John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese
1939 -
British born Weston-super-Mare

Height 6' 4¾" (1.95 m) . John Cleese was born on October 27, 1939, in Weston-Super-Mare, England. He was born into a family of modest means, his father being an insurance salesman, but he was nonetheless sent off to private schools to obtain a good education. Here he was often tormented for his height, having reached a height of six feet by the age of twelve, and eventually discovered that being humorous could deflect aggressive behavior in others. He loved humor in and of itself, collected jokes, and, like many young Britons who would grow up to be comedians, was devoted to the radio comedy show, "The Goon Show," starring the legendary Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, and Harry Secombe.Cleese did well in both sports and academics, but his real love was comedy. He attended Cambridge to read (study) Law, but devoted a great deal of time to the university's legendary Footlights group, writing and performing in comedy reviews, often in collaboration with future fellow Python Graham Chapman. Several of these comedy reviews met with great success, including one in particular which toured under the name "Cambridge Circus." When Cleese graduated, he went on to write for the BBC, then rejoined Cambridge Circus in 1964, which toured New Zealand and America. He remained in America after leaving Cambridge Circus, performing and doing a little journalism, and here met Terry Gilliam, another future Python.Returning to England, he began appearing in a BBC radio series, "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again", based on Cambridge Circus. It ran for several years and also starred future 'Goodies' Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden. He also appeared, briefly, with Brooke-Taylor, Chapman & Marty Feldman in "At Last the 1948 Show" (1967), for television, and a series of collaborations with some of the finest comedy-writing talent in England at the time, some of whom - Eric Idle, Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Chapman - eventually joined him in Monty Python. These programs included "The Frost Report" (1966) and Marty Feldman's program _"Marty" (1966)_ . Eventually, however, the writers were themselves collected to be the talent for their own program, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969), which was originally to be a vehicle for Cleese but soon showed itself to be an ensemble program. Monty Python displayed a strange and completely absorbing blend of low farce and high-concept absurdist humor, and remains influential to this day.After three seasons of the intensity of Monty Python, Cleese left the show, though he collaborated with one or more of the other Pythons for decades to come, including the Python movies released in the mid-70s to early 80s - Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), and The Meaning of Life (1983). Cleese and then-wife Connie Booth collaborated in the legendary television series "Fawlty Towers" (1975), as the sharp-tongued, rude, bumbling yet somehow lovable proprietor of a rundown English seaside hotel. Cleese apparently based this character on a proprietor he had met while staying with the other Pythons at a hotel in England. Only a dozen episodes were made, but each was truly hilarious, and he is still closely associated with this program to this day.Meanwhile Cleese had established a production company, Video Arts, for clever business training videos in which he generally starred, which were and continue to be enormously successful in the English-speaking world. He continues to act prolifically in movies, including in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), in the Harry Potter series, and in the James Bond series as the new Q, starting with The World Is Not Enough (1999), in which he began as R before graduating to Q. Cleese also supplies his voice to numerous animated and video projects, and frequently does commercials.Besides the infamous Basil Fawlty character, Cleese's other well-known trademark is his rendition of an English upper-class toff. He has a daughter with Booth and a daughter with his second wife, Barbara Trentham. He is currently married to Alice Faye Eichelberger. Education and learning are important elements of his life - he was Rector of the University of Saint Andrews from 1973 until 1976, and continues to be a professor at large of Cornell University in New York. Cleese lives in Santa Barbara, California. Spouse Alice Faye Eichelberger (28 December 1992 - present), Barbara Trentham (15 February 1981 - 1990) (divorced) 1 child, Connie Booth (20 February 1968 - 1978) (divorced) 1 daughter.

Igor (2007) , Shrek the Third (2007) , Charlotte's Web (2006) , Entente cordiale, L' (2006) , Complete Guide to Guys (2006) , Man About Town (2006) , Jade Empire (2005) , Valiant (2005) , Around the World in 80 Days (2004) , Shrek 2 (2004) , "Will & Grace" (2004) , James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004) , Education Tips No. 41: Choosing a Really Expensive School (2003) , George of the Jungle 2 (2003) , Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) , Scorched (2003/I) , Die Another Day (2002) , Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) , Pinocchio (2002) , Mickey's House of Villains (2002) , "House of Mouse"(2002) , The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) , "Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)" (2002) , Taking the Wheel (2002) , Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001) , Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) , Rat Race (2001) , "3rd Rock from the Sun" (2001) , H.M.O. (2001) , The Magic Pudding (2000) , 007 Racing (2000) , Quantum Project (2000), Isn't She Great (2000) , Rockstar (2000) , Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (2000) , The World Is Not Enough (1999) , "Casper & Mandrilaftalen" (1999) , "Mickey Mouse Works" (1999) , The BFI London Imax Signature Film (1999) , The Out-of-Towners (1999) , Parting Shots (1999) , Starship Titanic (1998) , George of the Jungle (1997) , Fierce Creatures (1997) , "Saturday Night Live" (1997) , The Wind in the Willows (1996) , "Look at the State We're In!" (1995) , The Jungle Book (1994), The Swan Princess (1994) , Frankenstein (1994) , "The Unpleasant World of Penn & Teller" (????) , Splitting Heirs (1993) , An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991) ,Bullseye! (1990) , Grime Goes Green: Your Business and the Environment (1990) , The Big Picture (1989) , Erik the Viking (1989) , A Fish Called Wanda (1988) , Baby Quark (1987) , "Cheers" (1987) , Quark and the Highway Robber (1987) , Clockwise (1986) , Silverado (1985) , Budgeting (1984) , Yellowbeard (1983) , The Meaning of Life (1983) , Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) , "Whoops Apocalypse" (1982) , Privates on Parade (1982) , Time Bandits (1981) , The Great Muppet Caper (1981) , The Taming of the Shrew (1980) , Peter Cook & Co. (1980) , Cost, Profit, and Break-Even (1980) , Depreciation and Inflation (1980) , "Fawlty Towers" (1979) , "Doctor Who" (1979) , "Ripping Yarns" (1979) , Life of Brian (1979) , To Norway, Home of Giants (1979) , I'd Like a Word with You (1979) , Away from It All (1979) , The Control of Working Capital (1978) , The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977) , The Mermaid Frolics (1977) , The Balance Sheet Barrier (1977) , Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976) , The Cold Call (1976) , Can We Please Have That the Right Way Round? (1976) , How Not to Exhibit Yourself (1975) , I'll Think About It (1975) , It's Alright, It's Only a Customer (1975) , Who Sold You This, Then? (1975) , Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) , The Meeting of Minds (1975) , More Akward Customers (1975) , Decisions, Decisions (1975) , In Two Minds (1975) , Awkward Customers (1975) , Romance with a Double Bass (1974) , "The Goodies" (1973) , The Goodies and the Beanstalk (1973) , Elementary My Dear Watson (1973) , The Love Ban (1973) , Golf Etiquette (1973) , "Sez Les" (1969) , And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) , Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1971) , Euroshow 71 (1971) ,The Ronnie Barker Yearbook (1971) , The Statue (1971) , The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970) , "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1970) , The Magic Christian (1969) , The Best House in London (1969) , Light Entertainment Killers (1969) , The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) , Interlude (1968) , "The Avengers" (1968) , How to Irritate People (1968) , "At Last the 1948 Show" (1967) , "The Frost Report" (1966)