Editing Graham Chapman (section)

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Graham Chapman blue plaque Melton.jpg|thumb|A [[blue plaque]] at Melton Mowbray Grammar School (now [[King Edward VII School (Melton Mowbray)|King Edward VII School]]), which Chapman attended]]
Chapman was born on 8 January 1941 at the Stoneygate Nursing Home, [[Stoneygate]], [[Leicester]], the son of policeman Walter Chapman and Edith Towers.<ref>{{cite ODNB| url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/55386| title=Chapman, Graham (1941–1989), comedian and writer| publisher=oup.com|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55386|year=2004|last1=Evans|first1=Gillian}}</ref>{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=2}} Walter Chapman was a police constable at the time of Graham's birth; he ended his career as a chief inspector. He had been trained as a [[French polish]]er for a coffin-maker before entering the police force in the 1930s.<ref name="Autobio">{{cite book |title=The Pythons' Autobiography by the Pythons |first1=John |last1=Cleese |author2=Terry Gilliam |author3=Bob McCabe |author4=Eric Idle |author5=Graham Chapman |author6=Michael Palin |author7=Terry Jones |publisher=Orion |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7528-6425-9}}</ref>

Chapman had an elder brother, John, who was born in 1936.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=3}} They had, according to Chapman and his brother, an "extremely poor upbringing".<ref name="Autobio"/> One of Chapman's earliest memories was seeing the remains of Polish airmen who had suffered an aeroplane accident near Leicester, later saying the sight remained in his memory.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|pp=1,7}}

Chapman was educated at [[King Edward VII School (Melton Mowbray)|Melton Mowbray Grammar School]]. He showed a strong affinity for science, sports and amateur dramatics and was singled out for attention when a local paper reviewed his performance of [[Mark Antony]] in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare's]] ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|Julius Caesar]]''.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=10}} Graham and his brother John were both avid fans of radio comedy, being especially fond of ''[[The Goon Show]]''{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=11}} and [[Robert Moreton]]'s skill of telling jokes the wrong way round and reversing punchlines. Biographer Jim Yoakum said "the radio shows didn't necessarily make him laugh".{{sfn|Chapman|Yoakum|2006|p=xvii}}

In 1959, Chapman began to study medicine at [[Emmanuel College, Cambridge]].{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=18}} He joined the [[Cambridge Footlights]], where he first began writing with [[John Cleese]].{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=23}} Following graduation, Chapman joined the Footlights show ''Cambridge Circus'' and toured New Zealand, deferring his medical studies for a year.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=43}} After the tour, he continued his studies at [[St Bartholomew's Medical College]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/notablealumni/28914.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312063307/http://www.qmul.ac.uk/alumni/notablealumni/28914.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 March 2012 |title=Entertainment |website=Queen Mary University of London |access-date=14 August 2012}}</ref> but became torn between whether to pursue a career in medicine or acting. His brother John later said, "He [Graham] wasn't ever driven to go into medicine... it wasn't his life's ambition."{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=48}}
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