"Member of the famed "Monty Python" comedy team. A veteran of the "Cambridge Circus" student revue, Chapman was drawn to scriptwriting and performing as an alternative to the routine of a physician's rounds in a London hospital. He joined the Pythons after working on British TV's "The Frost Report." Chapman died of throat cancer at age 48."
2. John Cleese:
"Tall and jut-jawed, Cleese began his comedy career with the Cambridge Circus, and met both Connie Booth (whom he would later marry) and Terry Gilliam (a future co-member of Monty Python's Flying Circus) while on tour with the student revue group in the US. On returning to England, Cleese landed a job writing for TV's "The Frost Report" before becoming a member of the Monty Python team. Possibly the best-known of the Pythons, he also enjoyed considerable success with the TV series "Fawlty Towers," co-written by Booth. Cleese is also founder of Video Arts Ltd., a company specializing in witty training films."
3. Eric Idle:
"Long-faced member of the celebrated English comedy team, Monty Python's Flying Circus, which also consisted of John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin and the late Graham Chapman. Idle's comedy career began in college in 1963 when he joined the Cambridge comedy troupe, The Footlights, whose alumni included all the members of the Flying Circus but Gilliam (a transplanted American).
In 1967 Idle, Palin, Jones and Gilliam wrote and starred in the English TV series, "Do Not Adjust Your Set." Two years later, "Monty Python's Flying Circus"—both the group and the TV series—was born. Lauded by critics and embraced by the public, their irreverent and often surreal brand of comedy and satire aired on BBC-1 from 1969-73 and on BBC-2, without Cleese, for the last few months of 1974. Rebroadcasts on PBS, two ABC late-night specials in 1975 and a 1988 video release created and nurtured a large and appreciative American audience for their inspired lunacy. The success of Monty Python has generated five films to date, each featuring the performers in multiple roles before and behind the camera.
Idle's roles in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (1975) included Brave Sir Robin (who "bravely turned his tail and fled") and one of the dreaded knights who said "Ni." In Monty Python's LIFE OF BRIAN (1979), his more memorable parts were as Stan/Loretta, a confused member of the Peoples' Front of Judea, (or was it the Judean People's Front?) and the philosophical victim of crucifixion who sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
Idle demonstrated abundant life after Python with a thriving career as a comic character actor in films and TV in the U.S. and abroad. His feature credits include NATIONAL LAMPOON'S EUROPEAN VACATION (1985), as the accident-prone bike rider; Terry Gilliam's lavish fantasy THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989), as Berthold, the fastest man on the earth; NUNS ON THE RUN (1990); TOO MUCH SUN (1991) and MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD (1992). Idle executive produced, wrote, and starred in SPLITTING HEIRS (1993), a mistaken identity comedy which reunited him with John Cleese."
4. Terry Jones:
"A former student of medieval literature, Terry Jones declined an academic life while maintaining an ironic link to the middle ages via his film and publishing career. He was a veteran of the Experimental Theatre Club and the Oxford Revue and had written for TV and radio when he joined the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" team in 1969. Jones has functioned as the sole director of two "Python" films as well as ERIK THE VIKING (1989), adapted from his own children's book."
5. Michael Palin:
"Made his West End stage debut in Hang Down Your Head and Die, a 1964 production by Oxford's satirical Experimental Theatre Club. After graduation, Palin wrote for and appeared in a number of comic programs, including "The Complete and Utter History of Britain," before becoming part of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in 1969. He coscripted the successful fantasy feature, TIME BANDITS (1981), and made a memorable appearance as the stuttering bumbler in Charles Crichton's homage to Ealing comedy, A FISH CALLED WANDA (1988)."
6. Terry Gilliam:
"Successful cartoonist who met John Cleese while working on the magazine Help! and subsequently became the resident animator with Monty Python's Flying Circus. Gilliam made his solo directing debut with JABBERWOCKY (1977), a grisly medieval interpretation of the Lewis Carroll poem, and scored a popular success with the delightfully "adult" children's feature TIME BANDITS (1981).
Gilliam's greatest success came when he moved away from Pythonesque humor to direct BRAZIL (1985), a visually stunning, Orwellian look into a totalitarian future. After he fought and won an extended battle with Universal to gain final cut on the picture, it was released to considerable critical acclaim and hailed by many as one of the best films of the 1980s. Gilliam's next feature, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1989), was an expensive, visually sumptuous commercial flop which failed to reach the kind of crossover audience that had patronized TIME BANDITS.
Having gained a somewhat exaggerated reputation for being an extravagant perfectionist with a tendency to go over schedule and budget with his visionary ambition, Gilliam regained his standing in Hollywood with THE FISHER KING (1991), in which the director was able to combine mainstream appeal (due largely to the casting of Robin Williams) with the eccentric fantasy of his previous films."
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I have to say my favourite member of Monty Python was Graham Chapman. He had such an ability, and even his fellow Python's credit him with being a true genius and the only one who could have made it as a straight actor aswell as a comedian.
John Cleese is obviously the popular choice, due possibly to his success with "Fawlty Towers" and other features.
What I want to know is - who is YOUR favourite, PURELY on their contribution to Monty Python, as opposed to other persuits?
Should be an interesting little poll....
