Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. He also earned an Academy Award nomination for his film ''The Madness of King George'' (1994). In 2005 he received the Society of London Theatre Special Award.

Bennett was born in Leeds and attended Oxford University, where he studied history and performed with the Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years. His collaboration as writer and performer with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook in the satirical revue ''Beyond the Fringe'' at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival brought him instant fame and later a Special Tony Award. He gave up academia, and turned to writing full time, his first stage play, ''Forty Years On'', being produced in 1968. He also became known for writing dramatic monologues ''Talking Heads'' which ran in 1988 and 1999 on BBC1 earning a British Academy Television Award.

Bennett gained acclaim with his various plays at the Royal National Theatre. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Play for ''Single Spies'' in 1990. Next, he made his breakthrough with the play ''The Madness of George III'' in 1992. For this play, he received a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. The following year he staged a theatrical production of the BBC series ''Talking Heads'' in 1992. He continued receiving acclaim for his plays ''The Lady in the Van'' in 1999, ''The History Boys'' in 2004, and ''The Habit of Art'' in 2009. He won his second Tony Award for Best Play for ''The History Boys'' in 2005. The following plays were later adapted into films, ''The Madness of King George'' (1994), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, ''The History Boys'' (2005), and ''The Lady in the Van'' (2015).

Bennett is also known for a wide variety of audio books, including his readings of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Winnie-the-Pooh''. Provided by Wikipedia