30 Facts About Jonathan Miller

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician.

Jonathan Miller grew up in St John's Wood, London, in a well-connected Jewish family.

Jonathan Miller's father Emanuel, who was of Lithuanian descent and suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis, was a military psychiatrist and subsequently a paediatric psychiatrist at Harley House.

Jonathan Miller's mother, Betty Miller, was a novelist and biographer who was originally from County Cork, Ireland.

Jonathan Miller had an elder sister, Sarah who worked in television for many years and retained an involvement with Judaism that Jonathan Miller, as an atheist, always eschewed.

The young Jonathan Miller was brought for assessment to several child psychiatrists, including Donald Winnicott.

Jonathan Miller moved between several different schools prior to attending Taunton School, including for a time at the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley where he was taught by two of Ivy Compton-Burnett's sisters and says of that time that he "never learnt anything at all".

Jonathan Miller concluded his secondary school education at St Paul's School, London where he developed an early interest in the biological sciences.

Jonathan Miller studied natural sciences and medicine at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Cambridge Apostles and one of cast's three Granta cartoonist, before going on to train at University College Hospital in London.

Jonathan Miller helped to write and produce the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1960.

Jonathan Miller quit the show shortly after its move from London to Broadway in 1962, and took over as editor and presenter of the BBC's arts programme Monitor in 1965.

The Monitor appointment arose because Jonathan Miller had approached Huw Wheldon about taking up a place on the BBC's director training course.

Jonathan Miller wrote, produced, and directed an adaptation for television of Alice in Wonderland for the BBC.

Jonathan Miller produced a National Theatre Company production of The Merchant of Venice starring Sir Laurence Olivier.

Jonathan Miller held a research fellowship in the history of medicine at University College London from 1970 to 1973.

Jonathan Miller's other turns as an opera director included productions of Rigoletto and the operetta The Mikado.

Jonathan Miller drew upon his own experiences as a physician as writer and presenter of the BBC television series The Body in Question, which caused some controversy for showing the dissection of a cadaver.

In 1980, Jonathan Miller was persuaded to join the troubled BBC Television Shakespeare project.

Jonathan Miller became producer and directed six of the plays himself, beginning with a well received Taming of the Shrew starring John Cleese.

Jonathan Miller wrote and presented the BBC television series, and accompanying book, States of Mind in 1983 and the same year directed Roger Daltrey as Macheath, the outlaw hero of the BBC's production of John Gay's 1728 ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera.

Jonathan Miller became chair of Edinburgh Festival Fringe board of directors.

In 2004, Miller wrote and presented a television series on atheism entitled Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief for BBC Four, exploring the roots of his own atheism and investigating the history of atheism in the world.

Jonathan Miller appeared on a BBC Two programme in February 2004, called What the World Thinks of God appearing from New York.

In 2007, Jonathan Miller directed The Cherry Orchard at The Crucible, Sheffield, his first work on the British stage for 10 years.

Jonathan Miller directed Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in Manchester and Bristol, and Der Rosenkavalier in Tokyo and gave talks throughout Britain during 2007 called An Audience with Jonathan Miller in which he spoke about his life for an hour and then fielded questions from the audience.

Jonathan Miller curated an exhibition on camouflage at the Imperial War Museum.

Jonathan Miller appeared at the Royal Society of the Arts in London discussing humour and at the British Library on religion.

In January 2009, after a break of 12 years, Jonathan Miller returned to the English National Opera to direct his own production of La boheme, notable for its 1930s setting.

On 27 November 2019, Jonathan Miller died at the age of 85, following a long battle with Alzheimer's.

Over four decades, Jonathan Miller has directed more than 50 operas in cities including London, New York, Florence, Milan, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Valencia and Tokyo.