Editing Terry Gilliam (section)

=== 1969–1974: Monty Python's Flying Circus ===
{{See also|Monty Python|Monty Python's Flying Circus{{!}}''Monty Python's Flying Circus''}}
Gilliam was a member of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' from its outset, credited at first as an animator (his name was listed separately after the other five in the closing credits) and later as a full member. His cartoons linked the show's sketches together and defined the group's visual language in other media, such as LP and book covers and the title sequences of their films.<ref>{{cite news |title=Monty Python's Flying Circus |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/montypython/ |access-date=24 August 2019 |agency=BBC}}</ref> His animations mix his own art, characterised by soft gradients and odd, bulbous shapes, with backgrounds and [[cutout animation|moving cutouts]] from antique photographs, mostly from the [[Victorian era]].

[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 47 50 (14415365418).jpg|thumb|Gilliam as Cardinal Fang in "[[The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)|The Spanish Inquisition]]" sketch during the Python reunion, ''[[Monty Python Live (Mostly)]]'', in 2014]]
[[File:Monty Python Live 02-07-14 12 27 13 (14415368570).jpg|thumb|A character of limited intelligence and vocabulary, [[List of recurring Monty Python's Flying Circus characters#Gumbys|Gumby]] (played by Gilliam) flower arranging at the 2014 reunion. The Gumbys were part of the Pythons' satire on 1970s television condescendingly encouraging more involvement from the "man in the street".]]
He also appeared in several sketches, though he rarely had main roles and did considerably less acting in the sketches. Gilliam did, however, have some notable sketch roles, such as Cardinal Fang of the [[The Spanish Inquisition (Monty Python)|Spanish Inquisition]]; the bespectacled commenter who said, "I can't add anything to that!" in the sketch "[[Election Night Special]]"; Kevin Garibaldi, the brat on the couch shouting "I want more beans!" in the sketch "Most Awful Family in Britain 1974" (episode 45); the Screaming Queen in a cape and mask in "The Visitors"; and [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]] in "Ant Poetry Reading". More frequently, he played parts that no one else wanted to play, generally because they required a lot of makeup or uncomfortable costumes, such as a recurring knight in armour who ended sketches by walking on and hitting one of the other characters over the head with a plucked chicken. He also designed the covers of most of the Monty Python albums, including ''[[Another Monty Python Record]]'', ''[[The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief]]'', ''[[Live at Drury Lane|Monty Python Live at Drury Lane]]'', and all of their later film soundtrack albums.<ref>''[[Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut)]]'', episode 3, 2009</ref>