Born May 3, 1959 in Catford, South London, Ben Elton began life as a member of an upper-class academic family. During the war his family had been forced to flee Prague when Hitler invaded. In Godalming Grammar School young Elton participated in amateur dramatics and wrote his first play when he was fifteen years old. He later attended Manchester University and earned a degree in drama. He started his career as a stand-up comedian in 1980. Joining Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in the Comedy Store in Leicester Square in London, Elton soon became one of the regular masters of ceremony. He continued to do stand-up in order to perform his own material. Soon, however, he branched out into… plays, novels, and films. His first novel, Stark (1989), sold well in Britain and Australia. Popcorn, published in 1996, opened as a play in April 1997 and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best comedy in 1998.