Cheerful whistling, along with the attitude to life “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” while dangling from a cross: The British comedy troupe Monty Python has always loved the humorous tightrope walk. Never was this more apparent than at the end of 1979’s The Life of Brian, the film that the church viewed as pure work of the devil, including angry calls for a boycott.
Eric Idle (80) was the musical genius responsible for the various Monty Python films and TV skits, including the final singing performance on the crucifix. On March 29, Idle will be 80 years old and, together with his surviving companions, will prove that they are blessed with plenty of gallows humor, even when it comes to their own mortality. Which pythons are still among us and what are the eternally infantile nonsense heads up to?
Birthday boy Eric Idle rarely appeared on screen apart from Monty Python. In the 1990s he acted in comedies such as “Nuns on the Run” or “Casper”, but mostly he stayed true to the Python cosmos. For example with his musical “Spamalot”, which was based on the famous film “The Knights of the Coconut”. His autobiography, published in 2018, is also called, how could it be otherwise, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”.
Lately, Idle has increasingly focused on his voice, for example as a voice actor in animated films such as “Shrek the Third”, or as a narrator in the fantasy film “Ella – Verflixt
John Cleese (83) is the busiest of the pythons, at least in front of the camera. Even in the heyday of the troupe, he acted solo in other films, ended up in the clutches of a “fish named Wanda” and later matured into Bond inventor Q or the eponymous Charlie with his “3 Angels”.
In recent years he has played in larger and smaller productions and recently announced a surprising comeback: the sitcom “Fawlty Towers” by and with Cleese, which ran on British television from 1975 to 1979, is apparently being relaunched .
After Monty Python, Michael Palin (79) could still be seen in individual films of the 80s and 90s, for example in “A Fish Named Wanda” or Terry Gilliams (82) “Brazil”. However, it was mainly through his commitment that he caused a stir. In various documentaries and books, the passionate globetrotter loves to draw attention to other countries and cultures.
A circumstance that brought him a unique honor among his Python colleagues: in 2019 he was knighted for his services to “travel, culture and geography”. Although Cleese was once in contention for the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire, he turned it down, saying it was “too silly”. That’s saying something coming from a Monty Python…
Terry Gilliam can probably be described as the internationally most successful of the six – but exclusively behind the camera. He had either shared the direction with Terry Jones or left it entirely to him on the Python films, after which he appeared as an actor on a more sporadic basis. The passionate filmmaker is particularly fond of the science fiction genre, such as “Time Bandits” (1981), “Brazil” (1985), “12 Monkeys” (1995) with Bruce Willis (68) or “The Zero Theorem ” (2013) prove impressively.
Fans of the first film can look forward to this year: Marvel director Taika Waititi (47) is making a series out of “Time Bandits”, among others “Friends” star Lisa Kudrow (59) is involved and Gilliam is the executive producer eye above.
Now for the most tragic person, Graham Chapman (1941-1989). The actor who was allowed to embody Messiah Brian was only 48 years old. Ten years after “The Life of Brian” and one day before the troupe’s 20th anniversary, Chapman died of complications from cancer. Unforgettable is the equally heartbreaking and hilarious farewell speech that Cleese gave in honor of his best friend.
“Finally we’re rid of him, that parasitic bastard, I hope you burn in hell,” Cleese taunts his dead friend, capturing Chapman’s sense of humor perfectly. “The reason I say this is because I know he would never forgive me if I didn’t. If I had let this glorious opportunity slip by to shock you all on his behalf.” At the end of his speech, like everyone else present, he wipes tears from his eyes – half from crying, half from laughing.
Unfortunately, Terry Jones (1942-2020) is no longer with us either. The director of Python classics such as “The Meaning of Life” or “Brian’s Life”, in which he embodied the Mother of God named Mandy, only appeared sporadically after the 90s. This was also due to his health, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and dementia in 2016 – just seven years after he had a child with his much younger wife. Jones died in January 2020, and once again the four-headed pythons said goodbye to one of their own.
Jones’ coffin was carried into the church to the tune of her song “How Sweet To Be An Idiot.” Enclosing a bouquet of flowers, the four included a message that, how could it be otherwise, included a quote from Our Lady Mandy: “Terry, not the Messiah, just a very naughty boy! Love from all your followers, John, Terry G, Eric and Michael.” Cleese had previously proven once again on Twitter that jokes about death are allowed – especially when he has struck back in his own ranks. When he found out about his friend’s death, he wrote, among other things: “Two down, four to go” – meaning “two gone, four more to go.”
