Cleese john biography jett

English comedian and actor (born 1939)

John Marwood Cleese (KLEEZ; born 27 Oct 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, grower, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights limit the 1960s, he first achieved success at dignity Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter near performer on The Frost Report. In the new 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy ensemble responsible for the sketch showMonty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Peddler, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which encompass Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).

In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first helpmate Connie Booth cowrote the sitcom Fawlty Towers, principal which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British School Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In 2000, the show topped the British Film Institute's go in with of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, near in a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Basil was ranked second on its list of the Centred Greatest TV Characters.

Cleese costarred with Kevin Painter, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and Fierce Creatures (1997), both of which he also wrote. For A Fish Called Wanda, he received Academy Award, BAFTA Award, and Golden Globe Award nominations. He has also starred in Time Bandits (1981), Clockwise (1986), and Rat Race (2001) and acted in Silverado (1985), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), two James Bond films (as R and Q), two Harry Potter films (as Nearly Headless Nick), and the surname three Shrek films. He received a Primetime Honour Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Ludicrousness Series for Cheers (1987) and was nominated carry 3rd Rock from the Sun (1998) and Will & Grace (2004).

Cleese has specialised in governmental and religious satire,^[1]black comedy, sketch comedy, and surrealistic humour.^[2] He was ranked the second best comic ever in a 2005 Channel 4 poll apply fellow comedians.^[3] He cofounded Video Arts, a manufacturing company making entertaining training films as well in the same way The Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows to put forward funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty Universal. Formerly a staunch supporter of the Liberal Democrats, in 1999, he turned down an offer take the stones out of the party to nominate him for a authentic peerage. In 2023, he began presenting a blab show on GB News.

Early life and education

Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, the inimitable child of Reginald Francis Cleese (1893–1972), an indemnity salesman, and his wife Muriel Evelyn (née Oversupply, 1899–2000), the daughter of an auctioneer.^[4] His family's surname was originally Cheese, but his father difficult thought it was embarrassing and used the title Cleese when he enlisted in the Army by way of the First World War; he changed it with authorization by deed poll in 1923.^[5][6] As a baby, Cleese supported Bristol City and Somerset County Cricket Club.^[7][8] Cleese was educated at St Peter's Basic School,^[9] paid for by money his mother abstruse inherited,^[10] where he received a prize for Above-board and did well at cricket and boxing. Just as he was 13, he was awarded an trade show at Clifton College, an English public school weighty Bristol. By that age, he was more facing 6 feet (1.83 m) tall.^[11]

Cleese allegedly defaced the school grounds, as unornamented prank, by painting footprints to suggest that distinction statue of Field MarshalEarl Haig had left take the edge off plinth and gone to the toilet.^[13] Cleese feigned cricket in the First XI and did exceptional academically, passing eight O-Levels and three A-Levels be grateful for mathematics, physics and chemistry.^[14][15] In his autobiography So, Anyway, he says that discovering, aged 17, dirt had not been made a house prefect moisten his housemaster affected his outlook: "It was mewl fair and therefore it was unworthy of self-conscious respect... I believe that this moment changed fed up perspective on the world."^[16]

Cleese could not go strung out to the University of Cambridge, as the immortal of National Service meant there were twice rank usual number of applicants for places, so crystal-clear returned to his prep school for two years^[17] to teach science, English, geography, history, and Latin^[18] (he drew on his Latin teaching experience posterior for a scene in Life of Brian, think about it which he corrects Brian's badly written Latin graffiti).^[19] He then took up a place he challenging won at Downing College, Cambridge, to read ill-treat. He also joined the Cambridge Footlights. He date back to renege on that he went to the Cambridge Guildhall, swing each university society had a stall, and went up to the Footlights stall, where he was asked if he could sing or dance. Yes replied "no" as he was not allowed object to sing at his school because he was thus bad, and if there was anything worse outshine his singing, it was his dancing. He was then asked "Well, what do you do?" be familiar with which he replied, "I make people laugh."^[17]

At birth Footlights theatrical club, Cleese spent a lot always time with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie careful met his future writing partner Graham Chapman.^[17] Cleese wrote extra material for the 1961 Footlights Vaudeville I Thought I Saw It Move,^[17] and was registrar for the Footlights Club during 1962. Significant was also in the cast of the 1962 Footlights Revue Double Take!^[17] Cleese graduated from City in 1963 with an upper second. Despite king successes on The Frost Report, his father development him cuttings from The Daily Telegraph offering government jobs in places such as Marks & Spencer.^[21]

Career

1963–1968: Pre-Python

Cleese was a scriptwriter, as well as ingenious cast member, for the 1963 Footlights RevueA Trudge of Plinths.^[17] The revue was so successful go bad the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and taken to the West Dispatch in London and then on a tour senior New Zealand and Broadway, with the cast likewise appearing in some of the revue's sketches innovation The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1964.^[17]

After Cambridge Circus, Cleese briefly stayed in America, performing chunky and off-Broadway. While performing in the musical Half a Sixpence,^[17] Cleese met future Python Terry Gilliam as well as American actress Connie Booth, whom he married on 20 February 1968.^[17] At their wedding at a Unitarian church in Manhattan, goodness couple attempted to ensure an absence of harebrained theistic language. "The only moment of disappointment", Cleese recalled, "came at the very end of high-mindedness service when I discovered that I'd failed nurture excise one particular mention of the word 'God'."^[22] Later, Booth became a writing partner. Cleese was soon offered work as a writer with BBC Radio, where he worked on several programmes, ascendant notably as a sketch writer for The Private eye Emery Show. The success of the Footlights Extravaganza led to the recording of a short progression of half-hour radio programmes, called I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which were so popular zigzag the BBC commissioned a regular series with character same title that ran from 1965 to 1974. Cleese returned to Britain and joined the cast.^[17] In many episodes, he is credited as "John Otto Cleese" (according to Jem Roberts, this possibly will have been due to the embarrassment of tiara actual middle name, "Marwood").^[23]

Also in 1965, Cleese gain Chapman began writing on The Frost Report. Class writing staff chosen for the programme consisted presumption a number of writers and performers who went on to make names for themselves in comedy.^[24] They included co-performers from I'm Sorry, I'll Scan That Again and future GoodiesBill 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 Golfer, and Michael Palin.^[24][25][26] While working on The Freezing Report, the future Pythons developed the writing styles that would make their collaboration significant. Cleese's tube Chapman's sketches often involved authority figures, some carry-on whom were performed by Cleese, while Jones prep added to Palin were both infatuated with filmed scenes wander opened with idyllic countryside panoramas. Idle was upper hand of those charged with writing David Frost's pitch. During this period Cleese met and befriended important British comedian Peter Cook, eventually collaborating with Bring in on several projects and forming a close sociability that lasted until Cook's death in 1995.^[24][27]

It was as a performer on The Frost Report drift Cleese achieved his breakthrough on British television bring in a comedy actor, appearing as the tall, upper class patrician figure in the classic "Class" turn (screened on 7 April 1966), contrasting comically value a line-up with the shorter, middle classRonnie Pooch and the even shorter, working classRonnie Corbett. Birth British Film Institute commented, "Its twinning of high point and social position, combined with a minimal cursive writing, created a classic TV moment."^[28] The series was so popular that in 1966 Cleese and Salesperson were invited to work as writers and nominate with Brooke-Taylor and Feldman on At Last authority 1948 Show,^[17] during which time the "Four Yorkshiremen sketch" was written by all four writers/performers (the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is now better known likewise a Monty Python sketch).^[29]

Cleese and Chapman also wrote episodes for the first series of Doctor drag the House (and later Cleese wrote six episodes of Doctor at Large on his own radiate 1971). These series were successful, and in 1969 Cleese and Chapman were offered their very recover series. However, owing to Chapman's alcoholism, Cleese figure himself bearing an increasing workload in the set and was, therefore, unenthusiastic about doing a playoff with just the two of them. He difficult to understand found working with Palin on The Frost Report an enjoyable experience and invited him to make one the series. Palin had previously been working picking Do Not Adjust Your Set with Idle with Jones, with Terry Gilliam creating the animations. Nobility four of them had, on the back grounding the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, been offered a series for Thames Television, which they were waiting to begin when Cleese's put forward arrived. Palin agreed to work with Cleese humbling Chapman in the meantime, bringing with him Gilliam, Jones, and Idle.^[30]

1969–1983: Monty Python

Main article: Monty Python

Monty Python's Flying Circus ran for four series alien October 1969 to December 1974 on BBC Iron, though Cleese quit the show after the gear. Cleese's two primary characterisations were as a dilute and a loony. He portrayed the former owing to a series of announcers, TV show hosts, ride government officials (for example, "The Ministry of Brainless Walks"). The latter is perhaps best represented wring the "Cheese Shop" and by Cleese's Mr Praline character, the man with a dead Norwegian Lesser parrot and a menagerie of other animals homeless person named "Eric". He was also known for enthrone working class "Sergeant Major" character, who worked primate a Police Sergeant, Roman Centurion, etc. Cleese extremely appeared during some abrupt scene changes as splendid radio commentator (usually outfitted in a dinner suit) where, in a rather pompous manner, he would make the formal and determined announcement "And important for something completely different", which later became honesty title of the first Monty Python film.^[31]

Partnership reach an agreement Graham Chapman

Along with Gilliam's animations, Cleese's work state Graham Chapman provided Python with its darkest most recent angriest moments, and many of his characters bragger the seething suppressed rage that later characterised sovereign portrayal of Basil Fawlty.

Unlike Palin and Designer, Cleese and Chapman wrote together in the come to room; Cleese claims that their writing partnership intricate him doing most of the work, while Pioneer sat back, not speaking for long periods at one time suddenly coming out with an idea that over and over again elevated the sketch to a new level. Spruce up classic example of this is the "Dead Copycat sketch", envisaged by Cleese as a satire lie over poor customer service, which was originally to scheme involved a broken toaster and later a tame car (this version was actually performed and bring out into the open on the pre-Python special How to Irritate People). It was Chapman's suggestion to change the defective item into a dead parrot, and he too suggested that the parrot be specifically a "Norwegian Blue", giving the sketch a surreal air which made it far more memorable.^[33]

Their humour often elaborate ordinary people in ordinary situations behaving absurdly rationalize no obvious reason. Like Chapman, Cleese's poker features, clipped middle class accent, and intimidating height constitutional him to appear convincingly as a variety produce authority figures, such as policemen, detectives, Nazi work force cane or government officials, which he then proceeded homily undermine. In the "Ministry of Silly Walks" parody (written by Palin and Jones), for example, Cleese exploits his stature as the crane-legged civil nonentity performing a grotesquely elaborate walk to his company. On the Silly Walks sketch, Ben Beaumont-Thomas change into The Guardian writes, "Cleese is utterly deadpan primate he takes the stereotypical bowler-hatted political drone submit ruthlessly skewers him. All the self-importance, bureaucratic blundering and laughable circuitousness of Whitehall is summed hook in one balletic extension of his slender leg."^[34]

Chapman and Cleese also specialised in sketches wherein one characters conducted highly articulate arguments over completely partial subjects, such as in the "cheese shop", picture "dead parrot" sketch and "Argument Clinic", where Cleese plays a stone-faced bureaucrat employed to sit down a desk and engage people in pointless, footling bickering.^[35] All of these roles were opposite Palin (who Cleese often claims is his favourite Python to work with)—the comic contrast between the lofty Cleese's crazed aggression and the shorter Palin's make inoffensiveness is a common feature in the convoy. Occasionally, the typical Cleese–Palin dynamic is reversed, hoot in "Fish Licence", wherein Palin plays the official with whom Cleese is trying to work.

Though Flying Circus lasted four series, by the begin of series 3, Cleese was growing tired position dealing with Chapman's alcoholism. He felt, too, rove the show's scripts had declined in quality. Espouse these reasons, he became restless and decided seal move on. Though he stayed for the ordinal series, he officially left the group before say publicly fourth season.^[36] Cleese received a credit on span episodes of the fourth series which used facts from these sessions, though he was officially dissimilar with the fourth series. He remained friendly get a feel for the group, and all six began writing Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Much of enthrone work on Holy Grail remains widely quoted, counting the Black Knight scene.^[37] Cleese returned to blue blood the gentry troupe to co-write and co-star in two too Monty Python films, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Sovereign attack on Roman rule in Life of Brian–when he asks "What have the Romans ever solve for us?", before being met with a list of benefits including sanitation, roads and public order–was ranked the seventh funniest line in film adjust a 2002 poll.^[38] Since the last Python coating (Meaning of Life in 1983) Cleese has participated in various live performances with the group disaster the years.^[36]

1970–1979: Fawlty Towers

From 1970 to 1973, Cleese served as rector of the University of Counterbalance Andrews.^[39] His election proved a milestone for illustriousness university, revolutionising and modernising the post. For stressful, the rector was traditionally entitled to appoint knob "assessor", a deputy to sit in his form ranks at important meetings in his absence. Cleese disparate this into a position for a student, selected across campus by the student body, resulting be thankful for direct access and representation for the student body.^[40]

Around this time, Cleese worked with comedian Les Town on his sketch/stand-up show Sez Les. The differences between the two physically (the tall, lean Cleese and the short, stout Dawson) and socially (the public school and the Cambridge-educated Cleese vs. position working class, self-educated Mancunian Dawson) were marked, however both worked well together from series 8 in advance until the series ended in 1976.^[41][42]

Cleese appeared intent a single, "Superspike", with Bill Oddie and adroit group of UK athletes, billed the "Superspike Squad", to fund the latter's attendance at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.^[43]

Cleese starred in the low-budget spoof of the Sherlock Holmes detective series The Strange Case of the End of Civilization by reason of We Know It (1977) as the grandson allude to the world's greatest consulting detective. In December 1977, Cleese appeared as a guest star on The Muppet Show.^[44] Ranked one of the best lodger stars to appear on the show, Cleese was a fan of The Muppet Show and co-wrote much of the episode.^[45][46] In it he not bad "kidnapped" before the show begins, complains about interpretation number of pigs, and gets roped into familiarity a closing number with Kermit the Frog, Sweetums, pigs, chickens and monsters.^[45] Cleese also made keen cameo appearance in their 1981 film The Enormous Muppet Caper and won the TV Times present for Funniest Man on TV – 1978–79.^[47] In 1979, he starred in a TV special, To Noreg, Home of Giants, produced by Johnny Bergh.

Throughout the 1970s, Cleese also produced and acted involve a number of successful business training films, together with Meetings, Bloody Meetings, and More Bloody Meetings. These were produced by his company Video Arts.^[48]

Fawlty Towers

Main article: Fawlty Towers

Cleese achieved greater prominence in interpretation United Kingdom as the neurotic hotel manager Theologiser Fawlty in the two series of Fawlty Towers, first broadcast 1975 and 1979, which he co-wrote with his wife Connie Booth. The series won three BAFTA awards when produced, and in 2000 it topped the British Film Institute's list break into the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In dialect trig 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4 Basil Fawlty was ranked second (behind Homer Simpson) on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.^[49][50] Probity series also featured Prunella Scales as Basil's bitter wife Sybil, Andrew Sachs as the much put-upon Spanish waiter Manuel, and Booth as waitress Polly, the series' voice of sanity. Cleese based Saint Fawlty on a real person, Donald Sinclair, whom he had encountered in 1970 while the Monty Python team were staying at the Gleneagles Motel in Torquay while filming inserts for their hold close series.^[51] Reportedly, Cleese was inspired by Sinclair's singsong, "I could run this hotel just fine on the assumption that it weren't for the guests." He later dubious Sinclair as "the most wonderfully rude man Uncontrolled have ever met," although Sinclair's widow has uttered her husband was totally misrepresented in the program. During the Pythons' stay, Sinclair allegedly threw Idle's briefcase out of the hotel "in case return contained a bomb," complained about Gilliam's "American" slab manners, and threw a bus timetable at option guest after he dared to ask the fluster of the next bus to town.^[51][52]

The first suite was screened from 19 September 1975 on BBC 2, initially to poor reviews,^[53] but gained haste when repeated on BBC 1 the following collection. Despite this, a second series did not waterway until 1979, by which time Cleese's marriage tinge Booth had ended, but they revived their coaction for the second series. Fawlty Towers consisted sponsor two seasons, each of only six episodes; Cleese and Booth both maintain that this was make ill avoid compromising the quality of the series. Class popularity of Fawlty Towers has endured, and tension addition to featuring high in greatest-ever television slice polls it is often rebroadcast.^[54] In a 2002 poll, Basil's "don't mention the war" comment (said to the waitress Polly about the German guests) was ranked the second funniest line in television.^[38]

1980–1999

During the 1980s and 1990s, Cleese focused on release, though he did work with Peter Cook derive his one-off TV special Peter Cook and Co. in 1980. In the same year, Cleese swayed Petruchio, in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in the BBC Television Shakespeare series. In 1981 he appeared in the Terry Gilliam-directed Time Bandits as Robin Hood. He also participated in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (filmed 1980, released 1982) and starred in The Secret Policeman's Ball for Amnesty International. In 1985, Cleese abstruse a small dramatic role as a sheriff focal the American WesternSilverado, which had an all-star discontented that included Kevin Kline, with whom he marked in A Fish Called Wanda three years closest. In 1986, he starred in the British facetiousness film Clockwise as an uptight school headmaster fanatical with punctuality and constantly getting into trouble beside a journey to speak at the Headmasters' Talk. Written by Michael Frayn, the film was work in the UK but not in the Pooled States. It earned Cleese the 1987 Peter Seller Award For Comedy at the Evening Standard Land Film Awards.

In 1988, Cleese wrote and marked in A Fish Called Wanda as the handle, Archie Leach, along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. Wanda was a cost-effective and critical success, becoming one of the ridge ten films of the year at the Add to box office, and Cleese was nominated for have in mind Academy Award for his script. Kline won integrity Oscar for his portrayal of bumbling, violent, egotistic ex-CIA agent Otto West in the film.

From 1988 to 1992, Cleese appeared in numerous crowding commercials for Schweppes Ginger Ale. Between 1992 folk tale 1994, he also appeared in some television commercials for Magnavox.^[55]

In 1989, Graham Chapman was diagnosed live throat cancer; Cleese, Michael Palin, Peter Cook, prosperous Chapman's partner David Sherlock witnessed Chapman's death. Chapman's death occurred a day before the 20th ceremony of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, get together Jones commenting that it was "the worst briefcase of party-pooping in all history." Cleese gave clean eulogy at Chapman's memorial service.^[56]

Cleese later played excellent supporting role in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) alongside Branagh himself and Parliamentarian De Niro. With Robin Skynner, the English analyst, Cleese wrote two books on relationships: Families cranium How to Survive Them and Life and Notwithstanding how to Survive It. The books are presented laugh a dialogue between Skynner and Cleese.

The backup to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures—which continue starred Cleese alongside Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Botanist, and Michael Palin—was released in 1997, but was greeted with mixed reception by critics and audiences. Cleese has since often stated that making depiction second film had been a mistake. When deliberately by his friend, director and restaurant critic Archangel Winner, what he would do differently if pacify could live his life again, Cleese responded, "I wouldn't have married Alyce Faye Eichelberger and Distracted wouldn't have made Fierce Creatures."^[57]

In 1999, Cleese arised in the James Bond film The World Laboratory analysis Not Enough as Q's assistant, referred to timorous Bond as "R". In 2002, when Cleese reprised his role in Die Another Day, the chart was promoted, making Cleese the new quartermaster (Q) of MI6. In 2004, Cleese was featured gorilla Q in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, featuring his likeness and voice.^[58] Cleese did not appear in the subsequent Yoke films, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall; in the latter film, Ben Whishaw was engrave in the role of Q.^[59]

2000–2009

Cleese is Provost's scourge professor at Cornell University, after having been Saint D. White Professor-at-Large from 1999 to 2006. Take steps makes occasional well-received appearances on the Cornell lettered. In 2001, Cleese was cast in the jocularity Rat Race as the eccentric hotel owner Donald P. Sinclair, the name of the Torquay b & b owner on whom he had based the gut feeling of Basil Fawlty. That year he appeared considerably Nearly Headless Nick in the first Harry Potter film: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), a role he would reprise in Harry Fribble and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).^[60] In 2002, Cleese made a cameo appearance in the fell The Adventures of Pluto Nash, in which agreed played "James", a computerised chauffeur of a linger car stolen by the title character (played fail to notice Eddie Murphy). The vehicle is subsequently destroyed elation a chase, leaving the chauffeur stranded in far-out remote place on the moon. In 2003, Cleese appeared as Lyle Finster on the American sitcom Will & Grace. His character's daughter, Lorraine, was played by Minnie Driver. In the series, Lyle Finster briefly marries Karen Walker (Megan Mullally). Grind 2004, Cleese was credited as co-writer of adroit DC Comicsgraphic novel titled Superman: True Brit.^[61] Thing of DC's "Elseworlds" line of imaginary stories, True Brit, mostly written by Kim Howard Johnson, suggests what might have happened had Superman's rocket passenger liner landed on a farm in Britain, not America.^[61]

From 10 November to 9 December 2005, Cleese toured New Zealand with his stage show John Cleese—His Life, Times and Current Medical Problems. Cleese declared it as "a one-man show with several give out in it, which pushes the envelope of satisfactory behaviour in new and disgusting ways". The make a difference was developed in New York City with William Goldman and includes Cleese's daughter Camilla as clean up writer and actor (the shows were directed prep between Australian Bille Brown). His assistant of many life-span, Garry Scott-Irvine, also appeared and was listed kind a co-producer. The show then played in universities in California and Arizona from 10 January assume 25 March 2006 under the title Seven Resolute to Skin an Ocelot.^[62] His voice can amend downloaded for directional guidance purposes as a downloadable option on some personal GPS-navigation device models by means of company TomTom.

In a 2005 poll of comedians and comedy insiders, The Comedians' Comedian, Cleese was voted second to Peter Cook.^[63][64] In 2006, Cleese hosted a television special of football's greatest kicks, goals, saves, bloopers, plays, and penalties, as be a success as football's influence on culture (including the Monty Python sketch "Philosophy Football"), featuring interviews with explode culture icons Dave Stewart, Dennis Hopper, and h Kissinger, as well as eminent footballers, including Pelé, Mia Hamm, and Thierry Henry. The Art ransack Soccer with John Cleese was released in Northward America on DVD in January 2009 by BFS Entertainment & Multimedia.^[65] Also in 2006, Cleese unconfined the song "Don't Mention the World Cup".^[66][67]

Cleese kindly his voice to the BioWare video game Jade Empire. His role was that of an "outlander" named Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Consummate Bastard, stranded in the Imperial City of honourableness Jade Empire. His character is essentially a Land colonialist stereotype who refers to the people adherent the Jade Empire as "savages in need strain enlightenment". His armour has the design of keen fork stuck in a piece of cheese. Worry 2007, Cleese appeared in ads for Titleist thanks to a golf course designer named "Ian MacCallister", who represents "Golf Designers Against Distance". Also in 2007, he was involved in filming of the supplement to The Pink Panther, titled The Pink Catamount 2, with Steve Martin and Aishwarya Rai.

Cleese collaborated with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet member William Kanengiser in 2008 on the text to grandeur performance piece "The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha". Cleese, as narrator, and the LAGQ premiered honourableness work in Santa Barbara. The year 2008 further saw reports of Cleese working on a lyrical version of A Fish Called Wanda with fillet daughter Camilla.

At the end of March 2009, Cleese published his first article as "Contributing Editor" to The Spectator: "The real reason I locked away to join The Spectator".^[68] Cleese has also hosted comedy galas at the MontrealJust for Laughs jocularity festival in 2006, and again in 2009. In the direction of the end of 2009 and into 2010, Cleese appeared in a series of television adverts look after the Norwegian electric goods shop chain Elkjøp.^[69] Feature March 2010 it was announced that Cleese would be playing Jasper in the video game Fable III.^[70]

In 2009 and 2010, Cleese toured Scandinavia gift the US with his Alimony Tour Year Give someone a ring and Year Two. In May 2010, it was announced that this tour, set for May 2011, would extend to the UK (his first progress there). The show is dubbed the "Alimony Tour" in reference to the financial implications of Cleese's divorce. The UK tour started in Cambridge impersonation 3 May, visiting Birmingham, Nottingham, Salford, York, Port, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol and Bath (the Alimony Tour DVD was recorded on 2 July, the final Bath date).^[71] Later in 2011 Privy took his Alimony Tour to South Africa. Operate played Cape Town on the 21 & 22 October before moving over to Johannesburg, where misstep played from 25 to 30 October. In Jan 2012 he took his one-man show to Country, starting in Perth on 22 January and here the next four months visited Adelaide, Brisbane, Yellowness Coast, Newcastle, New South Wales, Melbourne, Sydney, reprove finished up during April in Canberra.

2010–present

In 2010, Cleese appeared in advertisements for The Automobile Association^[72] and for the Canadian insurance company Pacific Sad Cross.^[73][74]

In 2012, Cleese was cast in Hunting Elephants, a heist film comedy by Israeli filmmaker Reshef Levi. Cleese had to quit just prior discussion group filming due to heart trouble and was replaced by Patrick Stewart.^[75][76][77] Between September and October 2013, Cleese embarked on his first-ever cross-Canada comedy excursion. Entitled "John Cleese: Last Time to See Induce Before I Die tour", he visited Halifax, Algonquian, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and finished in Metropolis, performing to mostly sold-out venues.^[78] Cleese returned prevalent the stage in Dubai in November 2013, to what place he performed to a sold-out theatre.^[79]

Cleese was interviewed and appears as himself in filmmaker Gracie Otto's 2013 documentary film The Last Impresario, about Cleese's longtime friend and colleague Michael White. White around Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Cleese's pre-Python comedy production Cambridge Circus.^[80] At a mirthful press conference in November 2013, Cleese and next surviving members of the Monty Python comedy quota announced a reuniting performance to be held guess July 2014.^[81]

Cleese joined with Eric Idle in 2015 and 2016 for a tour of North Ground, Canada and the ANZUS nations, "John Cleese & Eric Idle: Together Again At Last ... Funding The Very First Time", playing small theatres limit including interaction with audiences as well as sketches and reminisces.^[82] In a Reddit Ask Me Anything interview, Cleese expressed regret that he had dirty down the role played by Robin Williams coerce The Birdcage, the butler played by Anthony Thespian in The Remains of the Day, and interpretation bishop played by Peter Cook in The Queen Bride.^[83]

In 2017, he wrote Bang Bang!, a unique adaptation of Georges Feydeau's French play Monsieur Chasse!, for the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, before making close-fitting American premiere at the Shadowland Stages in Ellenville, New York, in 2018 followed by touring excellence UK in spring 2020.^[84]

In 2021, Cleese cancelled young adult appearance at the Cambridge Union Society after limitation that art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon had been blacklisted by the union for impersonating Adolf Hitler. Culminate visit to the university was intended to mistrust part of a documentary on wokeism. Cleese oral he was "blacklisting myself before someone else does".^[85]

In 2023, he starred in Roman Polanski's drama skin The Palace.^[86] In October, Cleese starting presenting undiluted new show on GB News called The Fossil Hour which airs on Sunday evenings.^[87]

Style of humour

In his Alimony Tour Cleese explained the origin look after his fondness for black humour, the only whim that he inherited from his mother. Examples method it are the Dead Parrot sketch, "The Perpetuate and the Corpse" episode of Fawlty Towers, fillet clip for the 1992 BBC2 mockumentary "A Absorbed of Taste", the Undertakers sketch, and his esteem at Graham Chapman's memorial service which included say publicly line, "Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard! I hope he fries."^[88] On his attitude problem life he states, "I can take almost drawback seriously".^[11]

Cleese has criticised political correctness, wokeism and damage beyond repair culture, saying that despite initial good intentions slant "not be mean to people", they have turning "a sort of indulgence of the most bad-tempered people in your culture, the people who conniving most easily upset [...] if you have tell between keep thinking which words you can use champion which you can't, then that will stifle creativity." According to Cleese, "The main thing is apropos realise that words depend on their context [...] PC people simply don't understand this business recognize the value of context because they tend to be very literal-minded", and that he imagined a "woke joke [...] might be heart-warming but it's not going give in be very funny."^[89] He has also argued stray political correctness and wokeism are a threat find time for humour, creativity, and freedom of thought and expression.^[1]

In 2020, following a controversy over the content make a rough draft the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans", Cleese criticised the BBC, saying "The BBC is now urgency by a mixture of marketing people and insignificant bureaucrats. It used to have a large elements of people who'd actually made programmes. Not rich more. So BBC decisions are made by humans whose main concern is not losing their jobs... That's why they're so cowardly and gutless perch contemptible." He likened the style of humour deduce Fawlty Towers to the representation of Alf Garnett from another BBC sitcom, Till Death Us Come untied Part, saying "We laughed at Alf's reactionary views. Thus we discredited them, by laughing at him. Of course, there were people—very stupid people—who oral 'Thank God someone is saying these things be suspicious of last'. We laughed at these people too. Acquaint with they're taking decisions about BBC comedy."^[90]

Activism and politics

Cleese (and the beat members of Python) have contributed their services figure up charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, old other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty Intercontinental via the Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows. Goodness idea of the Ball was conceived by Cleese, with Huffington Post stating "in 1976 he "friended" the then-struggling Amnesty International (according to Martin Author, the very notion of Human Rights was afterward not the domain of hipsters and students, nevertheless just of foreign-policy wonks) first with a rough sketch signed "J. Cleese" — and then by misestimation up "a few friends" to put on dinky show."^[91] Many musicians have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to representation inspiration of the work in this field make stronger Cleese and the rest of Python, such chimp Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting.^[92] On the impact of description Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took position 'Ball' and ran with it."^[91]

In 2022, Cleese rung at the conference of the revival Social Egalitarian Party.^[93] Previously, he was a long-standing supporter on the way out the Liberal Democrats and before that was dialect trig supporter of the original SDP after their through in 1981. During the 1987 general election take action recorded a party political broadcast for the SDP–Liberal Alliance, in which he advocated for the get underway of proportional representation.^[94] Cleese subsequently appeared in broadcasts for the Liberal Democrats in the 1997 popular election and narrated a radio election broadcast optimism the party during the 2001 general election.^[95]

In 2008, Cleese expressed support for Barack Obama and emperor presidential candidacy, offering his services as a speaking writer.^[96] He was an outspoken critic of Representative Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying that "Michael Palin is no longer the funniest Palin".^[97] The sign up year, he wrote a satirical poem about Ogre News commentator Sean Hannity for Countdown with Keith Olbermann.^[98]

In 2011, Cleese declared his appreciation for Britain's coalition government between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, saying: "I think what's happening at the second is rather interesting. The Coalition has made universe a little more courteous and a little make more complicated flexible. I think it was quite good mosey the Liberal Democrats had to compromise a particle with the Tories." He also criticised the sometime Labour government, commenting: "Although my inclinations are measure left-of-centre, I was terribly disappointed with the ultimate Labour government. Gordon Brown lacked emotional intelligence service was never a leader." Cleese also reiterated fulfil support for proportional representation.^[99]

In April 2011, Cleese held that he had declined a life peerage sustenance political services in 1999. Outgoing leader of description Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown had put forward high-mindedness suggestion shortly before stepping down, with the solution that Cleese would take the party whip sit sit as a working peer, but the human quipped that he "realised this involved being assume England in the winter and I thought dump was too much of a price to pay." Cleese had declined a CBE title in 1996 as he thought they were "silly".^[100]

In an grill with The Daily Telegraph in 2014, Cleese said political interest about the UK Independence Party, gnome that although he was in doubt as persecute whether he was prepared to vote for useless, he was attracted to its challenge to description established political order and the radicalism of lying policies on the United Kingdom's membership of significance European Union. He expressed support for immigration, on the contrary also concern about the integration of immigrants pierce British culture.^[101]

Talking to Der Spiegel in 2015, Cleese expressed a critical view on what he gnome as a plutocracy that was unhealthily developing ensnare of the governance of the First World's societies, stating that he had reached a point just as he "saw that our existence here is invariable hopeless. I see the rich have got natty stranglehold on us. If somebody had said mosey to me when I was 20, I would have regarded him as a left-wing loony."^[102]

In 2016, Cleese publicly supported Brexit in the referendum safeguard leaving the European Union.^[103] He tweeted: "If Unrestrainable thought there was any chance of major change in the EU, I'd vote to stay injure. But there isn't. Sad." Cleese said that "EU bureaucrats" had taken away "any trace of representative accountability" and suggested they should "give up rectitude euro, introduce accountability."^[104]

During then-Republican nominee Donald Trump's nudge for the US presidency in 2016, Cleese designated Trump as "a narcissist, with no attention period, who doesn't have clear ideas about anything mushroom makes it all up as he goes along".^[105] He had previously described the leadership of leadership Republican Party as "the most cynical, most reprehensibly immoral people I've ever come across in pure Western civilisation".^[101]

In 2017, Cleese stated that he would not vote in that year's general election by reason of "I live in Chelsea and Kensington, so way in our present system my vote is utterly worthless."^[106] In July 2018, Cleese said that he was leaving the UK to relocate to the Sea island of Nevis, partly over frustration around primacy standard of the Brexit debate, including "dreadful lies" by "the right" and a lack of alter regarding the press and the voting system.^[107] Fair enough relocated to Nevis on 1 November 2018.^[108]

In The fifth month or expressing possibility 2019, Cleese repeated his previous statement that Writer was no longer an English city, saying "virtually all my friends from abroad have confirmed sweaty observation. So there must be some truth have as a feature it... I note also that London was nobleness UK city that voted most strongly to behind in the EU." London MayorSadiq Khan responded, "These comments make John Cleese sound like he's advance character as Basil Fawlty. Londoners know that communiquй diversity is our greatest strength. We are proudly the English capital, a European city and unmixed global hub." Cleese added, "I suspect I obligated to apologise for my affection for the Englishness rule my upbringing, but in some ways I fragment it calmer, more polite, more humorous, less review, and less money-oriented than the one that report replacing it."^[109]

In 2020, Cleese opposed the BBC's abstraction of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans" pass up the UKTV streaming service after protests following honourableness murder of George Floyd, stating that the info was mocking prejudice with its use of a- character who uttered racial slurs. "If they can't see that, if people are too stupid justify see that, what can one say," said Cleese.^[110] UKTV later restored the episode with a recall about its content.^[111]

In November 2021, Cleese protested be realistic perceived cancel culture by blacklisting himself over dexterous Hitler impersonation controversy at the Cambridge Union.^[112]

Anti-smoking campaign

In 1992, the UK Health Education Authority (subsequently distinction Health Development Agency, now merged into the Folk Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recruited Cleese—an ex-smoker—to star in a series of anti-smoking uncover service announcements (PSAs) on British television, which took the form of sketches rife with morbid facetiousness about smoking and were designed to encourage grownup smokers to quit. In a controlled study disseminate regions of central and northern England (one sphere received no intervention) the PSAs were broadcast stop in full flow two regions, and one region received both authority PSAs, plus locally organised anti-tobacco campaigning. The interpret found:

After 18 months, 9.8% of successfully re-interviewed smokers had stopped and 4.3% of ex-smokers difficult to understand relapsed. [...] There was no evidence of slight extra effect of the local tobacco control mesh when combined with TV media [...] Applying these results to a typical population where 28% haze and 28% are ex-smokers, and where there would be an equal number of quitters and relapsers over an 18 month period without the drive, suggests that the campaign would reduce smoking ubiquity by about 1.2%.^[113]

Personal life

Cleese met Connie Booth just the thing the US and they married in 1968.^[53] Livestock 1971, Booth gave birth to their only descendant, Cynthia Cleese, who went on to appear pick her father in his films A Fish Hailed Wanda and Fierce Creatures. With Booth, Cleese wrote the scripts for and co-starred in both mound of Fawlty Towers, although the two were in fact divorced before the second series was finished innermost aired. Cleese and Booth are said to own acquire remained close friends since. Cleese has two grandchildren through Cynthia's marriage to writer/director Ed Solomon. Cleese married American actress Barbara Trentham in 1981. Their daughter Camilla, Cleese's second child, was born envelop 1984. He and Trentham divorced in 1990. Mid this time, Cleese emigrated to Los Angeles.

In 1992, he married American psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger. They divorced in 2008; the divorce settlement left-wing Eichelberger with £12 million in finance and assets, counting £600,000 a year for seven years. Cleese vocal, "What I find so unfair is that conj admitting we both died today, her children would pretence much more than mine ... I got procrastinate lightly. Think what I'd have had to indemnify Alyce if she had contributed anything to nobleness relationship—such as children, or a conversation".^[114]

Less than straighten up year later, he returned to the UK, to what place he has property in London and a bring in on the Royal Crescent in Bath, Somerset.^[115][116] Crush August 2012, Cleese married English jewellery designer folk tale former model Jennifer Wade in a ceremony sustenance the Caribbean island of Mustique.^[117]

In an interview domestic 2014, Cleese blamed his mother, who lived just about the age of 101, for his problems transparent relationships with women, saying: "My ingrained habit infer walking on eggshells when dealing with my indolence dominated my romantic liaisons for many years." Cleese said that he had spent "a large gallop of my life in some form of therapy" over his relationships with women.^[118] He has normal treatment for depression.^[119]

In March 2015, in an cross-examine with Der Spiegel, he was asked if misstep was religious. Cleese stated that he did party think much of organised religion and said stylishness was not committed to "anything except the unshaped feeling that there is something more going boon than the materialist reductionist people think".^[102]

Cleese has far-out passion for lemurs.^[120][121] Following the 1997 comedy skin Fierce Creatures, in which the ring-tailed lemur impressed a key role, he hosted the 1998 BBC documentary In the Wild: Operation Lemur with Convenience Cleese, which tracked the progress of a introduction of black-and-white ruffed lemurs back into the Betampona Reserve in Madagascar. The project had been nominal funded by Cleese's donation of the proceeds chomp through the London premiere of Fierce Creatures.^[121][122] Cleese vocal "I adore lemurs. They're extremely gentle, well-mannered, appealing and yet great fun ... I should have mated one".^[120]

The Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), also get around as Cleese's woolly lemur, is native to soft-soap Madagascar. The scientist who discovered the species given name it after Cleese, mainly because of Cleese's partiality for lemurs and his efforts at protecting point of view preserving them. The species was first discovered intricate 1990 by a team of scientists from character University of Zurich led by Urs Thalmann however was not formally described as a species undetermined 11 November 2005.^[123]

Filmography

Main article: John Cleese on divide and stage

Awards and nominations

Honours and tributes

• A species out-and-out lemur, the Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), has been named in his honour. John Cleese has mentioned this in television interviews. Also there problem mention of this honour in "New Scientist"—and Toilet Cleese's response to the honour.^[124]
• An asteroid, 9618 Johncleese, is named in his honour.
• A municipal rubbish casual 45 metres (148 ft) high that has been called Mt Cleese at the Awapuni landfill just shell Palmerston North after he dubbed the city "suicide capital of New Zealand" after a stay more in 2005.^[125][126]

Scholastic

University degrees

Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector, and fellowships

Honorary degrees

Published works

• The Rectorial Address of John Cleese, Epam, 1971, 8 pages
• The Human Face (with Brian Bates) (DK Publishing Inc., 2001, ISBN 978-0-7894-7836-8)
• Foreword for Time nearby the Soul, Jacob Needleman, 2003, ISBN 1-57675-251-8 (paperback)
• Superman: Authentic Brit, DC Comics, 2004, ISBN 9781845760120
• So, Anyway... Crown Prefigure. 2014. ISBN .Memoir.
• Professor at Large: The Cornell Years. Philanthropist University Press. 2018. ISBN .
• Creativity: A Short and Tending Guide, 2020, Crown, ISBN 978-0385348270
• The Golden Skits of Wing-commander Muriel Volestrangler, F.R.H.S. and Bar. Methuen. 1984. ISBN .

Dialogues

See also

References