Rowan Atkinson's Real Name: Rowan Sebastian Atkinson

Quick answer: Rowan Atkinson's real name is Rowan Sebastian Atkinson. He was born on January 6, 1955, in Newcastle upon Tyne / Consett area of County Durham, England, and is best known as Mr. Bean.

Birth name and education

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born to Eric Atkinson and Ella May Atkinson and raised in northeastern England. He studied electrical engineering at Newcastle University and continued at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he performed with the Oxford Revue—launching a comedy career alongside writers such as Richard Curtis (Britannica; Biography.com).

He uses his full birth names professionally; "Rowan Atkinson" is not an invented surname.

Blackadder and Mr. Bean

Atkinson starred in BBC sitcoms written with Ben Elton and Richard Curtis: The Black Adder (1983) and its sequels through Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), playing variants of the scheming Edmund Blackadder. He then created the nearly silent physical-comedy character Mr. Bean for Thames Television (ITV) beginning in 1990; the series, holiday specials, and films Bean (1997) and Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007) made the character a global brand (Britannica; Biography.com).

Other screen work

He played clumsy secret agent Johnny English in a film trilogy, voiced Zazu in the 2019 Lion King remake, and appeared in period dramas such as The Witches (1990) and Keeping Mum. Stage and sketch roots also include Not the Nine O'Clock News. Atkinson has spoken publicly about preferring privacy; he continues selective film and Bean-related projects.

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