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''.
Early life and education
Miller was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
, 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. The son of an immigrant father, Ben's father Michael Miller was a lecturer in
American literature 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. 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, 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,
David Wolstencroft 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,
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 Ma ...
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 and three on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
. 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 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 Prince and Me''.
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 ''
...