hijinks, pratfalls and shenanigans elsewhere, as Rowan Atkinson has
announced that the time to retire the comedy character is nigh.
It's somewhat ironic that, for Atkinson, playing a role that brings a
smile to so many faces has actually become "a little sad."
"The stuff that has been most commercially successful for me —-
basically quite physical, quite childish —- I increasingly feel I'm
going to do a lot less of," he told the Daily Telegraph's Review.
"Apart from the fact that your physical ability starts to decline, I
also think someone in their 50s being childlike becomes a little sad.
You've got to be careful."
Mr. Bean, a character whom Atkinson developed while studying for his
master's degree at Oxford University, made his debut in the eponymous
television series that ran for 14 episodes from 1990-1995. He was also
the star of his own animated series that ran from 2002-2004 and two
feature films, "Bean" (1997) and "Mr Bean's Holiday" (2007).