He's a comedian, he's an actor, he's British and the whole world knows him as the silent, black­haired character Mr Bean. That's right, Rowan Atkinson.

Atkinson was born in Newcastle, England and was educated at Newcastle University and Oxford. While at Oxford, he met the writer Richard Curtis£¬who was studying there too, and they became friends. Curtis was the opposite of Atkinson. He had great love for words while Atkinson enjoyed nonverbal comedy. Together they began writing comedy reviews for the Oxford Playhouse. Shortly afterwards, Atkinson began appearing in smaller theatres in Edinburgh. After a show at the Hampstead Theatre in 1978, he was offered a part in the BBC series Not the Nine o'clock News. This series got off to a slow start, but soon became a huge success, with Atkinson winning a BAFTA award for his work. However, being a very sensible man, Atkinson saw the whole acting job as a hobby, along with his growing interest in car racing.

Atkinson made his big­screen debut in 1983's unofficial James Bond film Never Say Never Again.That same year Atkinson appeared in the BBC series called Black Adder. The main hero named Edmund, tries unsuccessfully to become King of England after accidentally killing his uncle Richard III during a battle. This was followed by three hugely successful sequels, each set in a different era of England's history. The Black Adder series was voted the Best Comedy Show of the Year in 1990. He then went on to create Mr Bean. A walking disaster, Bean was purely physical comedy, the opposite of Edmund. This character was a huge success and became another national treasure. In 1997 Bean came to the big screen. A few years later, Scooby Doo became a box­office hit in the US in 2002. This was followed by Johnny English in 2003, a funny work of James Bond films.

In his spare time Atkinson collects classic cars and takes part in races. He also writes for the British magazine CAR. He is a very shy man, and has managed to keep his private life, private.