Biography for
Jonathan Miller (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

21 July 1934, London, England, UK

Birth Name

Jonathan Wolfe Miller

Height

6' 4" (1.93 m)

Spouse

Helen Rachel Collet

(1956 - present) 3 children

Trivia

Was one of the members of the original Beyond the Fringe comedy troupe (with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, among others).

He studied Medicine at Cambridge University in England, and has presented many medical programs on television, including "The Body in Question".

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1983 Queen's Honours List and awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2002 Queen's Birthday Honors List for his services to music and the arts.

Was considered for the roles of Jim Dixon in Lucky Jim (1957) and Fagin in Oliver! (1968).

Became an Associate Member of RADA.

In 1963, won a Special Tony Award, along with his "Beyond the Fringe" co-stars Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore, "for their brilliance which has shattered all the old concepts of comedy," in a show that was recreated in a television version of the same title, Beyond the Fringe (1964) (TV). In 1986, he also received a Tony nomination as Best Director (Play) for a revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night."

Personal Quotes

Some older singers get ossified. They say 'No, I mustn't stand there, Alfredo would not do that' and I always want to reply 'When exactly were you last in touch with Alfredo on this subject?' But if they are young, they will do anything - even act.

I have a simple formula as a director. It's nothing more really than reminding singers of what they know already and have forgotten, a redirecting of their attention to Chekhovian detail - the little, negligible actions which are made considerable. .. So the funny thing is that once I start directing the drama, I don't have to tell them what to do, any more than I have to tell a child to raise its voice at the end of an interrogative sentence.

There are all sorts of tiny movements we make when relating to another person. So when I say, 'What about this little hand movement?' I only have to say it once. They reply, 'Oh, of course! You don't tell us how to do anything: you remind us of what we how to do anyway.'