King’s Birthday Honours: Dual British-Australian comedian from Fremantle flattered by award from adopted home

2023 is turning into a renaissance for Ben Elton. Or, if you ask his Australian-born wife Sophie Gare — a “Ben-aissance”. Already, this year, the dual British-Australian writer and comedian has picked up a BAFTA TV award for best comedy program and last Thursday he made his performing debut on the West End in “We Will Rock You”. Now, Elton has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours list as a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the entertainment industry as a comedian, actor, writer and director. “It’s a big year for me,” Elton told The West Australian from London. “My wife coined a very funny phrase, when I when we learned about the Australian honour, and winning the BAFTA again, she says it is a “Ben-aissance”. “When you look at the sort of people that have had this honour before, you know, the people that do real, difficult, tough jobs, I feel very humbled and extremely flattered and absolutely delighted my adopted country and my adopted state have given me this lovely honour.” During the pandemic, Elton used his theatrical clout to champion the local arts scene in both Perth and across Australia, touring as soon as he could. “I don’t really feel I did any more than any other member of the artistic community. We all tried to pull together,” he said. The writer of 14 books, musicals and television shows such as The Young Ones, Blackadder and Upstart Crow, Elton has split his life between Australia and Britain, becoming dual citizens of each country. Elton, who is currently in the United Kingdom for the next three months, said he could not wait to return home to Fremantle to celebrate the honour. “It’s been a long journey but my Australian life is certainly not going to end,” he said. “In fact that minute I finish this run (on the West End) of course, I’ll be back in WA and looking forward to some time down south and getting into those wineries..” Elton joked his services extended beyond entertainment, talking to many Brits about the beauty of his adopted state. “I think I’ve single-handedly driven quite a few tourists to WA” he said. “I can assure you when I when I talk about my life here a lot of people said oh my goodness, we must visit and I think many of them have.”