Editing Monty Python (section)

==Python members==
=== Graham Chapman ===
[[Graham Chapman]] was originally a medical student, joining the [[Footlights]] at [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]]. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in ''Holy Grail'', as King Arthur, and ''Life of Brian'', as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, ''[[A Liar's Autobiography: Volume VI]]'', was adapted into an [[A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman|animated 3D film]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/movies/graham-chapman-tribute-from-monty-python.html | work=The New York Times | first=Michael | last=Cieply | title=Graham Chapman Tribute From Monty Python | date=26 June 2011}}</ref>

=== John Cleese ===
[[File:Dead Parrot O2 Arena.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Cleese]] (right) and Michael Palin performing the "[[Dead Parrot sketch]]" in 2014]]
[[John Cleese]] is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the [[Video Arts]] group and for the sitcom ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' (co-written with [[Connie Booth]], whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). In ''Fawlty Towers'' Cleese starred as hotel owner [[Basil Fawlty]], and received the 1980 [[British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance]].<ref>{{cite news |title=See all of John Cleese's BAFTA wins and nominations |url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=John%20Cleese |access-date=12 November 2022 |website=BAFTA.org}}</ref> Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'', in which he starred with Michael Palin, and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/archive/his-love-life-may-be-fawlty-but-john-cleese-is-reeling-in-cash-and-kudos-with-a-fish-called-wanda-vol-30-no-7/ |author= Alexander, Michael |date= 15 August 1988 |title= His Love Life May Be Fawlty, but John Cleese Is Reeling in Cash and Kudos with a Fish Called Wanda |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |access-date= 19 August 2019}}</ref> In ''A Fish Called Wanda'', Cleese went against type, with ''[[PopMatters]]'' magazine stating: "For a generation of fans who grew up with Cleese doing silly walks and mock Hitler salutes with Monty Python, this was something completely different indeed. For the first time, Cleese was being romantic in his role in A Fish Called Wanda."<ref name="PopMatters">{{cite magazine|url= https://www.popmatters.com/john-cleese-romantic-lead-feature|title= Who Thought Monty Python’s John Cleese Could Be a Romantic Lead? |magazine=[[PopMatters]]|access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref>

=== Terry Gilliam ===
[[Terry Gilliam]], an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/06/movies/main2071659.shtml|title=Terry Gilliam Sounds Off, Director Of 'Brazil' Says Current Events Parallel His Cult Movie|work=CBS News|date=6 October 2006|first=David|last=Morgan|access-date=21 September 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527070757/http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/06/movies/main2071659.shtml|archive-date=27 May 2008}}</ref> He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for [[Harvey Kurtzman]]'s ''[[Help! (magazine)|Help!]]'' magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. He co-directed ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "[[The Crimson Permanent Assurance]]", the short film that appears before ''The Meaning of Life'').<ref>{{cite book|last1=McCabe |first1=Bob|year=1999|title=Dark Knights and Holy Fools: The Art and Films of Terry Gilliam: From Before Python to Beyond Fear and Loathing |page=106|publisher=Universe |isbn=0-7893-0265-9}}</ref> Gilliam has directed thirteen films in total, and collaborated with Palin on three of them, which included Palin starring in ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]'' (1985).<ref name="Collab">{{cite web|url=http://www.wideanglecloseup.com/palin.html|title=Michel Palin on BRAZIL|last=Morgan|first=David|website=Wideanglecloseup.com|access-date=7 February 2025|archive-date=21 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721195056/http://www.wideanglecloseup.com/palin.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Eric Idle ===
[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 51 26 (14578960366).jpg|thumb|[[Eric Idle]] singing the "[[Galaxy Song]]" (from ''The Meaning of Life'') at the 2014 Monty Python reunion. Known for his [[wordplay]] and musical numbers, he also performed "[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]" (from ''Life of Brian'')]]
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, as well as Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and [[Eric Idle]]. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate [[wordplay]] and musical numbers. After ''Flying Circus'', he hosted ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film ''[[Splitting Heirs]]'' (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's ''[[An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn]]'' (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the [[Tony Award]]-winning musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', based on ''Holy Grail''. Following the success of the musical he wrote ''[[Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)|Not the Messiah]]'', an [[oratorio]] derived from the ''Life of Brian''.<ref>Eric Idle, [Email letter to] "The Pythons," 20 December 2006. Reprinted in Roy Thompson Hall Performance Program Insert, Summer 2007. p. 6.</ref> Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the [[2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony|London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/08/201281305330562117.html |title=London ends Olympics on extravagant notes – Europe |work=Al Jazeera English |date=12 August 2012 |access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Terry Jones ===
[[Terry Jones]] has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as [[fossil fuel]]s, or [[Rupert Bear]], or mercenaries in the [[Middle Ages]] or Modern China&nbsp;... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge."<ref>Perry, George (2007). ''The Life of Python''. p. 40. Pavilion</ref> Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in ''Life of Brian'', "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2131880,00.html|title=The last laugh: your favourite 50|work=The Observer|location=UK|first1=Philip|last1=French|first2=Mark|last2=Kermode|first3=Jason|last3=Solomons|first4=Akin|last4=Ojumu|first5=Killian|last5=Fox|date=22 July 2007|access-date=21 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1385293/Life-of-Brian-wins-the-vote-for-film%27s-best-laughter-line.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206011706/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1385293/Life-of-Brian-wins-the-vote-for-film%27s-best-laughter-line.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 December 2008|title=Life of Brian wins the vote for film's best laughter line|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Sarah|last=Womack|date=19 February 2002|access-date=21 September 2008|location=London}}</ref> Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python star Terry Jones dies aged 77 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51209197 |access-date=22 January 2020 |work=BBC News |date=22 January 2020}}</ref>

=== Michael Palin ===
Sir [[Michael Palin]] attended [[Oxford University|Oxford]], where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series ''Ripping Yarns'' together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After ''Flying Circus'', Palin hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled ''Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979'', published in 2007. Palin was awarded a [[Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George|knighthood]] in the [[2019 New Year Honours]], which was announced by [[Buckingham Palace]] in December 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/monty-python-s-michael-palin-gets-knighthood-in-new-year-honours-1-9512598|title=Monty Python's Michael Palin gets knighthood in New Year Honours|work=Yorkshire Evening Post|date=29 December 2018|access-date=18 August 2019}}</ref>

===Associate Pythons===
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally, such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of [[George Martin]] (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the [[Fifth Beatle]]".  The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been [[Neil Innes]] and [[Carol Cleveland]]. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.<ref>{{citation |title=Python Comeback |url=http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/sotcaa_python.html?/sotcaa/pythonpages/python_press_1990_99.html |access-date=2007-09-09 |date=3 March 1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201010035/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/sotcaa_python.html?%2Fsotcaa%2Fpythonpages%2Fpython_press_1990_99.html |archive-date=1 December 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref>
[[File:10.18.09CarolClevelandByLuigiNovi.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Carol Cleveland]] (in 2009), commonly called "Python girl", or "Seventh Python".<ref name="25 sketches"/>]]
[[Neil Innes]] is the only non-Python besides [[Douglas Adams]] to be credited with writing material for ''Flying Circus''. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in ''[[Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl]]''. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the [[Concert for George]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://concertforgeorge.com/performers/|title=Concert for George|work=concertforgeorge.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707035917/http://concertforgeorge.com/performers/|archive-date=7 July 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat [[Bonzo Dog Band]]. He would later portray Ron Nasty of [[the Rutles]] and write all of the Rutles' compositions for ''[[All You Need Is Cash]]'' (1978), a [[mockumentary]] film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album ''The Rutles: Archaeology'' and Idle's straight-to-DVD ''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch'', each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further."<ref>"Art imitates strife: Rutles launch feud". (10 May 2005). ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Retrieved 20 August 2019</ref> Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/30/neil-innes-the-rutles-monty-python-dies|title=Neil Innes, Rutles star and 'seventh Python', dies aged 75|first=Ben|last=Beaumont-Thomas|date=30 December 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

[[Carol Cleveland]] was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director [[John Howard Davies]] for just the first five episodes of the ''Flying Circus''. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director [[Ian MacNaughton]] brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pythons: Autobiography|year=2003|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|isbn=0-312-31144-3|page=152|quote=Of course, Ian [MacNaughton] didn't want to use Carol, he wanted to bring in various bits of totty, so we had a string of people who weren't as good as Carol. Eventually we started pushing for Carol and said, 'We must have Carol for this.'}}</ref> Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well.<ref name="Cleveland">{{cite news |title=Top 9 Successful Ex–Playboy Bunnies |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2075632_2075634_2075676,00.html |access-date=29 August 2019 |magazine=Time}}</ref> According to ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in ''Holy Grail''.<ref name="Cleveland"/>

===Other contributors===
Cleese's first wife, [[Connie Booth]], appeared as various characters in all four series of ''Flying Circus''. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' and ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Comedy: Connie Booth |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/people/connie_booth_person_page.shtml |access-date=20 August 2019 |website=BBC}}</ref>

[[Douglas Adams]] was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of ''Footlights Revue'' (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's [[West End theatre|West End]]. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "[[Patient Abuse]]". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python's Flying Circus, Series 4, Episode 6 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031d26j |access-date=29 August 2019 |website=BBC}}</ref> He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron&nbsp;..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including ''[[Out of the Trees]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6150254.stm|title='Lost' gems from the TV archives|date=December 2006|website=BBC News – Entertainment|access-date=19 August 2019}}</ref> He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''.

Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the ''Flying Circus'' was [[Ian Davidson (scriptwriter)|Ian Davidson]]. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary ''[[Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python]]''.<ref>[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/cce5b11885f24b708cc195c106f497fa "Python Night"]. BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2019</ref>

Stand-up comedian [[Eddie Izzard]], a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of ''Flying Circus'', the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (he taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted ''The Life of Python'' (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in [[Aspen, Colorado]], in 1998 (released on DVD as ''Live at Aspen''). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/living-the-dream-eddie-izzard-26586127.html|title=Living the dream: Eddie Izzard|first=Eamon|last=Sweeney|date=27 November 2009|website=The Irish Independent|access-date=30 May 2016}}</ref>

Series director of ''Flying Circus'', Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film ''And Now for Something Completely Different''. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included [[Fred Tomlinson (singer)|Fred Tomlinson]] and the Fred Tomlinson Singers.<ref>{{cite news|first=Daniel E.|last=Slotnik |title=Fred Tomlinson, Singer Who Led a 'Monty Python' Troupe, Dies at 88  |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/arts/television/fred-tomlinson-monty-python-singer-dies-at-88.html?_r=0 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2016-08-04 |access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref> They made appearances in songs such as "[[The Lumberjack Song]]" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included [[John Howard Davies]], John Hughman, [[Lyn Ashley]], Bob Raymond, [[John Young (actor)|John Young]], Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, [[Flanagan (model)|Maureen Flanagan]], and David Ballantyne.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8718897/John-Howard-Davies.html "Obituary: John Howard Davies"]. ''Daily Telegraph'', 23 August 2011</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/obituary-john-young-5593573.html |title= Obituary : John Young |work =The Independent |date= 18 September 2011 |access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>