Sir Jonathan (Wolfe) Miller - Early life, The Fringe and beyond, 1970-2000, 2000-present, Honours, Parodies and representations

Actor and director, born in London, UK, He qualified as a doctor at Cambridge, and his career has combined medical research with contributions to stage and television. He came to public attention as part of the Beyond the Fringe team (1961–4), and in 1962 he directed John Osborne's Under Plain Cover at the Royal Court, which led to work in New York City, and an associate directorship of the National Theatre (1973–5), as well as much freelance work. From 1964 to 1965 he was editor and presenter of the BBC Television arts programme, Monitor. From 1974 he specialized in productions for the English National Opera and other major companies, and was artistic director at the Old Vic, London (1988–90). He wrote and presented the BBC television series The Body in Question (1977) and States of Mind (1982), and in 1985 became a research fellow in neuropsychology at Sussex University. He has written several books, including Subsequent Performances (1986). He received a knighthood in 2002.

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born July 21, 1934) is a British physician, theatre and opera director and television presenter.

Early life

Miller grew up in Hampstead in a well-connected Jewish family - his father Emanuel (1892-1970) was a psychiatrist specialising in child development, and his mother Betty (née Spiro) (1910-1965) was a novelist and biographer;

He studied natural sciences and medicine at St John's College at the University of Cambridge and University College London, graduating in 1959 and worked as a hospital doctor for the next two years.

The Fringe and beyond

He was, however, also involved in the university drama society and the Cambridge Footlights and in 1960 he helped write and produce 'Beyond the Fringe' at the Edinburgh Festival which launched the careers of Alan Bennett, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Miller quit the show shortly after its move to New York and took over as editor and presenter of the BBC's flagship arts programme Monitor. In 1966 he wrote, produced and directed a play of Alice in Wonderland for the BBC, and in 1968 Whistle and I'll Come to You, an adaptation of M.

During the later 1960s, he had a major falling-out with the magazine Private Eye that he attributes to implicit anti-semitism.

1970-2000

In the 1970s, he started directing and producing operas for the Kent Opera and Glyndebourne, with a new production of The Marriage of Figaro for English National Opera in 1978.

Most of his work for television has been for the BBC, starting by producing a series of 12 Shakespeare plays between 1980-1982. He also wrote and presented several factual series drawing on his experience as a physician, for example The Body in Question (1978) (which caused some controversy for showing the dissection of a cadaver), States of Mind 1983, Who Cares and Born Talking.

2000-present

In 2004, he wrote and presented a series on atheism, Atheism: A Rough History of Disbelief (on-screen title; but more commonly referred to as Jonathan Miller's Brief History of Disbelief) for BBC Four TV, exploring the roots of his own atheism and investigating the history of atheism in the world.

Honours

He is also an honorary associate of the National Secular Society, and was appointed president of the Rationalist Association in 2006.

He is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1983), a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London and Edinburgh, and a Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Parodies and representations

Miller has been the subject of several parodies:

Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.D., a strange character in the Beatles animated movie Yellow Submarine, is widely believed to be based on Miller. Private Eye (which had a falling-out with Miller) occasionally lampooned him under the name 'Dr Jonathan', depicting him as a Dr Johnson-like self-important man of learning. The satirical television puppet show Spitting Image portrayed Miller as an anteater (lampooning his large nose).

In the film for television Not Only But Always about the careers of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Jonathan Aris played Jonathan Miller as a young man.

Bibliography

Country of publication is the UK, unless stated otherwise

As writer, contributor or editor

Jonathan Miller with Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore (1963). Jonathan Miller (Ed) (1968). Jonathan Miller with Margaret Drabble, Richard Hoggart, Adrian Mitchell, Mary Quant et al. Jonathan Miller (1970). Jonathan Miller (1971). Jonathan Miller (1972). Jonathan Miller (1974). Jonathan Miller (1978). Jonathan Cape. Jonathan Miller (1982). (republished in 2000 as Introducing Darwin and Evolution Icon Books (Faber)) Jonathan Miller (1983). (1994 Jonathan Cape [pop-up book]) Jonathan Miller (1983). — participants include Jerome Bruner, Daniel Dennett, Brian Farrell, Jerry Fodor, Thomas Szasz Jonathan Miller (1984). Jonathan Cape. (pop-up book intended for children) Jonathan Miller (1986). Jonathan Miller with Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore (1987). Jonathan Miller & Jonathan Miller (1990). (The Applause Acting Series) Jonathan Miller (Ed) (1990). Jonathan Miller (1992). — Contributors Jonathan Miller with Stephen Jay Gould, Daniel J Kevles, RC Lewontin, Oliver Sacks Jonathan Miller (1998). Jonathan Cape. [kit / model book] Jonathan Miller (1998). Jonathan Miller (1999). — Essays by Jonathan Miller Geoffrey O'Brien, Charles Rosen, Tom Stoppard and Garry Wills BBC. Jonathan Miller appears on the Puccini and Bach DVDs of this BBC series. Jonathan Miller appears in this one-hour program on the painter BBC. Jonathan Miller has a director's commentary track. Jonathan Miller Biography (working title). Beyond the Fringe...and Beyond: A Critical Biography of Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, Dudley Moore. A Profile of Jonathan Miller.