Ben Miller


Ben Miller


Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English comedian, actor and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. He is also known for his roles as DI Richard Poole in the BBC crime drama series Death in Paradise and James Lester in the ITV sci-fi series Primeval.

Early life

Bennet Evan Miller was born in London on 24 February 1966, the son of Welsh mother Marion and English father Michael Miller. He grew up in Nantwich, Cheshire. His father taught American literature at the City of Birmingham Polytechnic. His maternal grandfather was a Lithuanian immigrant. His paternal grandfather was a tailor in the East End of London, while his paternal great-grandmother taught English at South Cheshire College. He has two younger sisters, Leah and Bronwen. He is a distant cousin of Abraham Lincoln.

Miller was educated at Malbank School and Sixth Form College in Nantwich before studying Natural Sciences at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate, he participated in theatre with his then-girlfriend, actress Rachel Weisz. He remained at Cambridge to read for a PhD in solid state physics, with his proposed thesis, Novel quantum effects in low-temperature quasi-zero-dimensional mesoscopic electron systems. He abandoned his thesis to pursue a career in comedy. His interest in comedy began when a friend asked him to help chauffeur the judges of the National Student Drama Festival, which was being held that year in Cambridge. Having already finished his degree, he joined the Footlights in 1989 and worked with Andy Parsons, David Wolstencroft, and Sue Perkins before he directed a revue.

Career

Miller moved to London to pursue a career in comedy. He was introduced to fellow Cambridge graduate Alexander Armstrong in 1992, at the TBA Sketch Comedy Group, a comedy club which ran at the Gate Theatre Studio, Notting Hill throughout the 1990s. They performed their first full-length show together at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994 and returned in 1996, when they were nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award.

Their success resulted in the commission of the television series Armstrong and Miller, which ran for four series from 1997 to 2001 – one on the Paramount Comedy Channel and three on Channel 4. In 1998, the duo also had their own radio show with the same name on BBC Radio 4, which featured many of the sketches and characters from their TV series. After a six-year break, the show was recommissioned for Hat Trick Productions as The Armstrong & Miller Show and three series have been produced. In 2008, they also had a second radio show, Children's Hour with Armstrong and Miller.

Miller also started acting in films, starring in Steve Coogan's first feature film, The Parole Officer (2001). In 2003 he played the role of Bough, sidekick to Rowan Atkinson's title character, in the film Johnny English. In 2004 he co-starred in the romantic comedy The Prince and Me.

In 2004 and 2005, he starred in two series of the BBC television series The Worst Week of My Life, with Sarah Alexander. In 2006 he took part in a three-part Christmas special, The Worst Christmas of My Life. He starred as James Peregrine Lester in ITV's 2007 sci-fi drama Primeval and as Mr Jonathan in the Australian film Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance.

He and Alexander Armstrong formed a production company named Toff Media in 2007. The company was dissolved in 2023.

Miller provided the voice for the ITV Digital and now PG Tips Monkey in a popular series of television advertisements featuring Johnny Vegas. In 2008, he appeared as television producer Jonathan Pope in Tony Jordan's series Moving Wallpaper on ITV1 and starred in Thank God You're Here.

In 2009, Miller appeared with Rob Brydon in an episode of QI (Series 6. 9). The two have often been mistaken for each other, and as a joke they dressed in similar shirts for the episode and shared an on-screen kiss.

In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the film Huge.

In January 2011 he presented an episode of the BBC science series Horizon titled "What is One Degree?". Later in 2011 he reprised his role as James Lester in the TV series Primeval. From November 2011 he played the role of Louis Harvey in The Ladykillers at the Gielgud Theatre.

On 23 July 2012, Miller began touring for his book, It's Not Rocket Science, from the Royal Society in London. He also appeared at the British Comedy Awards with Armstrong on Channel 4. In 2013, Miller took part in an episode of Room 101 and a Comic Relief special of game show Pointless. On 13 December 2014, he appeared in a Christmas edition of The Celebrity Chase.

From 2011 until the series three premiere in 2014, Miller starred in the BBC-French co-produced series Death in Paradise as Detective Inspector (DI) Richard Poole. A third series of Death in Paradise was commissioned for early 2014. On 9 April 2013 it was announced that Miller would be departing the series, to be replaced by actor Kris Marshall. Filming began in March 2013, and Miller left in May after completion of the first episode, in which his character was murdered. Miller reprised his role for a cameo appearance in a dream sequence during the tenth series in 2021.

Miller explained he had personal reasons for the change: "It was the job of a lifetime, but logistically I just didn't feel I could continue. My personal circumstances just made it too complicated, but I will miss it like a lung. I love it here." Miller's wife had discovered she was pregnant after he had begun filming the first series. Their time apart caused strains on his relationship with her and their sons, so he wanted to spend more time with his family.

In 2014, Miller appeared in the feature film Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism. He also appeared with Billy Connolly and David Tennant in the film What We Did on Our Holiday. Miller guest starred in Doctor Who as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the third episode: "Robot of Sherwood".

Starring opposite Nancy Carroll and Diana Vickers, Miller played Robert Houston in the play The Duck House by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash. The show is a political satire based on the UK parliamentary expenses scandal.

In 2015, following the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, Miller starred as King John in Series 6 of Horrible Histories.

Since October 2015, Miller along with Ruth Jones and Will Close, appears in adverts for British supermarket Tesco as Roger with Jones as his wife Jo and Close as their son Freddie. In 2016, Miller co-presented the ITV entertainment series It's Not Rocket Science alongside Rachel Riley and Romesh Ranganathan.

In February 2016 Miller issued a book, accompanied by a lecture tour, entitled The Aliens are Coming!, examining the question "are we alone in the universe?" That year, Miller played the role of Murray in the six-part BBC sitcom I Want My Wife Back, starring alongside Caroline Catz. In 2016 he appeared in the Channel 4 comedy Power Monkeys.

In 2018 he returned to the role of 'Bough', sidekick again to Rowan Atkinson's title character, in the film Johnny English Strikes Again. In September of that same year he played the role of Wolf Hall on the BBC sitcom Upstart Crow.

In November 2022, Miller released his seventh children's book Secrets of a Christmas Elf.

Personal life

Miller dated actress Rachel Weisz while they were both studying at Cambridge University during the early 1990s. He married actress Belinda Stewart-Wilson in 2004, and they had a son (born 2006) together before divorcing in 2011. He married production executive Jessica Parker, the daughter of musician Alan Parker, in September 2013; they have a son (born 2011) and daughter (born June 2015) together.

Miller plays the guitar and drums. He has been diagnosed with OCD.

Awards

Miller was awarded a Judges' Commendation for his portrayal of Hamlet at the 1990 National Student Drama Festival. He co-wrote MindGym, winner of the first BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award for comedy in 1998, with Tim Wright and Adam Gee. He and Armstrong won a BCA Award for The Armstrong and Miller Show. In 2010 they also won a BAFTA for The Armstrong and Miller Show.

In 2021, with the cast of Bridgerton, Miller received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Books

  • It's Not Rocket Science (2014) Sphere ISBN 978-0-7515-4500-5
  • The Aliens Are Coming!: The Exciting and Extraordinary Science Behind Our Search for Life in the Universe (2017) Sphere ISBN 978-0-7515-4504-3
  • The Night I Met Father Christmas (2018) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-4711-7153-6
  • The Boy Who Made the World Disappear (2019) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-4711-7266-3
  • The Day I Fell into a Fairytale (2020) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-4711-9243-2
  • How I Became a Dog called Midnight (2021) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-4711-9248-7
  • Diary of a Christmas Elf (2021) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-39850183-6
  • How I Became a Dog Called Midnight (2022) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-47119246-3
  • The Night We Got Stuck in a Story (2022) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1-47119249-4
  • Secrets of a Christmas Elf (2022) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1398515819
  • Once Upon a Legend (2023) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1398515871
  • Diary of a Big Bad Wolf (2024) Simon and Schuster ISBN 978-1398530362

Filmography

Film

Television

Filmmaking credits

References

External links

  • The Armstrong & Miller Show official website
  • Ben Miller at IMDb
  • Ben Miller at British Comedy Guide
  • Ben Miller hands out his very own BAFTAs

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Ben Miller by Wikipedia (Historical)



 
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