Alan Bennett Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Alan Bennett Biography

Author and actor Alan Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1934. He attended Leeds Modern School and learned Russian at the Join Services School for Linguists during his National Service, during which he attended Cambridge University. He applied for a scholarship at Oxford University from which he graduated with a first-class degree in History

After some time teaching and studying at Oxford, in 1960 Bennett, along with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, and Peter Cook, achieved instant fame by appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. His first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. Many television, stage and radio plays followed, along with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose and broadcasting, and many appearances as an actor.

Bennett received worldwide recognition with his screen adaptation of his play The Madness of King George III, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He followed this success with The History Boys, which won thee Olivier awards and six Tony awards. In 1997 Bennett revealed that he was being treated for cancer, and, believing it would be published posthumously, he wrote Untold Stories. In fact, his cancer went into remission, enabling him to continue to write and perform.

He lives in London with his partner of over fourteen years, Rupert Thomas.

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