34 Facts About Alan Bennett

Alan Bennett was born on 9 May 1934 and is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter.

Alan Bennett earned an Academy Award nomination for his film The Madness of King George .

Alan Bennett was born in Leeds and attended Oxford University, where he studied history and performed with the Oxford Revue.

Alan Bennett stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years.

Alan Bennett gave up academia, and turned to writing full time, his first stage play, Forty Years On, being produced in 1968.

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Alan Bennett gained acclaim with his various plays at the Royal National Theatre.

Alan Bennett received his the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Play for Single Spies in 1990.

Alan Bennett then made his breakthrough with the play The Madness of George III in 1992.

Alan Bennett 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.

Alan Bennett won his second Tony Award for Best Play for The History Boys in 2005.

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

Alan Bennett was born on 9 May 1934 in Armley, Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire.

The younger son of a Co-op butcher, Walter, and his wife Lilian Mary, Alan Bennett attended Christ Church, Upper Armley, Church of England School, and then Leeds Modern School .

Alan Bennett has an older brother, Gordon, who is three years his senior.

Alan Bennett learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his national service before applying for a scholarship at Oxford University.

Alan Bennett was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford, from which he graduated with a first-class degree in history.

Alan Bennett remained at the university for several years, where he served as a junior lecturer of Medieval History at Magdalen College, before deciding, in 1960, that he was not suited to being an academic.

Alan Bennett wrote The Lady in the Van based on his experiences with an eccentric woman called Miss Shepherd, who lived on Alan Bennett's driveway in a series of dilapidated vans for more than fifteen years.

Alan Bennett adapted the story again for a 2015 film, with Maggie Smith reprising her role again, and Nicholas Hytner directing again.

Alan Bennett adapted his 1991 play The Madness of George III for the cinema.

Alan Bennett's critically acclaimed The History Boys won three Laurence Olivier Awards in 2005, for Best New Play, Best Actor, and Best Direction, having previously won Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and Evening Standard Awards for Best Actor and Best Play.

Alan Bennett received the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre.

Alan Bennett lived for 40 years on Gloucester Crescent in Camden Town in London but now lives a few minutes' walk away at Primrose Hill with his partner Rupert Thomas, the former editor of The World of Interiors magazine.

Alan Bennett had a long-term relationship with his former housekeeper, Anne Davies, until her death in 2009.

Alan Bennett was raised Anglican and gradually "left it [the Church] over the years".

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In 1988, Alan Bennett declined the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 1996 declined a knighthood.

In September 2005, Alan Bennett revealed that, in 1997, he had undergone treatment for colorectal cancer, and described the illness as a "bore".

Alan Bennett began Untold Stories thinking it would be published posthumously, but his cancer went into remission.

In October 2008, Alan Bennett announced that he was donating his entire archive of working papers, unpublished manuscripts, diaries and books to the Bodleian Library, stating that it was a gesture of thanks repaying a debt he felt he owed to the British welfare state that had given him educational opportunities which his humble family background would otherwise never have afforded.

In September 2015, Alan Bennett endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.

Alan Bennett was made an Honorary Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, in 1987.

Alan Bennett was awarded a D Litt by the University of Leeds in 1990 and an honorary doctorate from Kingston University in 1996.

Alan Bennett has stated that, although he is not a republican, he would never wish to be knighted, saying it would be a bit like having to wear a suit for the rest of his life.

Alan Bennett said he "loosely" based The History Boys on his experiences at the school and his admission to Oxford.