Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller (1934- ), British director and writer, an ex-comedian who became an admired intellectual within the world of theatre. Born in London, he studied medicine at Cambridge University where he was a prominent member of the Cambridge Footlights. With Alan Bennett, Dudley Moore, and Peter Cook, he co-wrote and starred in Beyond the Fringe (1960), an audacious, irreverent, and intelligent revue that has inspired several generations of comedians, including the Monty Python team. It played at the Edinburgh Festival before successful runs in London and New York. However, Miller was to turn his back on comedy to launch a long and high-profile career as a director. He made his debut with Under Plain Cover by John Osborne at the Royal Court Theatre in 1962, going on to direct Michael Hordern in King Lear (1969), and Laurence Olivier in The Merchant of Venice (1970). He was an Associate Director of the National Theatre from 1973 to 1975, and took over the Old Vic theatre for four years from 1986, where he breathed life into revivals such as Andromache (1986) by Racine, and rediscovered lesser-known plays. His productions are usually highly individualistic, often reflecting his interest in psychology and displacing the setting to provide a fresh intellectual or political context to a play. In later years he has also found success directing opera, where large-scale productions have demonstrated the grandness of his vision to even greater effect, notably in The Mikado and Rigoletto for the English National Opera. He has also directed films and television programmes in both Britain and the United States. In 1986, he published Subsequent Performances, outlining the concepts behind his work in the theatre. He was made a CBE in 1983 and knighted in the 2002 Queen’s Birthday Honours.