Jonathan Lynn(I)
- Writer
- Actor
- Director
Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay created and
wrote every episode of the acclaimed BBC political comedy series
Yes Minister (1980) and
Yes, Prime Minister (1986).
The series received numerous accolades including three BAFTA (British
Academy) Awards, two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and two Pye
Television Writers Awards. It also won four BAFTA Awards for the star,
Nigel Hawthorne. Lynn also won the BAFTA
(British Academy) Writers Award. In the US he won the ACE Award for
Best Written Comedy Series on cable television, having also been
nominated the previous year. In addition, for "Yes, Minister" Lynn was
given a Special Award from the Campaign For Freedom Of Information. He
wrote three best-selling books, "The Complete Yes Minister and Yes,
Prime Minister, Volumes 1 and 2" based on the series. All went to #1 on
the London Sunday Times best-seller list. Between them they have sold
over a million copies in hardback, were in the top ten best-sellers for
three years and have been translated into numerous languages. "The
Complete Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Volume 2" were the 2nd
and 3rd British best-sellers of the decade, 1980-1989.
Lynn directed the film
My Cousin Vinny (1992), a
critical and commercial hit in 1992.
Marisa Tomei, discovered in this film, won
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Lynn's 1990 film
Nuns on the Run (1990), which he
also wrote, was a hilarious romp through the landscape of the church,
starring Eric Idle and
Robbie Coltrane. It won the Golden Cane
Award at the Festival de Comedie in Switzerland. His film
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992),
starring Eddie Murphy, was about
the corrupting power of lobbyists in Washington, DC, and exposed the
need for campaign finance reform. Virtually everything in the film has
since come true, and nine years after the release of the film it won a
Special Award from the Political Film Society. It also won the
Environmental Media Award. His other films are
Clue (1985),
Greedy (1994)starring
Michael J. Fox and
Kirk Douglas,
Sgt. Bilko (1996) starring
Steve Martin and
Trial and Error (1997), which was
favorably compared by Gene Siskel and
Roger Ebert to a
Billy Wilder movie. He also directed
The Whole Nine Yards (2000),
a hit comedy with Bruce Willis,
Matthew Perry,
Amanda Peet
Natasha Henstridge, which was #1 at
the US box office for three weeks. He also directed the hit comedy
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
for Paramount and MTV.
Born in Bath, England, Lynn has an MA in Law from Cambridge University.
He never practiced law, but joined a theatre orchestra in London's West
End. His first credit as a writer was
The Internecine Project (1974)
starring James Coburn. His first
novel, "A Proper Man" was published in 1976 and "Mayday", his second
novel, came out in 1993 (Viking/Penguin). In the same year he wrote the
British television film
Life After Life (1992).
He wrote his first two films, "Clue" and "Nuns On The Run", did an
uncredited re-write on "My Cousin Vinny" and has completed a screenplay
based on his novel "Mayday". His stage play "Collaborators" was
produced in London's West End.
Lynn has also enjoyed notable success on the British stage. In 1987 he
directed his own company at the National Theatre of Great Britain,
eventually moving his centenary production of
George Abbott's "Three Men On A
Horse" to the West End. Once there, it won the Olivier Award for Best
Comedy. His 1979 musical "Songbook" won the Society Of West End
Theatres Award and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. From
1977 to 1981 Lynn served as Artistic Director of The Cambridge Theatre
Company, where he produced more than forty plays, directing twenty of
them himself including a "Macbeth" with
Brian Cox that toured both the UK and
India, playing a special performance for the Prime Minister,
Indira Gandhi.
Other notable London productions include
Georges Feydeau's "A Little Hotel On The
Side" at the National Theatre, translated by
John Mortimer, "The Glass
Menagerie" (working with
Tennessee Williams),
George Bernard Shaw's "Arms And The
Man.", Eric Idle's "Pass The Butler",
Joe Orton's "Loot" with
'Leonard
Rossiter' and
Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie"
at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford and London.
An accomplished actor, Lynn began his career at the age of 21 on
Broadway, in the revue "Cambridge Circus", with
John Cleese and
Graham Chapman. His TV debut came on
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in
1964. Returning to England, he was nominated Most Promising New Actor
in the Plays And Players Awards for his first West End performance, in
"Green Julia" (1965). He played leading roles in many British
television films, including
Jack Rosenthal's
'Bar Mitzvah Boy' (1976) (TV) and 'The Knowledge' (1981) (TV), 'Outside Edge' (1982) (TV) and starred in the series Doctor in the House (1969)
and My Brother's Keeper (1975),
which he also wrote.
His stage performances range from playing
Adolf Hitler in the comedy "The Changing
Years" at the Royal Court Theatre to Motel The Tailor in the original
London cast of "Fiddler On The Roof". His film performances include
cameos in
Into the Night (1985),
Three Men and a Little Lady (1990)
and playing Kirk Douglas' butler in
his own film Greedy (1994).
Lynn has an Honorary M.A. from the University of Sheffield and an
Honorary Psy.D. from the American Behavioral Studies Institute. He
lives in New York.
wrote every episode of the acclaimed BBC political comedy series
Yes Minister (1980) and
Yes, Prime Minister (1986).
The series received numerous accolades including three BAFTA (British
Academy) Awards, two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and two Pye
Television Writers Awards. It also won four BAFTA Awards for the star,
Nigel Hawthorne. Lynn also won the BAFTA
(British Academy) Writers Award. In the US he won the ACE Award for
Best Written Comedy Series on cable television, having also been
nominated the previous year. In addition, for "Yes, Minister" Lynn was
given a Special Award from the Campaign For Freedom Of Information. He
wrote three best-selling books, "The Complete Yes Minister and Yes,
Prime Minister, Volumes 1 and 2" based on the series. All went to #1 on
the London Sunday Times best-seller list. Between them they have sold
over a million copies in hardback, were in the top ten best-sellers for
three years and have been translated into numerous languages. "The
Complete Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Volume 2" were the 2nd
and 3rd British best-sellers of the decade, 1980-1989.
Lynn directed the film
My Cousin Vinny (1992), a
critical and commercial hit in 1992.
Marisa Tomei, discovered in this film, won
the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Lynn's 1990 film
Nuns on the Run (1990), which he
also wrote, was a hilarious romp through the landscape of the church,
starring Eric Idle and
Robbie Coltrane. It won the Golden Cane
Award at the Festival de Comedie in Switzerland. His film
The Distinguished Gentleman (1992),
starring Eddie Murphy, was about
the corrupting power of lobbyists in Washington, DC, and exposed the
need for campaign finance reform. Virtually everything in the film has
since come true, and nine years after the release of the film it won a
Special Award from the Political Film Society. It also won the
Environmental Media Award. His other films are
Clue (1985),
Greedy (1994)starring
Michael J. Fox and
Kirk Douglas,
Sgt. Bilko (1996) starring
Steve Martin and
Trial and Error (1997), which was
favorably compared by Gene Siskel and
Roger Ebert to a
Billy Wilder movie. He also directed
The Whole Nine Yards (2000),
a hit comedy with Bruce Willis,
Matthew Perry,
Amanda Peet
Natasha Henstridge, which was #1 at
the US box office for three weeks. He also directed the hit comedy
The Fighting Temptations (2003)
for Paramount and MTV.
Born in Bath, England, Lynn has an MA in Law from Cambridge University.
He never practiced law, but joined a theatre orchestra in London's West
End. His first credit as a writer was
The Internecine Project (1974)
starring James Coburn. His first
novel, "A Proper Man" was published in 1976 and "Mayday", his second
novel, came out in 1993 (Viking/Penguin). In the same year he wrote the
British television film
Life After Life (1992).
He wrote his first two films, "Clue" and "Nuns On The Run", did an
uncredited re-write on "My Cousin Vinny" and has completed a screenplay
based on his novel "Mayday". His stage play "Collaborators" was
produced in London's West End.
Lynn has also enjoyed notable success on the British stage. In 1987 he
directed his own company at the National Theatre of Great Britain,
eventually moving his centenary production of
George Abbott's "Three Men On A
Horse" to the West End. Once there, it won the Olivier Award for Best
Comedy. His 1979 musical "Songbook" won the Society Of West End
Theatres Award and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. From
1977 to 1981 Lynn served as Artistic Director of The Cambridge Theatre
Company, where he produced more than forty plays, directing twenty of
them himself including a "Macbeth" with
Brian Cox that toured both the UK and
India, playing a special performance for the Prime Minister,
Indira Gandhi.
Other notable London productions include
Georges Feydeau's "A Little Hotel On The
Side" at the National Theatre, translated by
John Mortimer, "The Glass
Menagerie" (working with
Tennessee Williams),
George Bernard Shaw's "Arms And The
Man.", Eric Idle's "Pass The Butler",
Joe Orton's "Loot" with
'Leonard
Rossiter' and
Eugene O'Neill's "Anna Christie"
at the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford and London.
An accomplished actor, Lynn began his career at the age of 21 on
Broadway, in the revue "Cambridge Circus", with
John Cleese and
Graham Chapman. His TV debut came on
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) in
1964. Returning to England, he was nominated Most Promising New Actor
in the Plays And Players Awards for his first West End performance, in
"Green Julia" (1965). He played leading roles in many British
television films, including
Jack Rosenthal's
'Bar Mitzvah Boy' (1976) (TV) and 'The Knowledge' (1981) (TV), 'Outside Edge' (1982) (TV) and starred in the series Doctor in the House (1969)
and My Brother's Keeper (1975),
which he also wrote.
His stage performances range from playing
Adolf Hitler in the comedy "The Changing
Years" at the Royal Court Theatre to Motel The Tailor in the original
London cast of "Fiddler On The Roof". His film performances include
cameos in
Into the Night (1985),
Three Men and a Little Lady (1990)
and playing Kirk Douglas' butler in
his own film Greedy (1994).
Lynn has an Honorary M.A. from the University of Sheffield and an
Honorary Psy.D. from the American Behavioral Studies Institute. He
lives in New York.