Adrian Charles Edmondson Bio
Adrian Charles Edmondson (born 24 January 1957) is an English actor, comedian, musician, writer and television presenter who rose to fame during the early 1980s alternative comedy movement. Alongside Rik Mayall, he starred in The Young Ones and later created and performed in Bottom and The Comic Strip Presents… He directed and co-wrote Guest House Paradiso and has appeared in a wide range of television series including EastEnders and Holby City. He is also involved in music and film projects, with a career spanning from the 1980s to the present day.
Early Life and Background
Adrian Charles Edmondson was born on 24 January 1957 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was the second of four children born to Dorothy Eileen Sturgeon and Fred Edmondson. As a child, Edmondson lived with his family in various locations including Cyprus, Bahrain, and Uganda, where his father worked as a teacher in the British Armed Forces.
Edmondson attended Pocklington School in East Riding of Yorkshire from 1968 to 1975, from age 11 to 18. In interviews, he has stated that he did not enjoy his time at the school and that he received 66 strokes of the cane during his school years. By the time he was in sixth form, with his parents working abroad, he began to enjoy himself more, describing it as involving drinking and petty acts of vandalism.
Edmondson went on to study drama at the University of Manchester, where he met his future comedy partner Rik Mayall. The two became best friends during their university years. While at Manchester, they also met fellow student Ben Elton and became involved in the growing alternative comedy genre. Both graduated with a BA degree in 1978.
Path to Comedy
After graduating from university, Edmondson and Mayall began performing comedy together under the name 20th Century Coyote. They became one of the star attractions at The Comedy Store and joined other upcoming comedians including Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Alexei Sayle, and French and Saunders at The Comic Strip club. The Comic Strip soon gained a reputation as one of the most popular comedy clubs in London and came to the attention of Channel 4.
Edmondson and Mayall created the double act The Dangerous Brothers, with Edmondson playing Sir Adrian Dangerous. The act appeared on Saturday Live from 1985 to 1987. In 1985, Edmondson also starred with his wife Jennifer Saunders in Happy Families, a rural comedy drama written by Ben Elton for the BBC.
Adrian Charles Edmondson Career
Early Career (1980s)
In 1982, Channel 4 commissioned The Comic Strip Presents…, a series of self-contained half-hour comedy films featuring the group as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. The debut episode Five Go Mad in Dorset aired on 2 November 1982. Following this success, the BBC signed Edmondson, Mayall, and others to star in The Young Ones, an anarchic sitcom featuring violent slapstick and crude humour that ran from 1982 to 1984.
In 1986, Edmondson achieved a UK number one hit on the singles chart when he and his co-stars from The Young Ones teamed up with Cliff Richard to record a new version of Living Doll for the inaugural Comic Relief campaign. Despite having been killed off in the final episode of The Young Ones, Edmondson reprised his role as Vyvyan for the music video. That same year, he co-wrote the book How to Be a Complete Bastard.
Breakthrough (1990s)
In 1990, Edmondson played Brad Majors in the West End run of The Rocky Horror Show alongside Tim McInnerny as Frank-N-Furter. In 1991, he teamed with his comedy partner Rik Mayall once more to co-write and co-star in Bottom, a sitcom featuring the slapstick and crude humour the pair had become famous for, but with more in-depth character analysis. Edmondson starred as Edward Elizabeth Hitler opposite Mayalls Richard Richard.
The same year, Edmondson played Estragon to Mayalls Vladimir in Samuel Becketts play Waiting for Godot in the West End at the Queens Theatre. Bottom became very popular and was turned into five UK stage tours between 1993 and 2003. In 1993, Edmondson starred alongside Richard Briers in the black comedy If You See God, Tell Him. In 1995, he released his first comic novel, The Gobbler.
Notable Works and Milestones
Edmondsons career-defining work includes The Young Ones, which established him as a leading figure of the alternative comedy movement, and Bottom, which he co-created and co-wrote with Mayall. He directed and co-wrote the comedy feature film Guest House Paradiso in 1999. His television appearances have ranged from the anarchic sitcoms of the 1980s and 1990s to dramatic roles in series such as Jonathan Creek, Holby City, and EastEnders.
Later Career (2000s–2020s)
In the 2000s, Edmondson appeared regularly as Brendan Baxter in Series 4 of Jonathan Creek and played Percy Abra Durant in the medical drama Holby City from 2005 to 2008. He competed on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy in 2005 and reached the final, finishing in third place. In 2009, he reached the final of Hell’s Kitchen, finishing second to Linda Evans.
In 2011, Edmondson won the BBC One cookery series Celebrity MasterChef. That same year, he hosted the ITV documentary series The Dales and presented Ade in Britain, travelling to different parts of the United Kingdom. A second series of Ade in Britain followed in 2013. In 2014, Edmondson presented Ade at Sea, a factual programme for ITV, and played DCI Warner in the three-part mini-series Prey.
Edmondsons film appearances include a role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, playing Captain Peavey. The films director Rian Johnson was a self-proclaimed fan of Edmondsons work. In 2017 and 2018, he played Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Companys production of Twelfth Night. In 2019, he appeared in EastEnders as Daniel Cook. In 2022, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in the Royal Shakespeare Companys adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Music Career
Edmondson has maintained an active music career throughout his professional life. In 1984, he formed the spoof heavy metal band Bad News as part of The Comic Strip Presents… series with Mayall, Nigel Planer, and Peter Richardson. The band released two studio albums and performed at the Monsters of Rock festival in 1986. In 1991, he formed the Bum Notes, a jazz instrumental band created to perform theme music for Bottom.
In 2006 and 2007, Edmondson performed vocals with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band during their reformation and countrywide tour. Together with other musicians, he founded the Bad Shepherds in 2008, performing punk and new wave classics on traditional folk instruments. The band released three albums and headlined the first ever Looe Music Festival in 2011 before disbanding in October 2016. In 2010, he founded the Idiot Bastard Band with Simon Brint, Rowland Rivron, Neil Innes, and Phill Jupitus.
Adrian Charles Edmondson Family
Edmondson has three daughters with his wife Jennifer Saunders, including musician Ella Edmondson and actress Beattie Edmondson. His autobiography Berserker!: An Autobiography was published by Pan Macmillan in September 2023. His father Fred Edmondson died in 2014.
Personal Life
Adrian Charles Edmondson married comedian Jennifer Saunders on 11 May 1985. The couple met while both were involved in the alternative comedy scene and have worked together on several projects over the years. Edmondson is a supporter of Exeter City Football Club. In September 2023, he was the guest for BBC Radio 4s Desert Island Discs, where he discussed his life and career and selected his favourite music, books, and luxury items.