Editing John Cleese (section)

=== 1963–1968: Pre-Python ===
Cleese was a scriptwriter, as well as a cast member, for the 1963 [[Cambridge Footlights Revue|Footlights Revue]] ''A Clump of Plinths''.<ref name="fringe" /><ref name="footlights" /> The revue was so successful at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] that it was renamed ''[[Cambridge Footlights Revue|Cambridge Circus]]'' and taken to the [[West End Theatre|West End]] in London and then on a tour of New Zealand and Broadway, with the cast also appearing in some of the revue's sketches on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in October 1964.<ref name="fringe" />

After ''Cambridge Circus'', Cleese briefly stayed in America, performing [[Broadway theatre|on]] and [[off-Broadway]]. While performing in the musical ''[[Half a Sixpence]]'',<ref name="fringe" /> Cleese met future Python [[Terry Gilliam]] as well as American actress Connie Booth, whom he married on 20 February 1968.<ref name="fringe" /> At their wedding at a Unitarian church in Manhattan, the couple attempted to ensure an absence of any theistic language. "The only moment of disappointment", Cleese recalled, "came at the very end of the service when I discovered that I'd failed to excise one particular mention of the word 'God'."<ref>Cleese, John (2014). New York: Crown Archetype, p. 318.</ref> Later, Booth became a writing partner. Cleese was soon offered work as a writer with [[BBC Radio]], where he worked on several programmes, most notably as a sketch writer for ''[[Dick Emery|The Dick Emery Show]]''. The success of the Footlights Revue led to the recording of a short series of half-hour radio programmes, called ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'', which were so popular that the BBC commissioned a regular series with the same title that ran from 1965 to 1974. Cleese returned to Britain and joined the cast.<ref name="fringe" /> In many episodes, he is credited as "John Otto Cleese" (according to Jem Roberts, this may have been due to the embarrassment of his actual middle name, "Marwood").<ref>P70, The Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue; Jem Roberts {{ISBN|978-1-84809-132-0}}</ref>

Also in 1965, Cleese and Chapman began writing on ''[[The Frost Report]]''. The writing staff chosen for the programme consisted of a number of writers and performers who went on to make names for themselves in comedy.<ref name="BBCComedy">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thefrostreport/|title=The Frost Report|publisher=BBC Comedy|access-date=9 July 2016}}</ref> They included co-performers from ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' and future [[The Goodies|Goodies]] [[Bill Oddie]] and [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]], and also [[Frank Muir]], [[Barry Cryer]], [[Marty Feldman]], [[Ronnie Barker]], [[Ronnie Corbett]], and [[Dick Vosburgh]] and future Python members [[Eric Idle]], [[Terry Jones]], and [[Michael Palin]].<ref name="BBCComedy"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/08/jimmy-gilbert-bbc-producer-who-presided-over-a-golden-age-of-lig/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/07/08/jimmy-gilbert-bbc-producer-who-presided-over-a-golden-age-of-lig/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Jimmy Gilbert, BBC producer who presided over a golden age of light entertainment—obituary|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=8 June 2016|access-date=9 July 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009pgsc |work=[[BBC Two]] |date=13 August 2011 |access-date=18 November 2015}}</ref> While working on ''The Frost Report'', the future Pythons developed the writing styles that would make their collaboration significant. Cleese's and Chapman's sketches often involved authority figures, some of whom were performed by Cleese, while Jones and Palin were both infatuated with filmed scenes that opened with idyllic countryside panoramas. Idle was one of those charged with writing [[David Frost]]'s monologue. During this period Cleese met and befriended influential British comedian [[Peter Cook]], eventually collaborating with Cook on several projects and forming a close friendship that lasted until Cook's death in 1995.<ref name="BBCComedy"/><ref>{{cite AV media |last1=Geraghty |first1=Geraldine |title=The Undiscovered Peter Cook |date=16 November 2016 |publisher=BBC |type=Film }}</ref>

It was as a performer on ''The Frost Report'' that Cleese achieved his breakthrough on British television as a comedy actor, appearing as the tall, ''upper class'' patrician figure in the classic [[Class sketch|"Class" sketch]] (screened on 7 April 1966), contrasting comically in a line-up with the shorter, ''middle class'' [[Ronnie Barker]] and the even shorter, ''working class'' [[Ronnie Corbett]]. The British Film Institute commented, "Its twinning of height and social position, combined with a minimal script, created a classic TV moment."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/852164/ |title=BFI Screenonline: Frost Report, The (1966–67) |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=21 April 2010 }}</ref> The series was so popular that in 1966 Cleese and Chapman were invited to work as writers and performers with Brooke-Taylor and Feldman on ''[[At Last the 1948 Show]]'',<ref name="fringe" /> during which time the "[[Four Yorkshiremen sketch]]" was written by all four writers/performers (the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is now better known as a [[Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl|Monty Python sketch]]).<ref name="BrightRoss2001">{{cite book |author1=Morris Bright |author2=Robert Ross |title=Fawlty Towers: fully booked |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AH-FAAAAIAAJ |access-date=29 September 2010 |year=2001 |publisher=BBC |isbn=978-0-563-53439-6 |page=60 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607064408/http://books.google.com/books?id=AH-FAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=7 June 2013 }}</ref>

Cleese and Chapman also wrote episodes for the first series of ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'' (and later Cleese wrote six episodes of ''[[Doctor at Large (TV series)|Doctor at Large]]'' on his own in 1971). These series were successful, and in 1969 Cleese and Chapman were offered their very own series. However, owing to Chapman's alcoholism, Cleese found himself bearing an increasing workload in the partnership and was, therefore, unenthusiastic about doing a series with just the two of them. He had found working with Palin on ''The Frost Report'' an enjoyable experience and invited him to join the series. Palin had previously been working on ''[[Do Not Adjust Your Set]]'' with Idle and Jones, with Terry Gilliam creating the animations. The four of them had, on the back of the success of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'', been offered a series for [[Thames Television]], which they were waiting to begin when Cleese's offer arrived. Palin agreed to work with Cleese and Chapman in the meantime, bringing with him Gilliam, Jones, and Idle.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCall |first1=Douglas. L. |title=Monty Python: a chronological listing of the troupe's creative output, and articles and reviews about them, 1969–1989 |date=1991 |publisher=McFarland |page=1}}</ref>