Biography

Is co-writer of the Queen Musical 'We Will Rock You' with the band itself.

His comedy, "Popcorn", performed at the Apollo Theatre, was awarded the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Comedy of the 1997 season.

Already a successful comedian, Ben Elton turned to writing situation comedies during the 1980s and penned BBC classics such as The Young Ones (1982), Blackadder II (1986), Blackadder the Third (1987), Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) and during the 1990s The Thin Blue Line (1995).

His musical, "We Will Rock You", based on the music of the rock group Queen, is performed nightly at the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He provided lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical, "The Beautiful Game", which was nominated for Best Musical at the Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards in 2001 (2000 season).

I found a fan's internet site on me in which he got almost everything wrong, including I'd changed my name. I was born Benjamin Elton. My father's family were German Jews who adopted British nationality after the War and my uncle, who served in the British Army, changed his name, under Army instructions, from the Jewish Eronberg to Elton because he wanted the same initials. My father said, "Bugger it, I want to be an Elton too", and changed from Ludwig Eronberg to Lewis Elton. That's the story, not something you pick up on a fan site that comes with so-called "fame".

I can do without the Labour Party trying to strut its funky stuff. I didn't vote Labour because they've heard of Oasis.

[on the fashion industry] Women who don't look like women modelling clothes that don't look like clothes.

[in 2005] The problem really with politics is apathy I think, particularly the Labour Party. I mean, I'm a member and I can't even be arsed to leave!

I once was lucky enough to meet a young lady by the name of Helen Stone who said to me "you are a bloke who don't look like a bloke. saying words which don't sound like they're funny..." that made me laugh a lot.