Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo
Armstrong and Miller
Armstrong and Miller are an English comedy double act consisting of the actor-comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller. They have performed in two eponymous television sketch shows, the satirical ''Timeghost'' podcast, and many individual ...
. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of
DI Richard Poole in the first two series of the BBC crime drama ''
Death in Paradise'', and for portraying James Lester in the ITV science-fiction series ''
Primeval
Primeval may refer to:
* Primeval forest, an area of forest that has attained great age
* Primeval number, a positive integer satisfying certain conditions
* Primeval history, name given by biblical scholars to the first eleven chapters of the Bo ...
''.
Early life and education
Miller was born in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England and grew up in
Nantwich
Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
. The son of an immigrant father, Ben's father Michael Miller was a lecturer in
American literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
at the
City of Birmingham Polytechnic; and his mother Marion was from Wales. His paternal grandfather was a
Lithuanian tailor who emigrated to the UK and lived in London's East End. His paternal great-grandmother, Rose Elizabeth Lincoln, taught English at
South Cheshire College. He has two younger sisters, Leah and Bronwen.
Miller was educated at
Malbank School and Sixth Form College, his local comprehensive school in
Nantwich
Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
, Cheshire. He read
Natural Sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
at
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...
. As an undergraduate, he participated in theatre with
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970 ) is an English actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a BAFTA Award.
Weisz began acting in British stage and television in the ...
, and also dated her.
[This much I know: Ben Miller](_blank)
''The Observer'', 24 February 2008 He remained at Cambridge to read for a PhD in
solid state physics
Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...
, with his proposed thesis titled ''Novel quantum effects in low-temperature
quasi-zero-dimensional mesoscopic
Mesoscopic physics is a subdiscipline of condensed matter physics that deals with materials of an intermediate size. These materials range in size between the nanoscale for a quantity of atoms (such as a molecule) and of materials measuring micr ...
electron systems.''
He abandoned completion of his thesis to pursue a career in comedy.
Miller's interest in comedy began when a friend asked him to help ferry around the judges of the
National Student Drama Festival
The UK based National Student Drama Festival (NSDF) was founded in 1956 with the purpose of creating new art, new artists and new communities. It also runs a charity aimed at empowering young artists. The NSDF is targeted towards people age ...
, which was being held that year in Cambridge.
Having already finished his undergraduate degree, he joined the
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University.
History
Footlights' inaugural ...
in 1989, working with
Andy Parsons
Andrew John Parsons (born 30 November 1966) is an English comedian and writer. He regularly appeared on ''Mock the Week'' from Series 3 to Series 14. With comedy partner Henry Naylor, he has written and presented nine series of ''Parsons and Na ...
,
David Wolstencroft
David Wolstencroft (born 16 July 1969), is an American-born British screenwriter and author. He is best known as creator of the BAFTA award-winning TV spy drama '' Spooks'' and its spin-off series, '' Spooks: Code 9''.
Early life
Wolstencroft wa ...
and
Sue Perkins, and went on to direct a revue.
Career
Miller moved to London to pursue a career in comedy.
[The Armstrong & Miller Show – Armstrong and Miller](_blank)
BBC Press Office – 12 October 2007 He was introduced to fellow Cambridge graduate
Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show '' Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM.
He is ...
in 1992, at the TBA Sketch Comedy Group, a comedy club which ran at the
Gate Theatre Studio
Gate Theatre Studio, often referred to as simply the Gate Theatre, is a former independent theatre on Villiers Street in London.
History
Founded in October 1925 by Peter Godfrey and his wife Molly Veness, the theatre was originally on the top ...
,
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...
throughout the 1990s. They performed their first full-length show together at the
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
in 1994 and returned in 1996, when they were nominated for the
Perrier Comedy Award
The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...
.
[Star of Primeval and The Armstrong and Miller Show](_blank)
cult.tv
Their success resulted in the commission of the television series ''
Armstrong and Miller
Armstrong and Miller are an English comedy double act consisting of the actor-comedians Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller. They have performed in two eponymous television sketch shows, the satirical ''Timeghost'' podcast, and many individual ...
'', which ran for four series from 1997 to 2001 – one on the
Paramount Comedy Channel
Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...
and three on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. In 1998, the duo also had their own
radio show with the same name on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
, 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
Hat Trick Productions is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London.
History
Hat Trick Productions was founded in 1986 by Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville ...
as ''
The Armstrong & Miller Show
''The Armstrong & Miller Show'' is a British sketch comedy television show produced by Hat Trick Productions for BBC One. It features the double act Armstrong and Miller and a number of notable scriptwriters including Andy Hamilton, co-creato ...
'' 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
Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...
's first feature film, ''
The Parole Officer
''The Parole Officer'' is a 2001 British comedy film, directed by John Duigan. The film follows a diverse group of former criminals as they assist their probation officer in proving his innocence after a murder accusation.
Plot
Simon Garden ...
'' (2001). In 2003 he played the role of Bough, sidekick to
Rowan Atkinson's title character, in the film ''
Johnny English
''Johnny English'' is a 2003 spy comedy film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and William Davies. It is a British-French venture produced by StudioCanal and Working Title Films, and distributed by Universal Pi ...
''. In 2004 he co-starred in ''
The Prince and Me
''The Prince & Me'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Julia Stiles, Luke Mably and Ben Miller, with Miranda Richardson, James Fox and Alberta Watson. The film focuses on Paige Morgan, a pre-med co ...
''.
In 2004 and 2005, he starred in two series of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
In 2006 he took part in a three-part Christmas special, ''The Worst Christmas of My Life''. He starred as
''.
. In 2008, he appeared as television producer Jonathan Pope in
''. In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the film ''
. Later in 2011 he reprised his role as James Lester in the TV series ''
''. From November 2011 he played the role of Louis Harvey in ''
.
On 23 July 2012, Miller began touring for his book, ''It's Not Rocket Science,'' from
in London. He also appeared at the
. In 2013, Miller took part in an episode of ''
''. On 13 December 2014, he appeared in a Christmas edition of ''
...