Actor profile

Adrian Edmondson

24th January 1957 Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK Acting

Adrian Edmondson was born in Bradford, Yorkshire. He went to Manchester University to study drama. Whilst he was there he met Rik Mayall, and the pair began performing as 20th Century Coyote. The act continued after university when Adrian & Rik moved to London, and they became two of the leading lights in the new 'alternative comedy' scene, performing at the newly established Comedy Store, and setting up their own club, The Comic Strip, with 'Peter Richardson', Nigel Planer, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and Alexei Sayle. This spawned two 1980s TV series: The Young Ones (1982), and The Comic Strip Presents... (1982) In the 1990's Ade & Rik continued their partnership with a new series called Bottom (1991), which ran for three seasons and became a major success on the live circuit. It was basically a live sitcom, liberally sprinkled with slapstick humour, and the pair did 5 long tours between 1993 and 2003. Simultaneously, Adrian established himself as an actor, doing two improvised TV films under the Screen One and Screen Two umbrella, with director Les Blair: Screen Two: Honest, Decent and True (1986), and Screen One: News Hounds (1990) (winner of the BAFTA for best single drama). He was a regular in the hospital drama Holby City (1999) from 2005 - 2008. He took the lead in a drama documentary about the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster in the series Surviving Disaster (2006), and appeared as Henry Austen in the TV movie Miss Austen Regrets (2008), the film Blood (2012), and the drama series Prey (2014). But his most notable dramatic role to date is that of Count Rostov in the BBC series War & Peace (2016).

85 Movies 90 TV Shows 185 Credits

Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare And Unseen poster

Rik Mayall's Sketches: Rare And Unseen 25th June 2026 as Self (archive footage)

Rik Mayall: Magnificent B'Stard 25th June 2026 as Self

Bottom: Exposed 18th April 2024 as Himself

imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter poster

imagine... French & Saunders: Pointed, Bitchy, Bitter 27th December 2023 as Self

The Best Birthday Ever 26th January 2022 as Granny (voice)

The Trick 18th October 2021 as Edward Acton

Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel poster

Letters Live from the Archive: Union Chapel 22nd March 2021 as Self

King Rocker 31st October 2020 as Self (archive footage)

Completely Bad News 29th November 2019 as Vim Fuego

The Rizen: Possession 22nd May 2019 as The Interviewer

How The Young Ones Changed Comedy poster

How The Young Ones Changed Comedy 26th May 2018

RSC Live: Twelfth Night 14th February 2018 as Malvolio

Star Wars: The Last Jedi 13th December 2017 as Captain Peavey

Interlude in Prague 25th May 2017 as Herr Luptak

The Rizen 6th May 2017 as Interviewer

Rocky Horror Show Live 17th November 2015 as Narrator

Five Go to Rehab 7th November 2012 as Dick

Blood 9th October 2012 as Tom Tiernan

Britain Beware! 6th May 2012 as Self (Presenter)

Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments poster

Blackadder's Most Cunning Moments 16th October 2008 as Self - Baron von Richthoven (archive footage) (uncredited)

Rocky Horror Tribute Show 14th October 2008 as Brad

Miss Austen Regrets 3rd February 2008 as Henry Austen

The Dangerous Brothers - Dangervision poster

The Dangerous Brothers - Dangervision 1st January 2008 as Sir Adrian Dangerous

If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story poster

If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story 14th December 2007 as Self (Narrator)

The Making of 'The Young Ones' 29th October 2007 as Self (Archived Footage)

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 40th Anniversary Celebration poster

Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band - 40th Anniversary Celebration 22nd May 2006 as Self

The Comic Strip - A Retrospective poster

The Comic Strip - A Retrospective 4th July 2005 as Self

Bottom Mindless Violence 22nd November 2004 as Vyvyan / Eddie Catflap / Sir Adrian Dangerous / Dreamy Time Escort / Eddie Hitler / Eddie Ndingombaba (archive footage)