Ben Miller is a comedian, actor, TV writer, and author from the UK. He is probably best known for being one half of the Armstrong and Miller comedy duo (with Alexander Armstrong), and for his popular children’s books.
Here are some facts about Ben Miller.
- Ben Miller was born in London in 1966, and he was raised in Nantwich in Cheshire.
- He went to university at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. He studied Natural Sciences. He was in the same university theatre group as the actress Rachel Weisz.
- Ben Miller began a PhD in solid-state physics, but he decided to pursue a career in comedy instead of completing his thesis.
- In 1989 he joined Footlights (a Cambridge theatrical group) and worked with other soon-to-be-famous comedians such as Andy Parsons and Sue Perkins.
- In 1994, Ben Miller and Alexander Armstrong performed their first full-length comdey show together at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
- The Armstrong and Miller TV comedy sketch show ran from 1997 to 2001.
- In 2003, Ben Miller played the character Bough in the Johnny English movie. He returned to this role in 2018 for the movie Johnny English Strikes Again.
- He starred as Detective Inspector Richard Poole in the Death in Paradise TV show.
- Ben Miller was a guest star in a 2014 episode of Doctor Who. He played the Sheriff of Nottingham in an episode called the Robot of Sherwood.
- He also appeared as King John in the sixth series of Horrible Histories (based on the books by Terry Deary).
- Miller enjoys playing drums and guitars.
- He is distantly related to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th US President.
- Ben Miller’s first book for children was The Night I Met Father Christmas. It was published in 2018.
- Other Ben Miller children’s books include The Boy Who Made the World Disappear, The Day I Fell into a Fairytale, How I Became a Dog Called Midnight, and Diary of a Christmas Elf.
- Ben Miller is very keen on gadgets.
- If he could time travel, he’d go back to the 17th century and see the beginning of science, and the court of Charles II.
- He often loses his keys and his glasses.
- He was didn’t get past the first round when he appeared on the celebrity edition of the game-show Pointless, called Pointless Celebrities.
- Ben Miller played the role of Colonel Lancaster in the film Paddington 2.
- The main characters in three of his books are based on his children. His daughter Lana is in The Day I Fell Into A Fairytale, his son Jackson is in The Night I Met Father Christmas, and his son Harrison is in The Boy Who Made the World Disappear.
- One of his favourite places is Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons because it has fantastic views of the River Severn. He also likes Cirencester Park and Costwold Water Park.
- As a child, he enjoyed reading the Brothers Grimm fairytales because they were creepy.
- He often doesn’t finish the books he starts reading. If he is not interested in what he’s reading after three chapters, he sets it aside and picks up a different book.
- Both of Ben Miller’s parents were English teachers.
- He first met Alexander Armstrong (the other half of the Alexander and Miller comedy duo) on a barge in Chiswick.
- He enjoys writing in coffee shops. He often writes in Triple Two, the cafe on Cricklade Street in Cirencester.
- He enjoys holidaying in Marrakech in Morocco.
- Some of his favourite books include, Rumble in the Jungle by Norman Mailer, Relativity: The Special and General Theory by Albert Einstein, Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin, Cooking for Geeks by Jeff Potter, Genome by Matt Ridley, Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, Serpentine by Philip Pullman.