Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, CBE (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian, and screenwriter best known for his work on the sitcoms Blackadder and Mr. Bean. Atkinson first came to prominence in the sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–82), and via his participation in The Secret Policeman's Balls from 1979. His other work includes the sitcom The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996).

He was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedians ever, in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians. He has also had cinematic success with his performances in the Mr. Bean movie adaptations Bean and Mr. Bean's Holiday, and also in Johnny English (2003) and its sequel Johnny English Reborn (2011).

Early life and education

Atkinson, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England on 6 January 1955. His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945. His three older brothers are Paul, who died as an infant; Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000; and Rupert. Atkinson was brought up Anglican, and was educated at Durham Choristers School a preparatory school, St. Bees School, and Newcastle University, where he received a degree in Electrical Engineering.

1997

1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter E) of the Gregorian calendar, the 1997th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 997th year of the 2nd millennium, the 97th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1990s decade.

Events

January

Bean

Bean (/ˈbiːn/) is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (alternately Leguminosae) which are used for human or animal food.

Terminology

The term bean originally referred to the seed of the broad or fava bean, but was later expanded to include members of the New World genus Phaseolus, such as the common bean and the runner bean, and the related genus Vigna. The term is now applied generally to many other related plants such as Old World soybeans, peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), vetches, and lupins.

Bean is sometimes used as a synonym of pulse, an edible legume, though the term pulses is more correctly reserved for leguminous crops harvested for their dry grain. The term bean usually excludes crops used mainly for oil extraction (such as soy-beans and pea-nuts), as well as those used exclusively for sowing purposes (such as clover and alfalfa). Leguminous crops harvested green for food, such as snap peas, snow peas, and so on, are not considered beans, and are classified as vegetable crops. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization the term bean should include only species of Phaseolus; however, a strict consensus definition has proven difficult because in the past, several species such as Vigna angularis (azuki bean), mungo (black gram), radiata (green gram), aconitifolia (moth bean)) were classified as Phaseolus and later reclassified. The use of the term bean to refer to species other than Phaseolus thus remains. In some countries, the term bean can mean a host of different species.

Richard Curtis

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, CBE (born 8 November 1956) is an English screenwriter, producer and film director, who was born in New Zealand to Australian parents. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Notting Hill, and Love Actually, as well as the hit sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Vicar of Dibley. He is also the founder of the British charity Comic Relief along with Lenny Henry.

In 2007, Curtis received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, the highest award the British Film Academy can give a filmmaker. Curtis received the BAFTA Humanitarian Award at the 2008 Britannia Awards, for co-creating Comic Relief and contributions to other charitable causes.

Early life and education

Curtis was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Australian parents Glyness S. and Anthony J. Curtis, who was an executive at Unilever. His father was a Czechoslovakian refugee who moved to Australia when aged thirteen. Curtis and his family lived in several different countries during his childhood, including Sweden and the Philippines, before moving to England when he was 11.

Peter MacNicol

Peter MacNicol (born April 10, 1954) is an American actor. He is known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, and David Langley in Bean. For television he is known for the roles of the eccentric lawyer John Cage in the FOX comedy-drama Ally McBeal, as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of action-thriller 24, Alan Birch in the medical drama Chicago Hope, and as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on the CBS crime drama Numb3rs.

Early life

MacNicol was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, the youngest of five children of Barbara Jean (née Gottlich), a homemaker, and John Wilbur Johnson, a corporate executive who became an Episcopal priest later in life. MacNicol began his career studying at the University of Dallas and University of Minnesota. While in Minnesota, he performed in two seasons at the Guthrie Theater. A New York talent agent spotted him and told him to make a move to Manhattan.

Career

MacNicol was cast in the off-Broadway play, Crimes of the Heart. The production eventually moved to Broadway, and he won the Theatre World Award. It was also during this production that a casting agent noticed him and called him in to read for his eventual role in Sophie's Choice. In 1981 he landed the starring role in his first film, Dragonslayer, opposite Sir Ralph Richardson. In 1987, he starred in the Trinity Repertory Company's original production of the stage adaptation of All the King's Men, which first appeared at the Dallas Theater Center. This adaptation was developed with the consultation of the author himself.