World star without many words: More than just Mr. Bean: Rowan Atkinson turns 70

Thick black eyebrows, including two big eyes and a long nose: Rowan Atkinson’s facial features, who turns 70 this Monday, are probably familiar to every child almost everywhere in the world.

The qualified electrical engineer owes this primarily to the character of Mr. Bean. The comedy sketches of the same name first aired in Great Britain in 1990 and quickly conquered the globe.

The clumsy bachelor, whose childish nature always gets him into new trouble, manages almost entirely without words. To achieve this, the Englishman uses his facial expressions in a way that is second to none. The result is that “Mr. Bean” is understandable across language and cultural boundaries.

“He thought I was this total asshole”

There aren’t many places in the world where he isn’t recognized, Atkinson once confessed on BBC television in the “Graham Norton Show.” But the most difficult thing is when people are not sure who they are looking at. “That means they stare. They stare a lot,” Atkinson said.

This once caused him a bizarre situation while waiting in a car spare parts warehouse. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a spitting image of Mr. Bean?” a man asked him after looking at him for a while.

But the man refused to accept his assurances that he was actually the actor playing Mr. Bean. “The more I tried to convince him that I was the person he thought I looked like, the less he believed me,” Atkinson said. Eventually he had to end the conversation because the man became increasingly angry. “He thought I was this total prick who just looked a little like Mr. Bean and walked around pretending to be Mr. Bean.”

He achieved cult status with “Blackadder”

Rowan Atkinson had long been a star in his home country when Mr. Bean was invented. He became famous for the comedy show “Not the Nine O’Clock News” with socially critical sketches, which was broadcast from 1979 to 1982.

He achieved cult status with the historical slapstick series “Blackadder” (first broadcast from 1983 to 1989). Each of the four seasons takes place in a different historical period: the Wars of the Roses (15th century), the time of Queen Elizabeth I (16th century), the late 18th century and the First World War.

Atkinson plays the cynical Edmund Blackadder, who returns in new reincarnations as his own descendant and, together with his usually bumbling sidekick Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and a cunning plan, tries to gain an advantage, but usually fails miserably.

The episodes are peppered with sharp-tongued and sometimes dark humor. The German dubbed version was shown on 3sat. The supporting cast included Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who later appeared as Dr. House made an international career.

Privately, Atkinson is interested in one thing above all else

With the film series “Johnny English”, a James Bond satire, Atkinson finally slipped into another role. In three successful films he plays a completely incompetent spy who steps into every faux pas that comes his way. A fourth film is reportedly in the works.

In his private life, Atkinson, who is married for the second time, is primarily interested in one thing: cars. According to reports, he has a sizable fleet of rare and valuable cars – including some made in Germany.

Atkinson is also always offensive

In 2023 he admitted to having bought electric cars early on. “I love electric cars,” he wrote in a guest article in the Guardian. Nevertheless, he was disillusioned by the lifespan of the batteries and the ecological balance of the electric cars, which are significantly reduced by the manufacturing process and the high weight. He recommended that readers stick with their gasoline engine for the time being, which drew criticism.

His support for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had made fun of Muslim women wearing face veils (niqabs) that only leave a slit for their eyes, was also not entirely well received. The politician had to listen to accusations of racism.

However, Atkinson found that Johnson’s joke about calling them “letterboxes” was a good one and promoted the right to criticize religions. His humor credo is: “If people are bothered by it, it’s their problem, not yours.”