Jonathan Lynn

Lynn was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of physician Robin Lynn and sculptor Ruth Helen (née Eban), whose first cousin on her mother's side was the neurologist Oliver Sacks. Another cousin, Caroline Sacks, married Nicholas Samuel, 5th Viscount Bearsted.{{Cite web|title=Finally getting somewhere - Essay - Lives|url=https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/finally-getting-somewhere/|access-date=2020-11-02|website=TLS|language=en-GB}}A Sense of Purpose: Recollections, Suzy Eban, Plunkett Lake Press, 2015Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 106th edition, vol. 1, Burke's Peerage, Ltd, p. 218 Lynn was educated at Kingswood School, Bath, between 1954 and 1961, after which he studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge. (His maternal uncle, Israeli statesman Abba Eban, had also studied at Cambridge in the 1930s.) There he participated in the Cambridge University Footlights Club revue Cambridge Circus (appearing with the revue in 1964 on Broadway and on The Ed Sullivan Show).{{cite web|title=Sir Anthony Jay CVO and Jonathan Lynn|url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/PSAAwards2010_details.aspx?ID=14|publisher=Political Studies Association|access-date=10 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305233730/http://www.psa.ac.uk/PSAAwards2010_details.aspx?ID=14|archive-date=5 March 2011}}

Lynn's first West End appearance was in a stage production of Green Julia, for which he was nominated for the 1965 Plays and Players Award as Most Promising New Actor.{{cite web |url=http://www.jonathanlynn.com/bio.htm |title=Jonathan Lynn bio |access-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701185511/http://www.jonathanlynn.com/bio.htm |archive-date=1 July 2014}} In 1967, he played Motel the tailor in the original West End production of Fiddler on the Roof (production recorded by CBS Records).{{cite web|title=Jonathan Lynn|url=http://www.tv.com/people/jonathan-lynn/biography/|publisher=tv.com|access-date=10 February 2013|archive-date=12 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912011622/http://www.tv.com/people/jonathan-lynn/biography/|url-status=dead}} From the late 1960s, Lynn was appearing in and writing television sitcoms, including the television comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Tony Buffery.{{cite web|title=Twice a Fortnight (1967– ) Full Cast & Crew|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061308/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm|publisher=IMDb|access-date=16 March 2016}}

Lynn played the Irish medical student Danny Hooley in the second series of the television comedy Doctor in the House in 1970. He wrote some episodes for Doctor at Large, Doctor in Charge, Doctor at Sea and Doctor on the Go.{{cite web|title=Jonathan Lynn Biography (1943-)|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/23/Jonathan-Lynn.html|publisher=Film Reference|access-date=10 February 2013}} As a TV actor, his most memorable roles included Beryl's boyfriend Robert in early series of The Liver Birds,{{cite web|title=Liver Birds|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/liverbirds/|publisher=BBC|access-date=10 February 2013}} the role of Harold in Jack Rosenthal's 1976 television film Bar Mitzvah Boy,{{cite news |url=http://www.thejc.com/arts/film/21725/review-the-barmitzvah-boy |title=Review: The Barmitzvah Boy |author=Jenni Frazer |access-date=4 July 2014 |date=9 November 2009 |newspaper=The Jewish Chronicle}} and the role of Ted Margolis in Rosenthal's The Knowledge (1979).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rst-2QEpfFcC&pg=PA181 |page=181 |access-date=4 July 2014 |title=Comedy Rules: From the Cambridge Footlights to Yes, Prime Minister |author=Jonathan Lynn |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=2011|isbn=9780571277971 }} He had a bit-part as a window cleaner in the BBC television series The Good Life. His film appearances have included roles in Prudence and the Pill (1968), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Romance with a Double Bass (1974), and Three Men and a Little Lady (1990).

Lynn is a guest instructor at HB Studio.{{cite web|title=Jonathan Lynn |url=https://hbstudio.org/instructors/lynn-jonathan/|publisher=HB Studio|access-date=20 April 2021}}

Lynn's first (co-written) screenplay was for The Internecine Project, which was released in 1974.{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/118154%7C88564/Jonathan-Lynn/ |title=TCM Biography - Jonathan Lynn |access-date=4 July 2014}} For television he wrote episodes for the Doctor TV series and On the Buses and wrote for Harry Worth and George Layton before eventually, in partnership with Antony Jay, writing Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.{{cite web|title=Jonathan Lynn on Yes, Prime Minister's rise to high office|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-01-15/jonathan-lynn-on-yes-prime-ministers-rise-to-high-office|work=Radio Times|date= 15 January 2013|access-date=10 February 2013}} His later writing credits include the first two films he directed, Clue (1985) and Nuns on the Run (1990).{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.jonathanlynn.com/bio.htm|publisher=Jonathan Lynn|access-date=10 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215094307/http://www.jonathanlynn.com/bio.htm|archive-date=15 February 2013}} He is also known for his co-writing, co-producing, and co-directing of the revived Yes, Prime Minister series produced by the BBC on Gold in 2013.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9778989/Culture-and-arts-what-to-see-in-January-2013.html |work=The Telegraph |access-date=4 July 2014 |title=Culture and arts: what to see in January 2013 |date=4 January 2013 |author=Rupert Christiansen|display-authors=etal}}

Lynn co-authored the books The Complete Yes Minister, as well as The Complete Yes Prime Minister, which spent 106 weeks on the Sunday Times top 10 fiction list. Both were ranked number one on the Sunday Times list, including in December 1986 when the books were ranked number one and number two respectively.{{cite web |url=http://www.jonathanlynn.com/books/complete_yes_prime_minister/complete_yes_prime_minister.htm |title=The Complete Yes Prime Minister |access-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924010420/http://www.jonathanlynn.com/books/Complete_Yes_Prime_Minister/complete_yes_prime_minister.htm |archive-date=24 September 2014}} He also wrote the 1993 novel Mayday.{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3438010932.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921211758/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3438010932.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 September 2014 |title=Jonathan Lynn |access-date=4 July 2014}} In 2011 Lynn wrote a non-fiction work entitled Comedy Rules. The Independent newspaper called the book "a charming memoir, full of amusing and insightful anecdotes about the many entertainers Lynn has worked with" and described it as a combination of autobiography and how-to manual for comedy. The paper wrote further: "By dovetailing different types of book, Lynn cleverly avoids the pitfalls of both genres. Because it's ostensibly a sort of how-to book, there are no boring childhood reminiscences. Because it's also a kind of autobiography, his no-nonsense dos and don'ts are springboards for entertaining yarns, rather than academic discourse."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/comedy-rules-by-jonathan-lynn-2343706.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/comedy-rules-by-jonathan-lynn-2343706.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=4 July 2014 |title=Comedy Rules, By Jonathan Lynn |date=26 August 2011 |author=William Cook}}

Lynn won praise for his direction of the 2010 London stage version of Yes, Prime Minister, which he co-wrote as well.{{Cite magazine |last1=Lahr |first1=John |author-link=John Lahr |title=Brits and Wits |magazine=The New Yorker |date=11 October 2010 |pages=116–118 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/theatre/2010/10/11/101011crth_theatre_lahr |quote="...a new stage version of 'Yes, Prime Minister' (expertly directed by Lynn, at the Gielgud, in London)..." }}

In 2016 Lynn's play The Patriotic Traitor was published. Its subject is the relationship of Philippe Pétain to Charles de Gaulle. In the words of the blurb, ‘Two giants of the twentieth century who loved each other like father and son until they found themselves on opposing sides in World War II. In 1945 de Gaulle had his oldest friend tried for treason. Their complex relationship – noble, comic and absurd – changed history.’ Lynn, Jonathan, The Patriotic Traitor, London, Faber and Faber, 2016. ISBN 9780571331024.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03jx7xt| title=Free Thinking – Delacroix. Petain, De Gaulle. Jonathan Lynn |work=BBC Radio 3 |date=17 February 2016 |access-date=26 November 2022}} The discussion between Lynn and Philip Dodd, the presenter, begins at 16.00 after the start.
A podcast is also available for downloading within the United Kingdom, but not necessarily elsewhere, as in some cases the BBC blocks its podcasts from being downloaded outside the United Kingdom.

Lynn also co-wrote the stage play of "Clue", together with Hunter Foster, Eric Price and Sandy Rustin.

Lynn also produced six episodes of the new Yes, Prime Minister television series, was executive producer of He's Such a Girl, Vanity Fair, and was a producer for Trial and Error. It also received an exclusive production agreement with Columbia Pictures Television in 1992.{{Cite news|date=1992-12-14|title=Lynn signs deal with Columbia|work=Broadcasting|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/92-OCR/BC-1992-12-14-OCR-Page-0042.pdf|access-date=2021-11-01}}

Lynn's work on the Minister series earned him three BAFTAs, two Broadcasting Press Guild Awards, and two Pye Television Writers Awards, and he won the ACE Award for Best Written Comedy Series. The Campaign for Freedom of Information also recognized Lynn with a special award for his work on the show.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0528718/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm |title=Jonathan Lynn |publisher=IMDb |access-date=4 July 2014}} Lynn was a recipient of a Diamond Jubilee Award for Political Satire in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSAAwards2010.pdf |title=Diamond Jubilee Award |page=14}} He received an NAACP Image Award for the 2003 film The Fighting Temptations.{{cite web |url=http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/author/jonathan-lynn |title=Author bio: Jonathan Lynn |access-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801165042/http://faber.co.uk/catalog/author/jonathan-lynn |archive-date=1 August 2014}}

Executive producer

• Vanity Fair (2004)
• He's Such a Girl (2008)

Acting roles

Additional credits

Acting roles

• Cambridge Theatre Company

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last= Wilmut |first= Roger |title= From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy |year= 1980 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn= 978-0-413-50770-9 }}
• {{cite book |last= Hewison |first= Robert |title= Footlights!: A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy |year= 1983 |publisher=Methuen |location=London |isbn= 978-0-413-51150-8 }}

• [http://www.jonathanlynn.com/ Official website]
• {{IMDb name|0528718}}
• {{IBDB name}}
• {{Internet Archive author |sname = Jonathan Lynn}}

{{Jonathan Lynn}}

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Category:1943 births

Category:20th-century English male writers

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:21st-century English male writers

Category:21st-century English male actors

Category:20th-century English screenwriters

Category:21st-century British dramatists and playwrights

Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge

Category:English film directors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:English people of Israeli descent

Category:English people of Jewish descent

Category:English television writers

Category:Living people

Category:English male television writers

Category:People educated at Kingswood School, Bath

Category:Male actors from Bath, Somerset

Category:Jewish film people

Category:English satirists

Category:British television show creators

Category:British satirical television show creators