA years[link]

Wilde's first MCA album Teases & Dares was again overlooked in her home country,^{[citation needed]} but fared better in Germany, France and Scandinavia as well as scoring another German Top 10 single with "The Second Time" (which was Top 30 in the UK). The video for this song appeared in an episode of the 1980s TV hit Knight Rider in 1985.^[8] The second single, "The Touch", was not a commercial success, but the third single, the rockabilly "Rage to Love", made the UK top 20 in 1985. All of Wilde's songs up to this point, including all her major hits, had been written by her father Marty and brother, Ricky. On "Teases & Dares" she penning two songs. Meanwhile, Wilde had embarked on three European concert tours (1983, 85 and 86).^{[citation needed]}

On her fifth album, 1986's Another Step, Wilde wrote or co-wrote most of the songs. The album's lead single "Schoolgirl" flopped in Europe and Australia, but Wilde's fortunes improved in spectacular fashion with the album's second single, a Hi-NRG remake of The Supremes classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On".^[9] After topping the charts in Australia and Canada and peaking at number two in the UK, it became a US number one single in 1987. With that hit, she became the fifth UK female solo artist ever to top the US Hot 100, following Petula Clark, Lulu, Sheena Easton, and Bonnie Tyler.^[10] Wilde later admitted to "not knowing the song terribly well" beforehand: "Basically we just went into the studio with a lot of energy and not a lot of reverence. We changed quite a lot of the song and I think that's why it was so successful. It was a very spontaneous idea."^[11] Her popularity, especially in her native UK, was revitalised and she scored further Top 10 hits in 1987 with "Another Step (Closer to You)" (recorded with Junior) and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" (a Comic Relief charity single, recorded with comedian Mel Smith).

In 1988, Wilde released her biggest selling album to date,^{[citation needed]} Close, which returned her to the UK top 10 and spent almost eight months on the UK album chart. It produced four major European hits: "Hey Mr.Heartache", "You Came", "Never Trust a Stranger" and "Four Letter Word", (the last 3 were Top 10 hits in the UK). The release of the album coincided with a tour of Europe, where she was the opening act for Michael Jackson's Bad World Tour.^[12] Wilde released her next album, Love Moves, in 1990. The album barely made the UK Top 40, and, although it was a Top 10 success in Scandinavian countries, it failed to sell as well as its predecessor and only spawned two minor hits, "It's Here" a Top 20 success in Middle and Northern Europe as well as "Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love)", her last Top 20 hit in France. She toured Europe again, this time opening for fellow Briton David Bowie.^[12]

A collaboration with Rick Nowels, who had produced hits for Stevie Nicks and Belinda Carlisle, resulted in the guitar-driven pop of the single "Love Is Holy" and the album Love Is (1992). The album's success was again limited to a small number of countries, though the single became another Top 20 hit in the UK,^[13] and the second single ("Heart Over Mind") also made the top 40.^[13] In 1993, she released her first official compilation album The Singles Collection 1981–1993, which was a success throughout Europe and Australia and the dancefloor-influenced single "If I Can't Have You" (a cover of the Yvonne Elliman song from the film Saturday Night Fever that was penned by The Bee Gees), became her last UK Top 20 Hit as well as a number 3 hit in Australia.^[14]

Wilde embarked on a huge "Greatest Hits" concert tour through Europe in 1994 and also toured Australia and Japan for the first time in six years.^{[citation needed]} Her next album, Now & Forever (1995), was a commercial failure worldwide.^[12] Her single "Breakin' Away", however, was a minor hit, and the follow-up, "This I Swear", was also a minor hit in Europe.^[15] She released a single "Shame" in 1996.^[16] From February 1996 to February 1997, Wilde appeared in London's West End production of the musical, Tommy.^[17] After this, Wilde started recording a new album. However, there were problems with her record company – MCA Records had by that time become part of Universal Music – and legal problems concerning the songs. Subsequently, Wilde abandoned the album which remains unreleased.^{[citation needed]}

Return to Pop[link]

On 13 January 2001, Wilde performed live for the first time in years, as a guest star in a charity show by the ABBA tribute band, Fabba.^{[citation needed]} Since November 2001, she has toured the UK three times (and once in Australia during 2003) as part of the Here and Now Tour, an Eighties revival concert series, together with artists such as Paul Young, The Human League, Belinda Carlisle, Howard Jones and Five Star.^{[citation needed]} New recordings also followed; in 2001, she recorded a new track, "Loved", for a compilation album which became a surprise hit in Belgium.^[18] She recorded the single "Born to be Wild" in 2002, and in summer of 2003 she had a major hit with "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", a duet with German pop star Nena. The single was a Top 10 hit in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Netherlands and Switzerland.^[19]

In 2006, Wilde signed a new record deal with EMI Germany and released the first single from her tenth studio album in many countries across Europe, Scandinavia and Asia. "You Came 2006" charted Top 20 in most of these countries and became her biggest solo hit in Germany since 1988.^[15] The album Never Say Never included eight new tracks plus five re-worked previous hits and has charted in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The second single from the album, which was voted for by fans on her official website was "Perfect Girl", released in November 2006 and spent nine weeks on the German Top 100 singles chart.^[15] A third single, "Together We Belong", was released in March 2007 and a fourth single, "Baby Obey Me", was released in Germany as a remix featuring German rapper Ill Inspecta.^[20] In 2001, Wilde appeared on the first Here and Now Tour around the UK and repeated this, as the only artist, four years in a row.^{[citation needed]} Also on different summer festivals and summer Here and Now events, she became a regular guest, including the Australian leg of the Tour.^{[citation needed]} Since summer 2003, Wilde has appeared on numerous festival bills and concerts all over Europe with her own show.^{[citation needed]} In the spring of 2007, she toured (The Perfect Girl tour) around Europe singing new material, and started a second leg of the tour the following autumn.^{[citation needed]} Also in the spring and summer of 2009, she toured around Europe, playing a number of festivals and concerts.^{[citation needed]} In early September 2009, a brand new single, "Run to You", recorded as a duet with Swedish rock band Fibes, Oh Fibes!, was released in Sweden. The song reached the Swedish Top 30.^[21]

In 2010, Kim signed a new record deal with Sony Music Germany. The label released her eleventh studio album, Come Out and Play on 17 August,^[22] with "Lights Down Low" preceding that as lead single.^[23] The album reached number 10 in Germany^[24] and was followed by a tour in Europe in February and March 2011.

Wilde's twelfth studio album, Snapshots, was released on 26 August 2011 and features cover versions of songs hand-picked from the last five decades. A double release of "It's Alright" and "Sleeping Satellite" was released on 19 August as the lead single. Two further singles failed to reach the chart. Kim toured in support of the album in Germany in March 2012.

Impact and recognition[link]

Kim Wilde holds the record for being the most-charted British solo female act of the 1980s, with seventeen UK Top 40 hit singles throughout the decade (including her duets with Junior Giscombe and Mel Smith).^{[citation needed]}

A number of artists have performed covers of Kim Wilde songs, ranging from pop and rock to dance and death metal versions. In 1991, Lawnmower Deth released their version of "Kids in America" as a single.^[25] The same year, English punk rock band Toy Dolls recorded a parody of "Kids in America" called "The Kids in Tyne and Wear" on their seventh studio album, Fat Bob's Feet. In 1995, indie rock band The Muffs recorded "Kids in America", which was featured in the hit film Clueless. In 2000, Canadian band Len covered "Kids in America" for the Digimon soundtrack.^{[citation needed]} American pop star Tiffany recorded a version of "Kids in America" in 2007 for her album I Think We're Alone Now: '80s Hits and More. German eurodance act Cascada, recorded a version of "Kids in America", on their Everytime We Touch album in 2007. Other famous artists to cover Kim Wilde songs are Apoptygma Berzerk, Atomic Kitten, Bloodhound Gang, James Last and Lasgo.

Wilde has provided inspiration for other artists, including Charlotte Hatherley, who wrote a song about her entitled "Kim Wilde", and included it on her debut album, Grey Will Fade. East German punk rock band Feeling B also recorded a song called "Kim Wilde", which featured on their debut album. In 1985, French singer Laurent Voulzy paid tribute to Wilde in his song "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" ("Nights Without Kim Wilde"). In her graphic novel Persepolis, Iranian cartoonist Marjane Satrapi has a comic strip titled Kim Wilde. In it the main character Marji, a young Iranian girl, sings "Kids in America" in the streets of the Iranian capital. Also, when her parents go on holiday in Turkey, they buy a poster of Kim Wilde and smuggle it into Tehran for Marji. Marji pins the poster on her bedroom's wall and practices emulating Wilde.^[26]

Awards[link]

• 1996 RSH-GOLD Female Classic of 1995 (Germany)
• 1993 Bambi Award for "The Singles Collection" (Germany)
• 1990 Diamond Award (Netherlands)
• 1988 European Platinum Award as female singer who sold the most records across Europe (she shared this award with equally successful 80s singer Sandra)^{[citation needed]}
• 1984 Golden Otto Best Singer (Germany)
• 1983 BRIT Awards - Best British Female Solo Artist (UK)^[2]
• 1983 Silver Otto Second Best Singer (Germany)
• 1982 Silver Otto Second Best Singer (Germany)
• 1981 Golden Otto Best Singer (Germany)
• 1981 Rockbjörnen - Best female singer (Sweden)

Gardening career[link]

During her first pregnancy, an old interest in gardening resurfaced and she attended the famous Capel Manor college to learn about horticulture, so as to create a garden for her children. As a celebrity, she was asked by Channel 4 to act as a designer for their programme Better Gardens.^[27] A year later, she started a two year commitment with the BBC, recording two series of Garden Invaders.^[28]

In 2001, she (along with fellow horticulturist David Fountain) created the "All about Alice" garden for the Tatton Flower Show and was awarded the 'Best Show Garden' award.^[29] In 2005, she won a Gold award for her courtyard garden at the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show.^[30] She has designed and created numerous gardens during her involvement in the Better Gardens and Garden Invaders TV programmes and commissioned by individuals and organisations. She has also created gardens for Flower Shows across the UK and received, with David Fountain, an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for successfully moving (from Belgium) and replanting the world's largest tree in January 2001.^[31] After standing in its new location for six years, however, the tree was toppled by a storm in January 2007.^[32]

Publications[link]

Wilde has written two books within her gardening career. The first, Gardening with Children, was released on 4 April 2005 by Collins publishers.^[33] Translations of the book were released at the same time in Spain, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, and later in Germany.^{[34][citation needed]} Her second book, The First-Time Gardener, was released on 3 April 2006 (again by Collins), and is a beginner's guide to gardening.^[35]

Television[link]

Wilde broadened her eco-friendly image by taking on advertising jobs for various 'green' companies. For two years, she featured on adverts for the highstreet health food shop Holland & Barrett. She wrote infomercials for Bold^[36] and Timotei,^[37] and in 2008, she started advertising 'green kitchens' for Magnet.^[38]

Personal life[link]

On 1 September 1996, Wilde married her co-star in Tommy, Hal Fowler, and expressed a desire to have children as soon as possible.^[39] On 3 January 1998 she gave birth to Harry Tristan.^[40] Two years later, on 13 January 2000, Rose Elisabeth was born.^[41][42]

As of 2008, her brother Marty Wilde Jr. is a landscape gardener^[43] and her sister, Roxanne, is a backing singer for Kylie Minogue.^[44]

Discography[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Gardening with Children (2005)
• The First-Time Gardener (2006)

References[link]