Biography
Alan Bennett is an English playwright, screenwriter and author. Born on 9 May 1934 in Leeds, he studied history at Exeter College, Oxford, and performed with the Oxford Revue. He taught medieval history at the university before achieving fame as a writer and performer in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival alongside Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore.
Bennett turned to writing full time. His first stage play, Forty Years On, was produced in 1968. He is known for plays including The Madness of George III (1991) and The History Boys (2004), both adapted into films, and Allelujah! (2018). His screenplays include The Madness of King George (1994) and The Lady in the Van (2015). He has also written the Talking Heads television monologues and the screenplay for The Choral (2025).
