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Jonathan Lynn

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.jonathanlynn.com/

Twitter

mrjonathanlynn

Genre

Humor and Comedy

Member Since

May 2017

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Jonathan Lynn has directed 10 feature films including the cult classic Clue (he also wrote the screenplay), Nuns on the Run (also written by Mr Lynn), My Cousin Vinny, The Distinguished Gentleman, Sgt. Bilko, Greedy, Trial And Error, The Whole Nine Yards, The Fighting Temptations and most recently, Wild Target. His first produced screenplay was The Internecine Project (1974).

For television, Jonathan’s writing credits include dozens of episodes of various comedy series but he is best known for the phenomenally successful, multi-award-winning BBC series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, co-written and created with Antony Jay.

Jonathan authored the bestselling books The Complete Yes, Minister and The Complete Yes, Prime Minister, which cumu Jonathan Lynn has directed 10 feature films including the cult classic Clue (he also wrote the screenplay), Nuns on the Run (also written by Mr Lynn), My Cousin Vinny, The Distinguished Gentleman, Sgt. Bilko, Greedy, Trial And Error, The Whole Nine Yards, The Fighting Temptations and most recently, Wild Target. His first produced screenplay was The Internecine Project (1974).

For television, Jonathan’s writing credits include dozens of episodes of various comedy series but he is best known for the phenomenally successful, multi-award-winning BBC series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, co-written and created with Antony Jay.

Jonathan authored the bestselling books The Complete Yes, Minister and The Complete Yes, Prime Minister, which cumulatively sold more than a million copies in hardback and have been translated into numerous languages and are still in print nearly 30 years later; Mayday (1993, revised 2001) and his latest book Comedy Rules (Faber and Faber), which also received rave reviews.

Jonathan made his first professional appearance on Broadway in the revue Cambridge Circus, and his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, live with 70 million viewers, both at the age of 21. Jonathan’s West End theater debut, aged 23, was as an actor in the role of Motel the Tailor in the original London cast of Fiddler on the Roof. His subsequent London directing credits include: The Glass Menagerie; Songbook (Best Musical, Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award); Anna Christie (RSC, Stratford and the Donmar); Joe Orton's Loot; Pass The Butler by Eric Idle, Shaw’s Arms And The Man and The Gingerbread Man (Old Vic). At the National Theatre, he directed A Little Hotel on the Side by Georges Feydeau and Three Men on A Horse (Olivier Award, Best Comedy). As Artistic Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company, he directed 20 productions, producing 20 others, 9 of which transferred to the West End.

His numerous awards include the BAFTA Writers Award, Writers Guild (twice), Broadcasting Press Guild (twice), NAACP Image Award, Environmental Media Award, Ace Award –Best Comedy Series on US cable, and a Special award from the Campaign For Freedom of Information.

Lynn received an MA in Law from Cambridge University and now lives in New York, describing himself as a recovering lawyer. ...more

Combine Editions
Jonathan Lynn’s books

Average rating: 4.45 · 5,582 ratings · 330 reviews · 56 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Complete Yes Minister by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author), Antony Jay 4.54 avg rating — 2,987 ratings — published 1981 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Yes Prime Minister: The Diaries of the Right Hon. James Hacker by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author), Antony Jay 4.61 avg rating — 1,277 ratings — published 1989 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Samaritans 3.77 avg rating — 225 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Clue: On Stage by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author), Hunter Foster, Eric Price (Goodreads Author) 3.91 avg rating — 187 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yes, Prime Minister: The Diaries Of The Right Hon. James Hacker: Volume 1 by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author), Anthony Jay 4.29 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 1986 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Comedy Rules: From the Cambridge Footlights to Yes Prime Minister 4.09 avg rating — 91 ratings — published 2011 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yes Prime Minister: The Diaries of the Right Hon. James Hacker: Volume II by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Antony Jay (Editor) 4.30 avg rating — 81 ratings — published 1986 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yes Minister 4.54 avg rating — 57 ratings — published 1986	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yes Prime Minister: The Diaries of the Right Hon. James Hacker by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author) (editor), Antony Jay 4.60 avg rating — 53 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jistě, pane ministře 1 by Jonathan Lynn (Goodreads Author), Anthony Jay 4.41 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 2002 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Jonathan Lynn (?)

“Civil servants have an extraordinary genius for wrapping up a simple idea to make it sound extremely complicated.”
― Jonathan Lynn, The Complete Yes Minister

9 likes

“Mrs Hacker was the only woman present. They’d made her a sort of honorary man for the evening.”
― Jonathan Lynn, The Complete Yes Minister

6 likes

“Sir Humphrey Appleby: The Foreign Office is pro-Europe because it’s really anti-Europe. The civil service was united in its desire to make sure that the Common Market didn’t work. That’s why we went into it. Britain has had the same foreign policy objective for at least 500 years: to create a disunited Europe. In that cause we have fought with the Dutch against the Spanish, with the Germans against the French, French and Italians against the Germans, and the French against the Germans and Italians. Divide and rule, you see. Why should we change now, when it’s worked so well?

Jim Hacker: It’s all ancient history, surely.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, and current policy. We had to break the whole thing up, so we had to get inside. We tried to break it up from the outside, but that wouldn’t work. Now that we are inside, we can make a big pig’s breakfast of the whole thing! Set the Germans against the French, French against Italians, Italians against Dutch —The Foreign Office is terribly pleased! It’s just like old times!

Jim Hacker: Surely we are committed to the European ideal!

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Really, Minister!

Jim Hacker: If not, why are we pressing for an increase in membership?

Sir Humphrey Appleby: For the same reason. It's just like the United Nations, in fact. The more members it has, the more arguments it can stir up, the more futile and impotent it becomes.

Jim Hacker: What appalling cynicism!

Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes. We call it diplomacy, Minister.”
― Jonathan Lynn, The Complete Yes Minister

5 likes

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