Editing John Cleese (section)

== Early life and education ==
Cleese was born in [[Weston-super-Mare]], [[Somerset]], England, the only child of Reginald Francis Cleese (1893–1972), an insurance salesman, and his wife Muriel Evelyn (''née'' Cross, 1899–2000), the daughter of an auctioneer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/20/John-Cleese.html |title=John Cleese Biography (1939–) |website=Film Reference |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204051924/http://www.filmreference.com/film/20/John-Cleese.html |archive-date=4 February 2010 }}</ref> His family's surname was originally Cheese, but his father had thought it was embarrassing and used the name Cleese when he enlisted in the [[British Army|Army]] during the [[First World War]]; he changed it officially by [[Deed poll#Use for changing name|deed poll]] in 1923.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32864/page/6398|title=Reginald Francis Cleese|work=[[The London Gazette]]|date=21 September 1923|issue=32864|page=6398}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stadlen |first=Matthew |title=John Cleese says: 'I've finally found true love—in a fish and three cats' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/relationships/11157618/John-Cleese-says-Ive-finally-found-true-love-in-a-fish-and-three-cats.html |access-date=11 November 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=13 October 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151105021521/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/relationships/11157618/John-Cleese-says-Ive-finally-found-true-love-in-a-fish-and-three-cats.html |archive-date=5 November 2015 }}</ref> As a child, Cleese supported [[Bristol City F.C.|Bristol City]] and [[Somerset County Cricket Club]].<ref>{{cite news |first1=Amy |last1=Raphael |title=Ross and Brand were astoundingly tasteless |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/nov/29/john-cleese-interview |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England|date=29 November 2008 |access-date=23 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129084524/http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/nov/29/john-cleese-interview |archive-date=29 November 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Bristol Funny List: 50 of the city's funniest men and women |url=https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-funny-list-50-citys-1582 |website=Bristol Live |access-date=17 July 2018|date=18 February 2017 }}</ref> Cleese was educated at St Peter's Preparatory School,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/comedy/article/and-now-for-something-completely-silly-7g6pg0pxpgw|title=And now for something completely silly|website=[[The Times]]|access-date=30 March 2022|last1=Cleese |first1=John }}</ref> paid for by money his mother had inherited,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wtfpod.libsyn.com/episode-961-john-cleese|title=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast: Episode 961—John Cleese|website=wtfpod.libsyn.com|access-date=22 October 2018}}</ref> where he received a prize for [[English studies|English]] and did well at [[cricket (sport)|cricket]] and [[boxing]]. When he was 13, he was awarded an [[exhibition (scholarship)|exhibition]] at [[Clifton College]], an [[English public school]] in Bristol. By that age, he was more than 6 feet (1.83 m) tall.<ref name="WTTW">{{cite news |title=John Cleese: 'I Can Take Almost Nothing Seriously' |url=https://news.wttw.com/2015/12/30/john-cleese-i-can-take-almost-nothing-seriously |access-date=19 March 2020 |agency=WTTW}}</ref>

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| quote = The biggest influence was ''[[The Goon Show]]''. Kids were devoted to it. It was written by [[Spike Milligan]]. It also had [[Peter Sellers]] in it, who of course is the greatest voice man of all time. In the morning, we'd be at school and we'd discuss the whole thing and rehash the jokes and talk about it. We were obsessed with it.
| source = —Cleese on his greatest comedic influence growing up, 1950s BBC Radio comedy ''The Goon Show''.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Cleese on The Goon Show, His Earliest Comedy Influence |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/07/talking-peter-sellers-and-the-goon-show-with-john-cleese.html |access-date=10 September 2019 |work=Vulture}}</ref>
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Cleese allegedly defaced the school grounds, as a prank, by painting footprints to suggest that the statue of [[Field Marshal]] [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Earl Haig]] had left its plinth and gone to the toilet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sandiegomag.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/March-2006/Silly-Walks-and-Dead-Parrots/ |title=San Diego Magazine, Silly Walks and Dead Parrots |website=Sandiegomag.com |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928021220/http://www.sandiegomag.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/March-2006/Silly-Walks-and-Dead-Parrots/ |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> Cleese played cricket in the First XI and did well academically, passing eight [[GCE Ordinary Level|O-Levels]] and three [[GCE Advanced Level|A-Levels]] in mathematics, physics and chemistry.<ref>{{cite web |title=John Cleese |url=http://www.cardinalfang.net/biographies/cleese_biog.html |website=Cardinal Fang's Python Site |access-date=7 May 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723052835/http://www.cardinalfang.net/biographies/cleese_biog.html |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=John Cleese |url=http://www.leadingauthorities.com/agent/john-cleese.aspx |publisher=Leading Authorities |access-date=7 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910042226/http://www.leadingauthorities.com/Agent/John-Cleese.aspx |archive-date=10 September 2010}}</ref> In his autobiography ''So, Anyway'', he says that discovering, aged 17, he had not been made a house [[prefect]] by his housemaster affected his outlook: "It was not fair and therefore it was unworthy of my respect... I believe that this moment changed my perspective on the world."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cleese |first1=John |title=So, Anyway...: The Autobiography |date=2014 |publisher=Random House}}</ref>

Cleese could not go straight to the [[University of Cambridge]], as the ending of [[conscription in the United Kingdom|National Service]] meant there were twice the usual number of applicants for places, so he returned to his prep school for two years<ref name="fringe">{{cite book|first1=Roger|last1=Wilmut|title=From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980|publisher=[[Methuen Publishing]]|location=North Yorkshire, England|date=1980|isbn=0-413-46950-6}}</ref> to teach science, English, geography, history, and Latin<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailyllama.com/news/1999/llama090.html |title=John Cleese to Spend Five Years Tour As Professor at Cornell University |work=Daily Llama |date=18 January 1999 |access-date=4 April 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326105229/http://www.dailyllama.com/news/1999/llama090.html |archive-date=26 March 2012 }}</ref> (he drew on his Latin teaching experience later for a scene in ''[[Life of Brian]]'', in which he corrects Brian's badly written Latin [[graffiti]]).<ref>Life of Brian commentary by Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle</ref> He then took up a place he had won at [[Downing College, Cambridge|Downing College]], Cambridge, to read law. He also joined the [[Footlights|Cambridge Footlights]]. He recalled that he went to the [[Cambridge Guildhall]], where each university society had a stall, and went up to the Footlights stall, where he was asked if he could sing or dance. He replied "no" as he was not allowed to sing at his school because he was so bad, and if there was anything worse than his singing, it was his dancing. He was then asked "Well, what do you do?" to which he replied, "I make people laugh."<ref name="fringe" />

At the Footlights theatrical club, Cleese spent a lot of time with [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] and [[Bill Oddie]] and met his future writing partner [[Graham Chapman]].<ref name="fringe" /> Cleese wrote extra material for the 1961 Footlights Revue ''I Thought I Saw It Move'',<ref name="fringe" /><ref name="footlights">{{cite book|first=Robert|last=Hewison|title=Footlights! A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy|publisher=[[Methuen Publishing|Methuen London Ltd.]]|location=London, England|date=1983|isbn=0-413-51150-2}}</ref> and was registrar for the Footlights Club during 1962. He was also in the cast of the 1962 Footlights Revue ''Double Take!''<ref name="fringe" /><ref name="footlights" /> Cleese graduated from Cambridge in 1963 with an [[British undergraduate degree classification#Upper Second Class Honours|upper second]]. Despite his successes on ''[[The Frost Report]]'', his father sent him cuttings from ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' offering management jobs in places such as [[Marks & Spencer]].<ref>''[[The Sunday Times]]'', 16 October 1988.</ref>