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Tianjin, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Milan, Shenyang, Dallas, Fort Worth, Boston, Belo Horizonte, Khartoum, Riyadh, Singapore, Washington, Detroit, Barcelona,, Houston, Athens, Berlin, Sydney, Atlanta, Guadalajara, San Francisco, Oakland, Montreal, Monterey, Melbourne, Ankara, Recife, Phoenix/Mesa, Durban, Porto Alegre, Dalian, Jeddah, Seattle, Cape Town, San Diego, Fortaleza, Curitiba, Rome, Naples, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Tel Aviv, Birmingham, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Manchester, San Juan, Katowice, Tashkent, Fukuoka, Baku, Sumqayit, St. Louis, Baltimore, Sapporo, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Taichung, Warsaw, Denver, Cologne, Bonn, Hamburg, Dubai, Pretoria, Vancouver, Beirut, Budapest, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Campinas, Harare, Brasilia, Kuwait, Munich, Portland, Brussels, Vienna, San Jose, Damman , Copenhagen, Brisbane, Riverside, San Bernardino, Cincinnati and Accra The Ministry of Silly Walks 1 EDIT WATCH03:41 FX's Shōgun Cast Breaks Down Episodes 1& 2 | Anna Sawai, Takehiro Hira The Ministry of Silly Walks Face the press 4 Series 2 Episode Face the Press Previous Tobacconist's Next La March Futile The Ministry of Silly Walks is a sketch that appears in "Face the Press," the fourteenth episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. A shortened version of the sketch was performed for Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Behind the Scenes 3 References in popular culture 4 The Science of Silly Walks 5 External links Synopsis Mr. Teabag (John Cleese), a city gent, walks out of a Tobacconist's, after buying "The Times". He straightens his tie and then walks along the road in a very silly manner, passing by a long line of gas men. He then walks along a busy street, in the same silly manner, into a building named "The Ministry of Silly Walks". He proceeds to walk along the corridor (passing by some other workers, also walking about in a silly manner) and into his office. In his office is Arthur Pewtey (Michael Palin). He sits down at his desk and Pewtey tells him that he has a silly walk and he'd like to obtain a government grant to help develop it. Teabag asks if he can see his silly walk. Pewtey demonstrates it, doing a few steps and lifting the bottom part of his left leg sharply at every alternate pace. Teabag doesn't find it particularly silly but Pewtey believes that with government backing, he could make it very silly. Teabag then rises from his chair and explains how money is the real problem, walking in an extremely silly manner as he does so. He then sits down and, pressing his intercom, asks Mrs. Two-Lumps (Daphne Davey) if they can have two coffees. While he is talking about the silliest foreign walks to Pewtey, Two-Lumps comes in with the coffee. Unfortunately, she also has a very silly walk, spilling all the coffee. After showing them to Teabag, she then leaves with the tray and the cups. Teabag then proceeds to show Pewtey an old silent-movie type film which demonstrates various different silly walks. Teabag then throws away the projector playing the film and offers Pewtey a Research Fellowship on the Anglo-French silly walk, La March Futile. Behind the Scenes As the years went by, Cleese found it increasingly difficult to perform these walks. He'd say, when told about a new Python Tour, "I'm not doing silly walks." Some right-wing inspired observers pretended to see in this sketch a satire of government projects. But it should be noted that in the book The Pythons, members of the troupe indicated that they considered the whole scene nothing more than pure silliness. Cleese in particular is mildly dismayed that so many fans consider it their "best" sketch. It has been suggested by John Cleese's former Director of Studies at Downing College, Cambridge, that the inspiration for the sketch came as a result of Cleese's time studying there, where the uneven, slippy and ill-supported gravel paths of the college domus often force undergraduates to navigate carefully around frequently-formed puddles and pot-holes with an amusing, broad and 'silly' stride. By contrast, Graham Chapman, in his book Graham Crackers, claims that the idea came to him (who came up with the concept, but then let Palin and Jones write the actual sketch) from a man who would walk past Chapman's house and up a steep hill every day while leaning backwards. References in popular culture A reference to this sketch appears in Fawlty Towers episode The Germans, when John Cleese tries to cool things down by offering to do the funny walk — impersonating a German soldier Goosestep. In 2000, an episode of Mission Hill, Andy and Kevin Make a Friend (or One Bang for Two Brothers), referenced the sketch when one of the characters attempts to impress a girl by showing how he does a "great silly walk" from the Ministry of Silly Walks. In the Nintendo 64 game GoldenEye 007, various computer monitors can be seen showing a man doing John Cleese's silly walk. In 2005, the sketch was chosen by a poll taken in Britain as the 15th greatest comedy sketch of all time (and one of 5 Monty Python sketches in the top 50). A reference is made to the "silly walk" in an episode of the WB's Gilmore Girls when Rory Gilmore says "Please, don't walk away like that," and Dean Forester responds with "Sorry, I'd do a silly walk, but I'm not feeling very John Cleese right now." In the film, Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the Road, Larry the Cable Guy makes a reference to The Ministry of Silly Walks and performs various silly walks to illustrate how people walked in Wal-Mart at around 2:00 AM. In October 2006, the children's educational TV programme Numberjacks on CBeebies (part of the BBC network) featured a "silly walk" by actor/gymnast Alex Liang in episode 5. In this episode, Alex plays a businessman whose shoes get struck by the "Problem Blob" which makes his shoes go into "silly walk" mode and has him "silly walking" all over Richmond Park. In an issue of Bongo's The Simpsons comic when the British invade Springfield it shows John Cleese doing the goosestep and labels him as "the Minister of Silly Walks". In the 25th anniversary special of the radio sketch comedy show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, John agrees to take part in resurrecting the show on the conditions that he can sing The Ferret Song and perform the Funny Walk. Of course, being a radio show, this comprised a full build-up and introduction, followed by several footsteps, and John finishing it by saying "Thank you," to tumultuous applause. He then apologises, saying that he thinks he missed a bit, to which Graeme Garden replies "The funny bit?". The 2014 app for the Apple app store called "The Ministry of Silly Walks" The Science of Silly Walks In a research article published by Britain's Royal Society in 2007, it mathematically disproves the function of a silly walk as a natural primary source for mobility. In an example of life imitating art, they funded this through grant money. AFP Mathematics proves the silliness of silly walks External links Animated GIFs of the Walks Monty Python in Britain's Top 50 Comedy Sketches The Silly Walks Generator Ministry of Silly Walks Yearly Report and silly walks images Montreux Festival - Silly Walks Special Monty Python’s Flying Circus British television series Written and fact-checked by Last Updated: Mar 13, 2024 • Article History Monty Python's Flying Circus Monty Python's Flying Circus (From left to right) John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, and Terry Jones in a sketch for Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1971. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, British television sketch comedy series that aired from 1969 to 1974 on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) network and became popular with American viewers largely through rebroadcasts on public television. The unorthodox program enjoyed a unique success and proved to be a watershed not just for British comedy but also for television comedy around the world. When it first aired, Monty Python’s Flying Circus was unlike anything that had appeared on television, and in many ways it was both a symbol and a product of the social upheaval and youth-oriented counterculture of the late 1960s. Although sketch comedy was nothing new, television had never broadcast anything so surreal, daring, and untraditional as Monty Python, and its importance to television is difficult to overstate. However, the influence of BBC Radio’s The Goon Show (which aired from 1951 to 1960 and featured the character-driven, absurdist humour of Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, and Harry Secombe) on Monty Python’s anarchic approach is undeniable. 1970s style television set with static on the screen, on a small table with a doily underneath. (retro style) Britannica Quiz Pop Culture Vocabulary Quiz Monty Python’s free-form sketches seldom adhered to any particular theme and were alike only in their raucous disregard for convention. The introductory title sequence might run in the middle of the show, for example, or be omitted entirely. Over the run of the series, a few characters recurred, but most were written solely for the sketch in which they appeared. The show’s humour could be simultaneously sarcastic, scatological, and intellectual.   The series was a creative collaboration between Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam (the latter was the sole American in the otherwise British group of Oxford and Cambridge graduates). The five Englishmen played most of the roles, with Gilliam primarily contributing eccentric animations. Each of the creators went on to careers in film and television. The series engendered a number of feature films—most notably Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979), and Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life (1983)—and major stage works. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was later adapted into the Tony Award-winning musical comedy Spamalot (first produced in 2005). Decades after the show’s initial run, the mere mention of some of its most-loved sketches (e.g., the Cheese Shop, the Pet Shop, the Ministry of Silly Walks, the Spanish Inquisition, Spam, No. 1: The Larch) is still enough to prompt laughter from devoted fans. Top 100 tv comedy shows of all time by bliz82 | created - 12 Jan 2014 | updated - 14 Jan 2014 | Public This my rough order of top 100 comedy and animation tv shows....lists are all subjectively absurd, but nonetheless sometimes helpful and interesting in gauging barometer of common and uncommon good tastes. Here it is!  Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc Sort by: List Order   View:   99 titles South Park  1. South Park (1997– ) 18 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy  8.7  Rate Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado. Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Mona Marshall Votes: 404,830  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP2.99 Curb Your Enthusiasm  2. Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000–2024) 18 | 30 min | Comedy  8.8  Rate Larry David stars as an over-the-top version of himself in this comedy series that shows how seemingly trivial details of day-to-day life can precipitate a catastrophic chain of events. Stars: Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman Votes: 144,820  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP7.99 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia  3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005– ) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  8.8  Rate Five friends with big egos and small brains are the proprietors of an Irish pub in Philadelphia. Stars: Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson Votes: 250,807  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP13.23 The Simpsons  4. The Simpsons (1989–2024) 15 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy  8.7  Rate The satiric adventures of a working-class family in the misfit city of Springfield. Stars: Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner Votes: 434,516  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP21.99 Mr. Show with Bob and David  5. Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995–1998) 15 | 27 min | Comedy  8.4  Rate This is a sketch-comedy show. The twist here is that all of the sketches (even the monologue) are connected in some strange way. Stars: Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, John Ennis, Jay Johnston Votes: 10,519  Search on Amazon Monty Python's Flying Circus  6. Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) PG | 30 min | Comedy  8.8  Rate The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe. Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle Votes: 78,615  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP8.99 The Kids in the Hall  7. The Kids in the Hall (1988–2021) 25 min | Comedy  8.4  Rate The TV series of the Canadian sketch comedy troupe that, more often than not, puts bizarre, unique, and insane twists in their skits. Stars: David Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney Votes: 11,074  Watch on Freevee Watch Free on Freevee Seinfeld  8. Seinfeld (1989–1998) PG | 22 min | Comedy  8.9  Rate The continuing misadventures of neurotic New York City stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his equally neurotic New York City friends. Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander Votes: 349,889 Arrested Development  9. Arrested Development (2003–2019) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  8.7  Rate Level-headed son Michael Bluth takes over family affairs after his father is imprisoned. But the rest of his spoiled, dysfunctional family are making his job unbearable. Stars: Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett Votes: 323,373 Community  10. Community (2009–2015) 12 | 22 min | Comedy  8.5  Rate A suspended lawyer is forced to enroll in a community college with an eccentric staff and student body. Stars: Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase Votes: 292,313 Late Night with Conan O'Brien  11. Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993–2009) 60 min | Comedy, Music, Talk-Show  8.2  Rate Conan O'Brien, a Harvard Lampoon alumnus, hosts this late-night comedy/talk-show, which is often silly and whimsical. Stars: Conan O'Brien, The Max Weinberg 7, Andy Richter, Joel Godard Votes: 18,893 Louie  12. Louie (2010–2015) 15 | 22 min | Comedy, Drama  8.5  Rate The life of Louie C.K., a divorced comedian living in New York with two kids. Stars: Louis C.K., Hadley Delany, Ursula Parker, Pamela Adlon Votes: 82,069 Futurama  13. Futurama (1999– ) U | 22 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy  8.5  Rate Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy, is accidentally frozen in 1999 and thawed out on New Year's Eve 2999. Stars: Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille Votes: 260,196 Eastbound & Down  14. Eastbound & Down (2009–2013) 15 | 28 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport  8.2  Rate Many years after he turned his back on his hometown, a burned-out major league ballplayer returns to teach Physical Education at his old middle school. Stars: Danny McBride, Steve Little, Katy Mixon, Elizabeth De Razzo Votes: 63,913 American Dad!  15. American Dad! (2005– ) 15 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy  7.4  Rate The escapades of Stan Smith, a conservative C.I.A. Agent dealing with family life, and keeping America safe. Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, Rachael MacFarlane Votes: 135,893 SCTV  16. SCTV (1976–1981) 30 min | Comedy  8.5  Rate The staff of Melonville's TV station put on programming that is unique in its own silly way. Stars: Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas Votes: 2,847 Key and Peele  17. Key and Peele (2012–2015) 30 min | Comedy  8.3  Rate Project sees Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in front of a live studio audience bantering about a topic weaved between filmed shorts and sketches. Stars: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Metta World Peace, Brendan Hunt Votes: 25,648  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP9.99 Eagleheart  18. Eagleheart (2011–2014) Action, Comedy  7.4  Rate In this parody on cop shows, a mad-dog US Marshal bent on justice battles crime his way and has only two less-than-perfect partners and a stodgy boss to rely on. Stars: Chris Elliott, Maria Thayer, Brett Gelman, Jack Wallace Votes: 2,154  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP10.99 Chappelle's Show  19. Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) 15 | 22 min | Comedy, Music  8.8  Rate Comedian Dave Chappelle hosts this sketch-comedy show that parodies many of the nuances of race and culture. Stars: Dave Chappelle, Donnell Rawlings, Rudy Rush, Charlie Murphy Votes: 71,524  Watch on Prime Video buy from GBP4.49 Saturday Night Live  20. Saturday Night Live (1975– ) 12 | 90 min | Comedy, Music  8  Rate A famous guest host stars in parodies and sketches created by the cast of this witty show. Stars: The Saturday Night Live Band, Don Pardo, Darrell Hammond, Kenan Thompson Votes: 52,517 The Larry Sanders Show  21. The Larry Sanders Show (1992–1998) 15 | 30 min | Comedy  8.5  Rate A comedic behind the scenes look at a late night talk show. Stars: Garry Shandling, Jeffrey Tambor, Wallace Langham, Rip Torn Votes: 9,354 The League  22. The League (I) (2009–2015) 15 | 22 min | Comedy, Sport  8.3  Rate An ensemble comedy that follows a group of old friends in a fantasy football league who care deeply about one another -- so deeply that they use every opportunity to make each other's lives miserable. Stars: Mark Duplass, Jonathan Lajoie, Nick Kroll, Stephen Rannazzisi Votes: 52,019 The Sarah Silverman Program.  23. The Sarah Silverman Program. (2007–2010) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  6.9  Rate Sarah's immature, only thinks of herself and has no inhibition nor work. Her sister Laura pays her rent. She has a gay couple as neighbors. Laura's seeing cop Jay. Stars: Sarah Silverman, Laura Silverman, Brian Posehn, Steve Agee Votes: 7,969 Portlandia  24. Portlandia (2011–2018) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  7.8  Rate A sketch-comedy series that parodies life in Portland, Oregon. Stars: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Kyle MacLachlan, Sam Adams Votes: 23,010 Extras  25. Extras (2005–2007) 15 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama  8.3  Rate Andy Millman is an actor with ambition and a script. Reduced to working as an extra with a useless agent, Andy's attempts to boost his career invariably end in failure and embarrassment. Stars: Ricky Gervais, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant, Shaun Williamson Votes: 60,248 Freaks and Geeks  26. Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000) 15 | 45 min | Comedy, Drama  8.8  Rate A high school mathlete starts hanging out with a group of burnouts while her younger brother navigates his freshman year. Stars: Linda Cardellini, John Francis Daley, James Franco, Samm Levine Votes: 152,832 Frasier  27. Frasier (1993–2004) PG | 22 min | Comedy  8.2  Rate Dr. Frasier Crane moves back to his hometown of Seattle, where he lives with his father and works as a radio psychiatrist. Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin Votes: 95,131 Hello Ladies  28. Hello Ladies (2013–2014) 12 | 29 min | Comedy  7.4  Rate A gawky Englishman comes to Los Angeles to find the woman of his dreams. Stars: Stephen Merchant, Christine Woods, Nate Torrence, Kevin Weisman Votes: 13,495 The Office  29. The Office (2001–2003) 15 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama  8.5  Rate The story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager David Brent as they continue their daily lives. Stars: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis Votes: 122,781 Kroll Show  30. Kroll Show (2013–2015) 30 min | Comedy  7  Rate Show highlights Nick Kroll's incredible ability to transform himself into hilarious characters that pop off the screen while bringing many of his popular short-form favorites along for the ride. Stars: Nick Kroll, Jon Daly, Jenny Slate, John Mulaney Votes: 5,257 Veep  31. Veep (2012–2019) 15 | 28 min | Comedy  8.4  Rate Former Senator Selina Meyer finds that being Vice President of the United States is nothing like she hoped and everything that everyone ever warned her about. Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott Votes: 63,196 Childrens Hospital  32. Childrens Hospital (2008–2016) 11 min | Short, Comedy  7.8  Rate Explores the emotional struggles and sexual politics of a group of doctors charged with healthy libidos. Their dedication to their personal lives is relentless, interrupted only by the occasional need to treat sick children. Stars: Rob Huebel, Rob Corddry, Ken Marino, Erinn Hayes Votes: 8,163 Jon Benjamin Has a Van  33. Jon Benjamin Has a Van (2011) 30 min | Comedy  7.5  Rate A reporter cruises around in his van and reports on all the trivial things no one cares about. Stars: Leo Allen, H. Jon Benjamin, Nathan Fielder, Gary Wilmes Votes: 1,799 The Colbert Report  34. The Colbert Report (2005–2014) 30 min | Comedy, News, Talk-Show  8.4  Rate Satirical newscaster Stephen Colbert provides humorous commentary on the big issues going on in the United States and the rest of the world, with his larger-than-life ego and overly-patriotic spirit along with him every step of the way. Stars: Stephen Colbert, Jay Katsir, Jon Stewart, Paul Dinello Votes: 39,149 NTSF:SD:SUV  35. NTSF:SD:SUV (2011–2013) 11 min | Comedy  7.3  Rate Never forget? Terrorism hasn't, and neither will the NTSF:SD:SUV. In a world where threatening danger looms large and Homeland Security won't secure itself, San Diego's citizens can't afford not to trust in the NTSF. Stars: Paul Scheer, Brandon Johnson, June Diane Raphael, Kate Mulgrew Votes: 3,399 Archer  36. Archer (2009–2023) 15 | 22 min | Animation, Action, Comedy  8.6  Rate Covert black ops and espionage take a back seat to zany personalities and relationships between secret agents and drones. Stars: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell Votes: 165,468 The Critic  37. The Critic (1994–2001) PG | 522 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama  7.8  Rate Jay Sherman is a New York film critic who has to review films he doesn't like for a living. Stars: Jon Lovitz, Nick Jameson, Maurice LaMarche, Nancy Cartwright Votes: 9,058 In Living Color  38. In Living Color (1990–1994) 30 min | Comedy, Music  8.1  Rate The Wayans siblings present an African-American focused sketch comedy show. Stars: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield Park, Terrence Brown Votes: 12,699 Upright Citizens Brigade  39. Upright Citizens Brigade (1998–2000) 30 min | Comedy  8  Rate Agents Adair, Antoine, Colby, and Trotter both monitor and create chaos across the universe. Stars: Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh Votes: 2,522 Married with Children  40. Married with Children (1987–1997) 12 | 22 min | Comedy  8.1  Rate Al is the quintessential working class dad. Peggy, his wife, always wants more from him. With their children, they go through the highs and lows of ordinary life. Stars: Ed O'Neill, Christina Applegate, Katey Sagal, Amanda Bearse Votes: 110,807 Party Down  41. Party Down (2009– ) 15 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama  8.2  Rate A group of actors move to Los Angeles to make it big, but end up working as caterers. Stars: Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr Votes: 37,050 Delocated  42. Delocated (2009–2013) Comedy  7.4  Rate A man who's in the witness protection program creates a TV reality show about his situation. He has to wear a black ski mask all the time, but other than that he and his family try to live a "normal" life in front of the camera. Stars: Jon Glaser, Eugene Mirman, Jacob Kogan, Steve Cirbus Votes: 2,575 The Ben Stiller Show  43. The Ben Stiller Show (1992–1995) 306 min | Comedy  7.1  Rate This comedy/variety show specialized in parodies of movies and television shows and commercials. Often, they would also have a special guest (e.g., a TV actor) join them. Stars: Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk Votes: 2,073 Entourage  44. Entourage (2004–2011) 15 | 28 min | Comedy, Drama  8.4  Rate Film star, Vince Chase, navigates the vapid terrain of Los Angeles with a close circle of friends and his trusty agent. Stars: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara Votes: 176,569 NewsRadio  45. NewsRadio (1995–1999) 12 | 23 min | Comedy, Romance  8  Rate The workplace sitcom "NewsRadio" explores the office politics and interpersonal relationships among the staff of WNYX NewsRadio, New York's #2 news radio station. Stars: David Foley, Stephen Root, Andy Dick, Maura Tierney Votes: 17,254 How I Met Your Mother  46. How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014) 15 | 4,576 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance  8.3  Rate A father recounts to his children - through a series of flashbacks - the journey he and his four best friends took leading up to him meeting their mother. Stars: Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, Neil Patrick Harris Votes: 726,662 Flight of the Conchords  47. Flight of the Conchords (2007–2009) 15 | 28 min | Comedy, Music, Musical  8.6  Rate Bret and Jemaine are Flight of the Conchords, a folk-rock band from New Zealand living in New York City in search of stardom. Stars: Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Rhys Darby, Kristen Schaal Votes: 65,865 The State  48. The State (1993–2009) 30 min | Comedy  8.4  Rate Each episode contains 30 minutes of extremely bizarre and funny sketch comedy performed by THE STATE, an 11 member sketch comedy troupe who wrote and starred in various sketches seen throughout the program. Stars: Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Robert Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek Votes: 3,018 My Name Is Earl  49. My Name Is Earl (2005–2009) 12 | 22 min | Comedy  7.8  Rate A ne'er do well wins $100,000 in the lottery and decides to right all the wrongs from his past with his newfound realization! Stars: Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Nadine Velazquez Votes: 109,336 Fawlty Towers  50. Fawlty Towers (1975–1979) 12 | 30 min | Comedy  8.8  Rate Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away. Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth Votes: 99,855 Nathan for You  51. Nathan for You (2013–2017) Not Rated | 30 min | Documentary, Comedy  8.9  Rate Nathan Fielder uses his business degree and life experiences to help real small businesses turn a profit. But because of his unorthodox approach, Nathan's genuine efforts to do good often draw real people into an experience far beyond what they signed up for. Stars: Nathan Fielder, Anthony Filosa, Salomon Flores, William Heath Votes: 38,184 The Black Adder  52. The Black Adder (1982–1983) 15 | 195 min | Comedy  8  Rate In the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother. Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray, Tim McInnerny Votes: 40,967 Weeds  53. Weeds (2005–2012) 18 | 28 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama  7.9  Rate When a suburban mother turns to dealing marijuana in order to maintain her privileged lifestyle after her husband dies, she finds out just how addicted her entire neighborhood already is. Stars: Mary-Louise Parker, Hunter Parrish, Alexander Gould, Kevin Nealon Votes: 117,133 The Daily Show  54. The Daily Show (1996– ) Adult | 22 min | Comedy, News, Talk-Show  8.3  Rate A comedy news show featuring humorous takes on top stories. Stars: Jon Stewart, Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, Roy Wood Jr. Votes: 48,126 The Dana Carvey Show  55. The Dana Carvey Show (1996) 30 min | Comedy  7.3  Rate Riffs on pop culture, politics and even the show's own sponsors. Stars: Dana Carvey, Steve Carell, Bill Chott, Stephen Colbert Votes: 1,273 The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret  56. The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret (2009–2016) 25 min | Comedy  7.5  Rate Todd Margaret is an American who takes a job running the London sales team for an energy drink. He has no experience with British culture, knows nothing about sales and has only one employee, Dave. Stars: Sharon Horgan, Will Arnett, David Cross, Blake Harrison Votes: 6,839 Tales from the Crypt  57. Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) 18 | 25 min | Comedy, Crime, Fantasy  8  Rate "Tales from the Crypt" was a 1989 horror story anthology series based on the gruesome E.C. comic books of the 1950s presented by the legendary "Crypt Keeper", a sinister ghoul obsessed with gallows humor and horrific puns. Stars: John Kassir, Roy Brocksmith, Miguel Ferrer, Cam Clarke Votes: 26,981 Family Tree  58. Family Tree (2013) 30 min | Comedy  7.4  Rate From Christopher Guest ('Best in Show, ' 'A Mighty Wind') comes this comedy series that follows one man's quest to track down his genealogy. Stars: Chris O'Dowd, Tom Bennett, Nina Conti, Carrie Aizley Votes: 3,629 I'm Alan Partridge  59. I'm Alan Partridge (1997–2002) 15 | 30 min | Comedy  8.6  Rate A failed television presenter, now presenting a programme on local desperately tries to revive his broadcasting career. Stars: Steve Coogan, Simon Greenall, Felicity Montagu, Phil Cornwell Votes: 21,912 The Tracey Ullman Show  60. The Tracey Ullman Show (1987–1990) 30 min | Comedy, Music  7.1  Rate Tracey Ullman hosts a variety show containing sketches, song-and-dance routines, and The Simpsons. Stars: Tracey Ullman, Dan Castellaneta, Sam McMurray, Joseph Malone Votes: 1,561 The John Larroquette Show  61. The John Larroquette Show (1993–1996) 30 min | Comedy  7.2  Rate A recovering alcoholic who becomes the manager of a big city bus station. Stars: John Larroquette, Liz Torres, Daryl Mitchell, Chi McBride Votes: 1,236 Nathan Barley  62. Nathan Barley (2005) 18 | 26 min | Comedy  8  Rate After publishing a rant about 'idiots' - frantically hip, ignorant scenesters - Dan Ashcroft finds these same people embracing him as his idol and his nerves constantly tested by his biggest fan, moronic scene personality Nathan Barley. Stars: Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt, Claire Keelan, Spencer Brown Votes: 4,351 The Office  63. The Office (2005–2013) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  9  Rate A mockumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium. Stars: Steve Carell, Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson Votes: 706,379 Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law  64. Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law (2000–2007) 15 | 15 min | Animation, Short, Comedy  8  Rate Third-rate superhero Harvey Birdman gets a new lease on life when he becomes a lawyer. Stars: Gary Cole, Stephen Colbert, Thomas Michael Allen, John Michael Higgins Votes: 12,115 Little Britain  65. Little Britain (2003–2006) 15 | 29 min | Comedy  7.7  Rate Matt Lucas and David Walliams, the creators of this character-comedy sketch show, delight in all that is mad, bad, quirky and generally bonkers about the people and places of Britain. Stars: Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Tom Baker, Paul Putner Votes: 26,049 Axe Cop  66. Axe Cop (2012–2015) 15 min | Animation, Action, Adventure  7.3  Rate The adventures of an axe-wielding police officer dedicated to killing the various bad guys he comes across. Stars: Nick Offerman, Ken Marino, Rob Huebel, Megan Mullally Votes: 2,271 Dead Like Me  67. Dead Like Me (2003–2004) 15 | 60 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy  8.1  Rate After being hit on the head by a toilet seat that fell from Mir space station, a young temp clerk becomes a grim reaper in death. Stars: Ellen Muth, Callum Blue, Jasmine Guy, Mandy Patinkin Votes: 43,818 Real Time with Bill Maher  68. Real Time with Bill Maher (2003– ) 60 min | Comedy, News, Talk-Show  7.4  Rate Comedian and political satirist Bill Maher discusses topical events with guests from various backgrounds. Stars: Bill Maher, Andrew Sullivan, Michael Moore, Arianna Huffington Votes: 14,303 Burning Love  69. Burning Love (2012–2013) 23 min | Comedy, Romance  7.9  Rate A parody of reality dating shows in the vein of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette". Stars: Michael Ian Black, June Diane Raphael, Ryan Hansen, Ken Marino Votes: 4,316 The Chris Rock Show  70. The Chris Rock Show (1997–2000) 15 | Comedy, Music, Talk-Show  6.9  Rate America's funniest comedian in a less than PC setting. It's hilarious ! Stars: Chris Rock, Grandmaster Flash, Monteria Ivey, Wanda Sykes Votes: 805 Cheers  71. Cheers (1982–1993) U | 22 min | Comedy, Drama  8  Rate The regulars of the Boston bar "Cheers" share their experiences and lives with each other while drinking or working at the bar where everybody knows your name. Stars: Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt Votes: 61,794 Workaholics  72. Workaholics (2011–2017) 22 min | Comedy  8.1  Rate A single-camera comedy featuring three friends who work together as telemarketers from 9 to 5, and live together from 5 to 9. Stars: Blake Anderson, Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Maribeth Monroe Votes: 56,101 The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air  73. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990–1996) 12 | 22 min | Comedy  7.9  Rate A streetwise, poor young man from Philadelphia is sent by his mother to live with his aunt, uncle and cousins in their Bel-Air mansion. Stars: Will Smith, James Avery, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tatyana Ali Votes: 144,253 Orange Is the New Black  74. Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019) 18 | 59 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama  8  Rate Convicted of a decade-old crime of transporting drug money, ordinarily law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to 18 months behind bars and quickly discovers the realities of life-changing prison time. Stars: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Emma Myles Votes: 319,498 Animaniacs  75. Animaniacs (1993–1998) PG | 21 min | Animation, Short, Adventure  7.9  Rate The zany adventures of a trio of 1930s animated characters in the modern world. Stars: Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, Frank Welker Votes: 25,759 Parks and Recreation  76. Parks and Recreation (2009–2015) 15 | 22 min | Comedy  8.6  Rate The absurd antics of an Indiana town's public officials as they pursue sundry projects to make their city a better place. Stars: Amy Poehler, Jim O'Heir, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt Votes: 286,854 Shameless  77. Shameless (2011–2021) 18 | 60 min | Comedy, Drama  8.5  Rate A scrappy, feisty, fiercely loyal Chicago family makes no apologies. Stars: Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy, Ethan Cutkosky, Jeremy Allen White Votes: 282,941 Just Shoot Me!  78. Just Shoot Me! (1997–2003) 30 min | Comedy  6.9  Rate Hot-tempered journalist Maya got herself fired yet again. Unable to find a job anywhere else and facing eviction, she is forced to go work for Blush, her father's fashion magazine. Stars: Laura San Giacomo, Enrico Colantoni, George Segal, Wendie Malick Votes: 21,759 Mystery Science Theatre 3000  79. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (1988–1999) PG | 90 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi  8.6  Rate In the not-too-distant future Joel Robinson is held captive by Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank, forced to watch B-Grade movies on the Satellite of Love with the help of his robot friends: Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. Stars: Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy Votes: 25,803 Crossballs: The Debate Show  80. Crossballs: The Debate Show (2004) 30 min | Comedy  8.2  Rate In this parody of topical debate shows, Crossballs pits unsuspecting real experts against comedians posing as experts, debating each other on various issues. Stars: Chris Tallman, Matt Besser, Mary Birdsong, Andy Daly Votes: 141 Bored to Death  81. Bored to Death (2009–2011) 28 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama  7.9  Rate A well-meaning but struggling writer decides to lead a sort of double life by pretending to be a private detective using the methods he read about in old detective novels. Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, Ted Danson, Heather Burns Votes: 34,566 TV Funhouse  82. TV Funhouse (2000–2001) 30 min | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy  7.9  Rate Doug and the "Anipals" introduce animated segments, short videos and other wacky clips. Meanwhile, the other 'Anipal' puppets go on wacky adventures through the city. Stars: Doug Dale, Robert Smigel, Dino Stamatopoulos, Jon Glaser Votes: 521 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!  83. Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007–2017) 15 | 11 min | Comedy, Music  7.6  Rate Two comedians, average nobodies, and celebrity guest stars perform bizarre low-budget comedy sketches. Stars: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Bob Odenkirk, John C. Reilly Votes: 11,965 Californication  84. Californication (2007–2014) 18 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama  8.3  Rate A writer tries to juggle his career, his relationship with his daughter and his ex-girlfriend, as well as his appetite for beautiful women. Stars: David Duchovny, Natascha McElhone, Evan Handler, Pamela Adlon Votes: 188,153 Root of All Evil  85. Root of All Evil (2008– ) 30 min | Comedy, Game-Show  6.6  Rate Commedian Lewis Black holds court over celebrities and other pop culture figures whom he accuses of being "the root of all evil." Stars: Lewis Black, Matt Price, Greg Giraldo, Andy Daly Votes: 609 Beavis and Butt-Head  86. Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–2011) 12 | 15 min | Animation, Comedy, Music  7.5  Rate Animated MTV series about two teenage heavy-metal music fans who occasionally do idiotic things because they're bored. For them, everything is "cool" or "sucks." Stars: Mike Judge, Kristofor Brown, Dale Revo, Tracy Grandstaff Votes: 34,158 Family Guy  87. Family Guy (1999–2024) 15 | 22 min | Animation, Comedy  8.1  Rate In a wacky Rhode Island town, a dysfunctional family strives to cope with everyday life as they are thrown from one crazy scenario to another. Stars: Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis Votes: 363,097 Kenny vs. Spenny  88. Kenny vs. Spenny (2002–2010) 22 min | Comedy, Game-Show, Reality-TV  8.1  Rate Two best friends, Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, face each other in various competitions. At the end of each episode, the loser gets humiliated. Stars: Kenny Hotz, Spencer Rice, Sebastian Cluer, Tzafi Hotz Votes: 9,899 The Ren & Stimpy Show  89. The Ren & Stimpy Show (1991–1996) U | 30 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy  7.5  Rate Ren, a psychotic Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a dimwitted Manx cat who goes by the nickname Stimpy, have a host of unusual adventures. Stars: John Kricfalusi, Billy West, Harris Peet, Bob Camp Votes: 24,578 Unsupervised  90. Unsupervised (2012) 22 min | Animation, Comedy  7.3  Rate The series follows two 15-year-old best friends, Gary and Joel, as they try to navigate through teenage life, while also trying to do the right thing without the help of any parental supervision. Stars: Justin Long, David Hornsby, Kristen Bell, Romany Malco Votes: 2,693 Spaced  91. Spaced (1999–2001) 15 | 25 min | Comedy  8.5  Rate Friends Tim and Daisy, 20-something North Londoners with uncertain futures, must pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment they can afford. Stars: Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Julia Deakin, Nick Frost Votes: 57,532 Eek! The Cat  92. Eek! The Cat (1992–1997) 30 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy  7.2  Rate The comical misadventures of Eek, a kind-hearted anthropomorphic purple cat who finds himself in constant mortal danger while trying to help others. The show had two more segments - The Terrible Thunderlizards and Klutter. Stars: Bill Kopp, Savage Steve Holland, Charlie Adler, Dan Castellaneta Votes: 3,334 Pretend Time  93. Pretend Time (2010–2011) 30 min | Comedy  6.1  Rate Sketch comedy show starring Nick Swardson. Stars: Nick Swardson, John Cramer, Deirdre Wall, Julia Lea Wolov Votes: 908 Strangers with Candy  94. Strangers with Candy (1999–2000) 22 min | Comedy  8.1  Rate A 46-year-old ex-drug addict returns to high school as a freshman. Stars: Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Greg Hollimon Votes: 6,570 Scrubs  95. Scrubs (2001–2010) 15 | 22 min | Comedy, Drama  8.4  Rate In the unreal world of Sacred Heart Hospital, intern John "J.D." Dorian learns the ways of medicine, friendship and life. Stars: Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley Votes: 270,103 Andy Richter Controls the Universe  96. Andy Richter Controls the Universe (2002–2003) 30 min | Comedy  7.9  Rate Short-story writer Andy makes his living by working at a huge faceless company in present-day Chicago, writing technical manuals. Stars: Andy Richter, Paget Brewster, Irene Molloy, Jonathan Slavin Votes: 1,767 The Pete Holmes Show  97. The Pete Holmes Show (2013–2014) Comedy, Talk-Show  7.2  Rate It's a guy who does funny s**t Stars: Pete Holmes, Robert James Ashe, Matthew J. McCarthy, Henry Dittman Votes: 632 House of Buggin'  98. House of Buggin' (1995) 30 min | Comedy  7.5  Rate John Leguizamo's edgy sketch comedy show and spiritual sequel to "In Living Color". Stars: Jorge Luis Abreu, Tammi Cubilette, Yelba Zoe McCourt, John Leguizamo Votes: 173 Rick and Morty  99. Rick and Morty (2013– ) 15 | 23 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy  9.1  Rate The fractured domestic lives of a nihilistic mad scientist and his anxious grandson are further complicated by their inter-dimensional misadventures. Stars: Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke, Justin Roiland Votes: 598,477 John Cleese Article Talk Read View source View history Tools Page semi-protected From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Cleese Cleese smiling Cleese in 2023 Born John Marwood Cleese 27 October 1939 (age 84) Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England Alma mater Downing College, Cambridge Occupation(s) Actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer Years active 1961–present Spouses Connie Booth ​ ​(m. 1968; div. 1978)​ Barbara Trentham ​ ​(m. 1981; div. 1990)​ Alyce Eichelberger ​ ​(m. 1992; div. 2008)​ Jennifer Wade ​(m. 2012)​ Children 2 Relatives Ed Solomon (former-son-in-law) Website johncleese.com John Marwood Cleese (/kliːz/ KLEEZ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983). In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth cowrote the sitcom Fawlty Towers, in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In 2000, the show topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, and in a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Basil was ranked second on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Cleese costarred with Kevin Kline, 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 last three Shrek films. He received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Cheers (1987) and was nominated for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1998) and Will & Grace (2004). Cleese has specialised in political and religious satire,[1] black comedy, sketch comedy, and surreal humour.[2] He was ranked the second best comedian ever in a 2005 Channel 4 poll of fellow comedians.[3] He cofounded Video Arts, a production company making entertaining training films as well as The Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International. Formerly a staunch supporter of the Liberal Democrats, in 1999, he turned down an offer from the party to nominate him for a life peerage. In 2023, he began presenting a talk show on GB News. Early life and education Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, the only child of Reginald Francis Cleese (1893–1972), an insurance salesman, and his wife Muriel Evelyn (née Cross, 1899–2000), the daughter of an auctioneer.[4] His family's surname was originally Cheese, but his father had thought it was embarrassing and used the name Cleese when he enlisted in the Army during the First World War; he changed it officially by deed poll in 1923.[5][6] As a child, Cleese supported Bristol City and Somerset County Cricket Club.[7][8] Cleese was educated at St Peter's Preparatory School,[9] paid for by money his mother had inherited,[10] where he received a prize for English and did well at cricket and boxing. When he was 13, he was awarded an exhibition at Clifton College, an English public school in Bristol. By that age, he was more than 6 feet (1.83 m) tall.[11] The biggest influence was The Goon Show. Kids were devoted to it. It was written by Spike Milligan. It also had Peter Sellers in it, who of course is the greatest voice man of all time. In the morning, we'd be at school and we'd discuss the whole thing and rehash the jokes and talk about it. We were obsessed with it. —Cleese on his greatest comedic influence growing up, 1950s BBC Radio comedy The Goon Show.[12] Cleese allegedly defaced the school grounds, as a prank, by painting footprints to suggest that the statue of Field Marshal Earl Haig had left its plinth and gone to the toilet.[13] Cleese played cricket in the First XI and did well academically, passing eight O-Levels and three A-Levels in mathematics, physics and chemistry.[14][15] In his autobiography So, Anyway, he says that discovering, aged 17, he had not been made a house prefect by his housemaster affected his outlook: "It was not fair and therefore it was unworthy of my respect... I believe that this moment changed my perspective on the world."[16] Cleese could not go straight to the University of Cambridge, as the ending of National Service meant there were twice the usual number of applicants for places, so he 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 later for a scene in Life of Brian, in which he corrects Brian's badly written Latin graffiti).[19] He then took up a place he had won at Downing College, Cambridge, to read law. He also joined the Cambridge Footlights. He recalled that he went to the Cambridge Guildhall, where each university society had a stall, and went up to the Footlights stall, where he was asked if he could sing or dance. He replied "no" as he was not allowed to sing at his school because he was so bad, and if there was anything worse than his singing, it was his dancing. He was then asked "Well, what do you do?" to which he replied, "I make people laugh."[17] At the Footlights theatrical club, Cleese spent a lot of time with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie and met his future writing partner Graham Chapman.[17] Cleese wrote extra material for the 1961 Footlights Revue I Thought I Saw It Move,[17][20] and was registrar for the Footlights Club during 1962. He was also in the cast of the 1962 Footlights Revue Double Take![17][20] Cleese graduated from Cambridge in 1963 with an upper second. Despite his successes on The Frost Report, his father sent him cuttings from The Daily Telegraph offering management jobs in places such as Marks & Spencer.[21] Career 1963–1968: Pre-Python Cleese was a scriptwriter, as well as a cast member, for the 1963 Footlights Revue A Clump of Plinths.[17][20] The revue was so successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and taken to the West End in London and then on a tour of New Zealand and Broadway, with the cast also appearing in some of the revue's sketches on The Ed Sullivan Show in October 1964.[17] After Cambridge Circus, Cleese briefly stayed in America, performing on 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, the couple attempted to ensure an absence of any theistic language. "The only moment of disappointment", Cleese recalled, "came at the very end of the service when I discovered that I'd failed to 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, most notably as a sketch writer for The Dick Emery Show. The success of the Footlights Revue led to the recording of a short series of half-hour radio programmes, called I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which were so popular that the BBC commissioned a regular series with the 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 may have been due to the embarrassment of his actual middle name, "Marwood").[23] Also in 1965, Cleese and Chapman began writing on The Frost Report. The writing staff chosen for the programme consisted of 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 Read That Again and future Goodies Bill 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 Jones, and Michael Palin.[24][25][26] While working on The Frost Report, the future Pythons developed the writing styles that would make their collaboration significant. Cleese's and Chapman's sketches often involved authority figures, some of whom were performed by Cleese, while Jones and Palin were both infatuated with filmed scenes that opened with idyllic countryside panoramas. Idle was one of those charged with writing David Frost's monologue. During this period Cleese met and befriended influential British comedian Peter Cook, eventually collaborating with Cook on several projects and forming a close friendship that lasted until Cook's death in 1995.[24][27] It was as a performer on The Frost Report that Cleese achieved his breakthrough on British television as a comedy actor, appearing as the tall, upper class patrician figure in the classic "Class" sketch (screened on 7 April 1966), contrasting comically in a line-up with the shorter, middle class Ronnie Barker and the even shorter, working class Ronnie Corbett. The British Film Institute commented, "Its twinning of height and social position, combined with a minimal script, created a classic TV moment."[28] The series was so popular that in 1966 Cleese and Chapman were invited to work as writers and performers with Brooke-Taylor and Feldman on At Last the 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 as a Monty Python sketch).[29] Cleese and Chapman also wrote episodes for the first series of Doctor in the House (and later Cleese wrote six episodes of Doctor at Large on his own in 1971). These series were successful, and in 1969 Cleese and Chapman were offered their very own series. However, owing to Chapman's alcoholism, Cleese found himself bearing an increasing workload in the partnership and was, therefore, unenthusiastic about doing a series with just the two of them. He had found working with Palin on The Frost Report an enjoyable experience and invited him to join the series. Palin had previously been working on Do Not Adjust Your Set with Idle and Jones, with Terry Gilliam creating the animations. The four of them had, on the back of the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, been offered a series for Thames Television, which they were waiting to begin when Cleese's offer arrived. Palin agreed to work with Cleese and 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 from October 1969 to December 1974 on BBC Television, though Cleese quit the show after the third. Cleese's two primary characterisations were as a sophisticate and a loony. He portrayed the former as a series of announcers, TV show hosts, and government officials (for example, "The Ministry of Silly Walks"). The latter is perhaps best represented in the "Cheese Shop" and by Cleese's Mr Praline character, the man with a dead Norwegian Blue parrot and a menagerie of other animals all named "Eric". He was also known for his working class "Sergeant Major" character, who worked as a Police Sergeant, Roman Centurion, etc. Cleese also appeared during some abrupt scene changes as a radio commentator (usually outfitted in a dinner suit) where, in a rather pompous manner, he would make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.[31] Partnership with Graham Chapman He was the greatest sounding board I've ever had. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is. — Cleese on Chapman in The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003).[32] Along with Gilliam's animations, Cleese's work with Graham Chapman provided Python with its darkest and angriest moments, and many of his characters display the seething suppressed rage that later characterised his portrayal of Basil Fawlty. Unlike Palin and Jones, Cleese and Chapman wrote together in the same room; Cleese claims that their writing partnership involved him doing most of the work, while Chapman sat back, not speaking for long periods before suddenly coming out with an idea that often elevated the sketch to a new level. A classic example of this is the "Dead Parrot sketch", envisaged by Cleese as a satire on poor customer service, which was originally to have involved a broken toaster and later a broken car (this version was actually performed and broadcast on the pre-Python special How to Irritate People). It was Chapman's suggestion to change the faulty item into a dead parrot, and he also 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 involved ordinary people in ordinary situations behaving absurdly for no obvious reason. Like Chapman, Cleese's poker face, clipped middle class accent, and intimidating height allowed him to appear convincingly as a variety of authority figures, such as policemen, detectives, Nazi officers or government officials, which he then proceeded to undermine. In the "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch (written by Palin and Jones), for example, Cleese exploits his stature as the crane-legged civil servant performing a grotesquely elaborate walk to his office. On the Silly Walks sketch, Ben Beaumont-Thomas in The Guardian writes, "Cleese is utterly deadpan as he takes the stereotypical bowler-hatted political drone and ruthlessly skewers him. All the self-importance, bureaucratic inefficiency and laughable circuitousness of Whitehall is summed up in one balletic extension of his slender leg."[34] "Argument Clinic" sketch with Palin (standing) at Monty Python Live (Mostly), in 2014 Chapman and Cleese also specialised in sketches wherein two characters conducted highly articulate arguments over completely arbitrary subjects, such as in the "cheese shop", the "dead parrot" sketch and "Argument Clinic", where Cleese plays a stone-faced bureaucrat employed to sit behind a desk and engage people in pointless, trivial 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 towering Cleese's crazed aggression and the shorter Palin's shuffling inoffensiveness is a common feature in the series. Occasionally, the typical Cleese–Palin dynamic is reversed, as in "Fish Licence", wherein Palin plays the bureaucrat with whom Cleese is trying to work. Though Flying Circus lasted four series, by the start of series 3, Cleese was growing tired of dealing with Chapman's alcoholism. He felt, too, that the show's scripts had declined in quality. For these reasons, he became restless and decided to move on. Though he stayed for the third series, he officially left the group before the fourth season.[36] Cleese received a credit on three episodes of the fourth series which used material from these sessions, though he was officially unconnected with the fourth series. He remained friendly with the group, and all six began writing Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Much of his work on Holy Grail remains widely quoted, including the Black Knight scene.[37] Cleese returned to the troupe to co-write and co-star in two further Monty Python films, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. His attack on Roman rule in Life of Brian–when he asks "What have the Romans ever done for us?", before being met with a string of benefits including sanitation, roads and public order–was ranked the seventh funniest line in film in a 2002 poll.[38] Since the last Python film (Meaning of Life in 1983) Cleese has participated in various live performances with the group over the years.[36] 1970–1979: Fawlty Towers From 1970 to 1973, Cleese served as rector of the University of St Andrews.[39] His election proved a milestone for the university, revolutionising and modernising the post. For instance, the rector was traditionally entitled to appoint an "assessor", a deputy to sit in his place at important meetings in his absence. Cleese changed this into a position for a student, elected across campus by the student body, resulting in direct access and representation for the student body.[40] Around this time, Cleese worked with comedian Les Dawson 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. the working class, self-educated Mancunian Dawson) were marked, but both worked well together from series 8 onwards until the series ended in 1976.[41][42] Cleese appeared on a single, "Superspike", with Bill Oddie and a 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 as We Know It (1977) as the grandson of 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 guest 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 is "kidnapped" before the show begins, complains about the number of pigs, and gets roped into doing a closing number with Kermit the Frog, Sweetums, pigs, chickens and monsters.[45] Cleese also made a cameo appearance in their 1981 film The Great Muppet Caper and won the TV Times award for Funniest Man on TV – 1978–79.[47] In 1979, he starred in a TV special, To Norway, Home of Giants, produced by Johnny Bergh. Throughout the 1970s, Cleese also produced and acted in a number of successful business training films, including 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 the United Kingdom as the neurotic hotel manager Basil 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 of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In a 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] The series also featured Prunella Scales as Basil's acerbic wife Sybil, Andrew Sachs as the much abused Spanish waiter Manuel, and Booth as waitress Polly, the series' voice of sanity. Cleese based Basil Fawlty on a real person, Donald Sinclair, whom he had encountered in 1970 while the Monty Python team were staying at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay while filming inserts for their television series.[51] Reportedly, Cleese was inspired by Sinclair's mantra, "I could run this hotel just fine if it weren't for the guests." He later described Sinclair as "the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met," although Sinclair's widow has said her husband was totally misrepresented in the series. During the Pythons' stay, Sinclair allegedly threw Idle's briefcase out of the hotel "in case it contained a bomb," complained about Gilliam's "American" table manners, and threw a bus timetable at another guest after he dared to ask the time of the next bus to town.[51][52] The first series was screened from 19 September 1975 on BBC 2, initially to poor reviews,[53] but gained momentum when repeated on BBC 1 the following year. Despite this, a second series did not air until 1979, by which time Cleese's marriage to Booth had ended, but they revived their collaboration for the second series. Fawlty Towers consisted of two seasons, each of only six episodes; Cleese and Booth both maintain that this was to avoid compromising the quality of the series. The popularity of Fawlty Towers has endured, and in addition to featuring high in greatest-ever television show 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 film, though he did work with Peter Cook in his one-off TV special Peter Cook and Co. in 1980. In the same year, Cleese played 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 had a small dramatic role as a sheriff in the American Western Silverado, which had an all-star cast that included Kevin Kline, with whom he starred in A Fish Called Wanda three years later. In 1986, he starred in the British comedy film Clockwise as an uptight school headmaster obsessed with punctuality and constantly getting into trouble during a journey to speak at the Headmasters' Conference. Written by Michael Frayn, the film was successful in the UK but not in the United States. It earned Cleese the 1987 Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Cleese appearing at the 61st Academy Awards in March 1989 In 1988, Cleese wrote and starred in A Fish Called Wanda as the lead, Archie Leach, along with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. Wanda was a commercial and critical success, becoming one of the top ten films of the year at the US box office, and Cleese was nominated for an Academy Award for his script. Kline won the Oscar for his portrayal of bumbling, violent, narcissistic ex-CIA agent Otto West in the film. From 1988 to 1992, Cleese appeared in numerous television commercials for Schweppes Ginger Ale. Between 1992 and 1994, he also appeared in some television commercials for Magnavox.[55] In 1989, Graham Chapman was diagnosed with throat cancer; Cleese, Michael Palin, Peter Cook, and Chapman's partner David Sherlock witnessed Chapman's death. Chapman's death occurred a day before the 20th anniversary of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, with Jones commenting that it was "the worst case of party-pooping in all history." Cleese gave a eulogy at Chapman's memorial service.[56] Cleese later played a supporting role in Kenneth Branagh's adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) alongside Branagh himself and Robert De Niro. With Robin Skynner, the English psychiatrist, Cleese wrote two books on relationships: Families and How to Survive Them and Life and How to Survive It. The books are presented as a dialogue between Skynner and Cleese. The follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures—which again starred Cleese alongside Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Palin—was released in 1997, but was greeted with mixed reception by critics and audiences. Cleese has since often stated that making the second film had been a mistake. When asked by his friend, director and restaurant critic Michael Winner, what he would do differently if he could live his life again, Cleese responded, "I wouldn't have married Alyce Faye Eichelberger and I wouldn't have made Fierce Creatures."[57] In 1999, Cleese appeared in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough as Q's assistant, referred to by Bond as "R". In 2002, when Cleese reprised his role in Die Another Day, the character was promoted, making Cleese the new quartermaster (Q) of MI6. In 2004, Cleese was featured as Q in the video game James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, featuring his likeness and voice.[58] Cleese did not appear in the subsequent Bond films, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and Skyfall; in the latter film, Ben Whishaw was cast in the role of Q.[59] 2000–2009 Cleese is Provost's visiting professor at Cornell University, after having been Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large from 1999 to 2006. He makes occasional well-received appearances on the Cornell campus. In 2001, Cleese was cast in the comedy Rat Race as the eccentric hotel owner Donald P. Sinclair, the name of the Torquay hotel owner on whom he had based the character of Basil Fawlty. That year he appeared as Nearly Headless Nick in the first Harry Potter film: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), a role he would reprise in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).[60] In 2002, Cleese made a cameo appearance in the film The Adventures of Pluto Nash, in which he played "James", a computerised chauffeur of a hover car stolen by the title character (played by Eddie Murphy). The vehicle is subsequently destroyed in a chase, leaving the chauffeur stranded in a remote place on the moon. In 2003, Cleese appeared as Lyle Finster on the US sitcom Will & Grace. His character's daughter, Lorraine, was played by Minnie Driver. In the series, Lyle Finster briefly marries Karen Walker (Megan Mullally). In 2004, Cleese was credited as co-writer of a DC Comics graphic novel titled Superman: True Brit.[61] Part 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 ship landed on a farm in Britain, not America.[61] Cleese in 2008 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 described it as "a one-man show with several people in it, which pushes the envelope of acceptable behaviour in new and disgusting ways". The show was developed in New York City with William Goldman and includes Cleese's daughter Camilla as a writer and actor (the shows were directed by Australian Bille Brown). His assistant of many years, Garry Scott-Irvine, also appeared and was listed as a co-producer. The show then played in universities in California and Arizona from 10 January to 25 March 2006 under the title Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot.[62] His voice can be downloaded for directional guidance purposes as a downloadable option on some personal GPS-navigation device models by 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 well as football's influence on culture (including the Monty Python sketch "Philosophy Football"), featuring interviews with pop culture icons Dave Stewart, Dennis Hopper, and Henry Kissinger, as well as eminent footballers, including Pelé, Mia Hamm, and Thierry Henry. The Art of Soccer with John Cleese was released in North America on DVD in January 2009 by BFS Entertainment & Multimedia.[65] Also in 2006, Cleese released the song "Don't Mention the World Cup".[66][67] Cleese lent his voice to the BioWare video game Jade Empire. His role was that of an "outlander" named Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard, stranded in the Imperial City of the Jade Empire. His character is essentially a British colonialist stereotype who refers to the people of the Jade Empire as "savages in need of enlightenment". His armour has the design of a fork stuck in a piece of cheese. In 2007, Cleese appeared in ads for Titleist as a golf course designer named "Ian MacCallister", who represents "Golf Designers Against Distance". Also in 2007, he was involved in filming of the sequel to The Pink Panther, titled The Pink Panther 2, with Steve Martin and Aishwarya Rai. Cleese collaborated with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet member William Kanengiser in 2008 on the text to the performance piece "The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha". Cleese, as narrator, and the LAGQ premiered the work in Santa Barbara. The year 2008 also saw reports of Cleese working on a musical version of A Fish Called Wanda with his daughter Camilla. At the end of March 2009, Cleese published his first article as "Contributing Editor" to The Spectator: "The real reason I had to join The Spectator".[68] Cleese has also hosted comedy galas at the Montreal Just for Laughs comedy festival in 2006, and again in 2009. Towards the end of 2009 and into 2010, Cleese appeared in a series of television adverts for the Norwegian electric goods shop chain Elkjøp.[69] In 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 and the US with his Alimony Tour Year One and Year Two. In May 2010, it was announced that this tour, set for May 2011, would extend to the UK (his first tour there). The show is dubbed the "Alimony Tour" in reference to the financial implications of Cleese's divorce. The UK tour started in Cambridge on 3 May, visiting Birmingham, Nottingham, Salford, York, Liverpool, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oxford, Bristol and Bath (the Alimony Tour DVD was recorded on 2 July, the final Bath date).[71] Later in 2011 John took his Alimony Tour to South Africa. He played Cape Town on the 21 & 22 October before moving over to Johannesburg, where he played from 25 to 30 October. In January 2012 he took his one-man show to Australia, starting in Perth on 22 January and throughout the next four months visited Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Newcastle, New South Wales, Melbourne, Sydney, and 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 Blue 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 to 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 tour. Entitled "John Cleese: Last Time to See Me Before I Die tour", he visited Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and finished in Vancouver, performing to mostly sold-out venues.[78] Cleese returned to the stage in Dubai in November 2013, where he performed to a sold-out theatre.[79] Cleese (right) with the rest of Monty Python on stage at the O2 Arena, London, in July 2014 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 produced Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Cleese's pre-Python comedy production Cambridge Circus.[80] At a comic press conference in November 2013, Cleese and other surviving members of the Monty Python comedy group announced a reuniting performance to be held in July 2014.[81] Cleese joined with Eric Idle in 2015 and 2016 for a tour of North America, Canada and the ANZUS nations, "John Cleese & Eric Idle: Together Again At Last ... For The Very First Time", playing small theatres and including interaction with audiences as well as sketches and reminisces.[82] In a Reddit Ask Me Anything interview, Cleese expressed regret that he had turned down the role played by Robin Williams in The Birdcage, the butler played by Anthony Hopkins in The Remains of the Day, and the bishop played by Peter Cook in The Princess Bride.[83] In 2017, he wrote Bang Bang!, a new adaptation of Georges Feydeau's French play Monsieur Chasse!, for the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, before making its American premiere at the Shadowland Stages in Ellenville, New York, in 2018 followed by touring the UK in spring 2020.[84] In 2021, Cleese cancelled an appearance at the Cambridge Union Society after learning that art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon had been blacklisted by the union for impersonating Adolf Hitler. His visit to the university was intended to be part of a documentary on wokeism. Cleese said he was "blacklisting myself before someone else does".[85] In 2023, he starred in Roman Polanski's drama film The Palace.[86] In October, Cleese starting presenting a new show on GB News called The Dinosaur Hour which airs on Sunday evenings.[87] Style of humour Graffiti of Cleese in "The Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch in Monty Python—Leicester, 2007 In his Alimony Tour Cleese explained the origin of his fondness for black humour, the only thing that he inherited from his mother. Examples of it are the Dead Parrot sketch, "The Kipper and the Corpse" episode of Fawlty Towers, his clip for the 1992 BBC2 mockumentary "A Question of Taste", the Undertakers sketch, and his eulogy at Graham Chapman's memorial service which included the line, "Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard! I hope he fries."[88] On his attitude to life he states, "I can take almost nothing seriously".[11] Cleese has criticised political correctness, wokeism and cancel culture, saying that despite initial good intentions to "not be mean to people", they have become "a sort of indulgence of the most over-sensitive people in your culture, the people who are most easily upset [...] if you have to keep thinking which words you can use and which you can't, then that will stifle creativity." According to Cleese, "The main thing is to realise that words depend on their context [...] PC people simply don't understand this business about 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 to be very funny."[89] He has also argued that political correctness and wokeism are a threat to humour, creativity, and freedom of thought and expression.[1] In 2020, following a controversy over the content of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans", Cleese criticised the BBC, saying "The BBC is now run by a mixture of marketing people and petty bureaucrats. It used to have a large sprinkling of people who'd actually made programmes. Not any more. So BBC decisions are made by persons whose main concern is not losing their jobs... That's why they're so cowardly and gutless and contemptible." He likened the style of humour in Fawlty Towers to the representation of Alf Garnett from another BBC sitcom, Till Death Us Do 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 said 'Thank God someone is saying these things at last'. We laughed at these people too. Now they're taking decisions about BBC comedy."[90] Activism and politics Amnesty first started doing these fund-raising shows in 1976. The instigation came from John Cleese who wanted to help out. And he did it in the only way he knew how. Which was to put on a show with what he described as "a few friends". Who of course transpired to be his colleagues in Monty Python and other luminaries of British comedy. — Martin Lewis, co-founder of The Secret Policeman's Ball, on Cleese instigating the benefit show.[91] Cleese (and the other members of Python) have contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International via the Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows. The idea of the Ball was conceived by Cleese, with Huffington Post stating "in 1976 he "friended" the then-struggling Amnesty International (according to Martin Lewis, the very notion of Human Rights was then not the domain of hipsters and students, but just of foreign-policy wonks) first with a cheque signed "J. Cleese" — and then by rounding up "a few friends" to put on a show."[91] Many musicians have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Cleese and the rest of Python, such as Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting.[92] On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the 'Ball' and ran with it."[91] Cleese, in 2022, spoke at the conference of the revival Social Democratic Party.[93] Previously, he was a long-standing supporter of the Liberal Democrats and before that was a supporter of the original SDP after their formation in 1981. During the 1987 general election he recorded a party political broadcast for the SDP–Liberal Alliance, in which he advocated for the introduction of proportional representation.[94] Cleese subsequently appeared in broadcasts for the Liberal Democrats in the 1997 general election and narrated a radio election broadcast for the party during the 2001 general election.[95] In 2008, Cleese expressed support for Barack Obama and his presidential candidacy, offering his services as a speech writer.[96] He was an outspoken critic of Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying that "Michael Palin is no longer the funniest Palin".[97] The same year, he wrote a satirical poem about Fox 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 moment is rather interesting. The Coalition has made everything a little more courteous and a little more flexible. I think it was quite good that the Liberal Democrats had to compromise a bit with the Tories." He also criticised the previous Labour government, commenting: "Although my inclinations are slightly left-of-centre, I was terribly disappointed with the last Labour government. Gordon Brown lacked emotional intelligence and was never a leader." Cleese also reiterated his support for proportional representation.[99] In April 2011, Cleese said that he had declined a life peerage for political services in 1999. Outgoing leader of the Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown had put forward the suggestion shortly before stepping down, with the idea that Cleese would take the party whip and sit as a working peer, but the actor quipped that he "realised this involved being in England in the winter and I thought that was too much of a price to pay." Cleese also declined a CBE title in 1996 as he thought, "they were silly."[100] In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2014, Cleese expressed political interest about the UK Independence Party, saying that although he was in doubt as to whether he was prepared to vote for it, he was attracted to its challenge to the established political order and the radicalism of its policies on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union. He expressed support for immigration, but also concern about the integration of immigrants into British culture.[101] Talking to Der Spiegel in 2015, Cleese expressed a critical view on what he saw as a plutocracy that was unhealthily developing control of the governance of the First World's societies, stating that he had reached a point when he "saw that our existence here is absolutely hopeless. I see the rich have got a stranglehold on us. If somebody had said that 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 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union.[103] He tweeted: "If I thought there was any chance of major reform in the EU, I'd vote to stay in. But there isn't. Sad." Cleese said that "EU bureaucrats" had taken away "any trace of democratic accountability" and suggested they should "give up the euro, introduce accountability."[104] During then-Republican nominee Donald Trump's run for the US presidency in 2016, Cleese described Trump as "a narcissist, with no attention span, who doesn't have clear ideas about anything and makes it all up as he goes along".[105] He had previously described the leadership of the Republican Party as "the most cynical, most disgracefully immoral people I've ever come across in a Western civilisation".[101] In 2017, Cleese stated that he would not vote in that year's general election because "I live in Chelsea and Kensington, so under our present system my vote is utterly worthless."[106] In July 2018, Cleese said that he was leaving the UK to relocate to the Caribbean island of Nevis, partly over frustration around the standard of the Brexit debate, including "dreadful lies" by "the right" and a lack of reform regarding the press and the voting system.[107] He relocated to Nevis on 1 November 2018.[108] In May 2019, Cleese repeated his previous statement that London was no longer an English city, saying "virtually all my friends from abroad have confirmed my observation. So there must be some truth in it... I note also that London was the UK city that voted most strongly to remain in the EU." London Mayor Sadiq Khan responded, "These comments make John Cleese sound like he's in character as Basil Fawlty. Londoners know that our diversity is our greatest strength. We are proudly the English capital, a European city and a global hub." Cleese added, "I suspect I should apologise for my affection for the Englishness of my upbringing, but in some ways I found it calmer, more polite, more humorous, less tabloid, and less money-oriented than the one that is replacing it."[109] In 2020, Cleese opposed the BBC's removal of the Fawlty Towers episode "The Germans" from the UKTV streaming service after protests following the murder of George Floyd, stating that the program was mocking prejudice with its use of a character who uttered racial slurs. "If they can't see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say," said Cleese.[110] UKTV later restored the episode with a disclaimer about its content.[111] In November 2021, Cleese protested against perceived cancel culture by blacklisting himself over a Hitler impersonation controversy at the Cambridge Union.[112] Anti-smoking campaign In 1992, the UK Health Education Authority (subsequently the Health Development Agency, now merged into the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recruited Cleese—an ex-smoker—to star in a series of anti-smoking public service announcements (PSAs) on British television, which took the form of sketches rife with morbid humour about smoking and were designed to encourage adult smokers to quit. In a controlled study of regions of central and northern England (one region received no intervention) the PSAs were broadcast in two regions, and one region received both the PSAs, plus locally organised anti-tobacco campaigning. The study found: After 18 months, 9.8% of successfully re-interviewed smokers had stopped and 4.3% of ex-smokers had relapsed. [...] There was no evidence of an extra effect of the local tobacco control network when combined with TV media [...] Applying these results to a typical population where 28% smoke and 28% are ex-smokers, and where there would be an equal number of quitters and relapsers over an 18 month period without the campaign, suggests that the campaign would reduce smoking prevalence by about 1.2%.[113] Personal life Cleese met Connie Booth in the US and they married in 1968.[53] In 1971, Booth gave birth to their only child, Cynthia Cleese, who went on to appear with her father in his films A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. With Booth, Cleese wrote the scripts for and co-starred in both series of Fawlty Towers, although the two were actually divorced before the second series was finished and aired. Cleese and Booth are said to have 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 in 1984. He and Trentham divorced in 1990. During this time, Cleese emigrated to Los Angeles. In 1992, he married American psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger. They divorced in 2008; the divorce settlement left Eichelberger with £12 million in finance and assets, including £600,000 a year for seven years. Cleese said, "What I find so unfair is that if we both died today, her children would get much more than mine ... I got off lightly. Think what I'd have had to pay Alyce if she had contributed anything to the relationship—such as children, or a conversation".[114] Less than a year later, he returned to the UK, where he has property in London and a home on the Royal Crescent in Bath, Somerset.[115][116] In August 2012, Cleese married English jewellery designer and former model Jennifer Wade in a ceremony on the Caribbean island of Mustique.[117] In an interview in 2014, Cleese blamed his mother, who lived to the age of 101, for his problems in relationships with women, saying: "My ingrained habit of walking on eggshells when dealing with my mother dominated my romantic liaisons for many years." Cleese said that he had spent "a large part of my life in some form of therapy" over his relationships with women.[118] He has received treatment for depression.[119] In March 2015, in an interview with Der Spiegel, he was asked if he was religious. Cleese stated that he did not think much of organised religion and said he was not committed to "anything except the vague feeling that there is something more going on than the materialist reductionist people think".[102] Cleese has a passion for lemurs.[120][121] Following the 1997 comedy film Fierce Creatures, in which the ring-tailed lemur played a key role, he hosted the 1998 BBC documentary In the Wild: Operation Lemur with John Cleese, which tracked the progress of a reintroduction of black-and-white ruffed lemurs back into the Betampona Reserve in Madagascar. The project had been partly funded by Cleese's donation of the proceeds from the London premiere of Fierce Creatures.[121][122] Cleese said "I adore lemurs. They're extremely gentle, well-mannered, pretty and yet great fun ... I should have married one".[120] The Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is native to western Madagascar. The scientist who discovered the species named it after Cleese, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for lemurs and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first discovered in 1990 by a team of scientists from the University of Zurich led by Urs Thalmann but was not formally described as a species until 11 November 2005.[123] Filmography Main article: John Cleese on screen and stage Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 1988 Academy Award Original Screenplay A Fish Called Wanda Nominated 1988 Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy of Musical Nominated 1988 BAFTA Film Award Best Actor Won Best Original Screenplay Nominated 1971 BAFTA Television Award Best Entertainment Performance Monty Python’s Flying Circus Nominated 1976 Fawlty Towers Nominated 1980 Won 1987 Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Cheers Won 1998 3rd Rock from the Sun Nominated 2002 Outstanding Non-Fiction Special The Human Face Nominated 2004 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Will & Grace Nominated 1976 Grammy Awards Best Comedy Album The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief Nominated 1981 Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album Nominated 1984 Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life Nominated 1989 Best Spoken Word Album The Screwtape Letters Nominated 1994 Best Spoken Word Album for Children Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? Nominated Honours and tributes A species of lemur, the Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), has been named in his honour. John Cleese has mentioned this in television interviews. Also there is mention of this honour in "New Scientist"—and John Cleese's response to the honour.[124] An asteroid, 9618 Johncleese, is named in his honour. There is a municipal rubbish heap of 45 metres (148 ft) in altitude that has been named Mt Cleese at the Awapuni landfill just outside Palmerston North after he dubbed the city "suicide capital of New Zealand" after a stay there in 2005.[125][126] Scholastic University Degrees Location Date School Degree England 1963 Downing College, Cambridge Law Degree Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector, and fellowships Location Date School Position Scotland 1970–1973 University of St Andrews Rector Honorary degrees Location Date School Degree Scotland 1971 University of St Andrews Doctorate California, United States 1999 Pomona College Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) [127] England 28 June 2016 University of Bath Doctor of Clinical Psychology [128][129] England 17 September 2016 Open University Doctor of the University (D. Univ) [130][131] This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2018) 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 and the Soul, Jacob Needleman, 2003, ISBN 1-57675-251-8 (paperback) Superman: True Brit, DC Comics, 2004, ISBN 9781845760120 So, Anyway... Crown Archetype. 2014. ISBN 978-0-385-34824-9. Memoir. Professor at Large: The Cornell Years. Cornell University Press. 2018. ISBN 978-1-5017-1657-7. Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide, 2020, Crown, ISBN 978-0385348270 The Golden Skits of Wing-commander Muriel Volestrangler, F.R.H.S. and Bar. Methuen. 1984. ISBN 978-0413415608. Dialogues Families and How to Survive Them, w/Robin Skynner, 1983. ISBN 0-413-52640-2 (hardcover), ISBN 0-19-520466-2 (paperback) Life and How to Survive It, w/Robin Skynner, 1993. ISBN 0-413-66030-3 (hardcover), ISBN 0-393-31472-3 (paperback) See also List of people who have declined a British honour References  Gillespie, Nick (1 August 2022). "John Cleese's War on Wokeism". Reason. Reason Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.  Rowan, Terry (2017). The Kings & Queens of Hollywood Comedy. Lulu. p. 201.  "Cook voted 'comedians' comedian'". BBC News. 2 January 2005. Retrieved 22 July 2022.  "John Cleese Biography (1939–)". Film Reference. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.  "Reginald Francis Cleese". The London Gazette. No. 32864. 21 September 1923. p. 6398.  Stadlen, Matthew (13 October 2014). "John Cleese says: 'I've finally found true love—in a fish and three cats'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. 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Leading Authorities. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2011.  Cleese, John (2014). So, Anyway...: The Autobiography. Random House.  Wilmut, Roger (1980). From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980. North Yorkshire, England: Methuen Publishing. ISBN 0-413-46950-6.  "John Cleese to Spend Five Years Tour As Professor at Cornell University". Daily Llama. 18 January 1999. Archived from the original on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.  Life of Brian commentary by Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle  Hewison, Robert (1983). Footlights! A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. London, England: Methuen London Ltd. ISBN 0-413-51150-2.  The Sunday Times, 16 October 1988.  Cleese, John (2014). New York: Crown Archetype, p. 318.  P70, The Authorised History of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue; Jem Roberts ISBN 978-1-84809-132-0  "The Frost Report". BBC Comedy. 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Superman: True Brit saw Kal-El's rocketship land on a farm... in the UK.  "John Cleese Brings Seven Ways to Skin an Ocelot to U.S." Playbill. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2010.  "Peter Cook the funniest". The Age. Australia. 3 January 2005.  "Cook tops poll of comedy greats". The Guardian. 2 January 2005.  "Art of Soccer, The With John Cleese". Bfsent.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2010.  Sherwin, Adam. "Don't mention the War, says Cleese in World Cup peace bid". The Times (archived at Wayback Machine). Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2014.  "Soccer fans learn World Cup etiquette according to Cleese". ABC. 19 May 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2014.  "The real reason I had to join". The Spectator. UK. 25 March 2009. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2010.  Ottosen, Peder (23 September 2009). "John Cleese i Elkjøp-reklame". Kjendis.no. 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Archived from the original on 19 December 2013.  "John Cleese & Eric Idle announce additional North American tour dates!". Just For Laughs (Press release). 15 June 2016.  "I am John Cleese: writer, actor, and tall person. AMA!". Reddit. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.  Bennett, Steve. "UK tour for John Cleese's first stage farce : News 2019 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2020.  "John Cleese blacklists himself from Cambridge University event". BBC News. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.  Vivarelli, Nick (22 May 2022). "Roman Polanski Always Thrived in France, But Now Even His Adopted Country is Turning On Him (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 22 May 2022.  Glynn, Paul (10 October 2022). "John Cleese to host new GB News TV show". BBC News. Retrieved 12 October 2022.  "Monty Python reunion: 10 things you didn't know". The Telegraph. 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Archived from the original on 5 November 2015.  SPIEGEL Interview with John Cleese: 'Satire Makes People Think' Archived 26 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 31 March 2015.  Saul, Heather (25 June 2016). "Brexit: The famous figures celebrating the EU referendum result". The Independent.  Szalai, Georg (20 June 2016). "John Cleese, Jeremy Clarkson Chime in on Brexit Vote as Debate Enters Final Days". Hollywood Reporter.  "Donald Trump narcissist with no attention span, says John Cleese". The Belfast Telegraph. 11 October 2016.  Powell, Emma (9 June 2017). "John Cleese slammed after deeming General Election vote 'utterly worthless' – before counting suspended in his constituency". Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 May 2021.  Simpson, Fiona (11 July 2018). "John Cleese set to move to the Caribbean over 'disappointment' with UK". London Evening Standard.  Nicola Anderson (10 January 2019). "Actor John Cleese reveals he's quit UK and is now living in the Caribbean". Independent.ie.  "John Cleese criticised for saying London is 'no longer an English city'". BBC News. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.  Quinn, Karl (12 June 2020). "John Cleese slams UKTV decision to remove Fawlty Towers episode as 'stupid'". The Age. Retrieved 12 June 2020.  "Fawlty Towers: The Germans episode to be reinstated by UKTV". BBC News. 13 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.  "John Cleese takes stand on cancel culture, blacklists himself over Hitler controversy". Fox News. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.  McVey, Dominic; Stapleton, John (September 2000). "Can anti-smoking television advertising affect smoking behaviour? controlled trial of the Health Education Authority for England's anti-smoking TV campaign". Tob Control. 9 (3): 273–82. doi:10.1136/tc.9.3.273. PMC 1748378. PMID 10982571.  Pierce, Andrew (18 August 2009). "John Cleese in £12 million divorce settlement". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. 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Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.  "Four More Lemurs To Be Released into Madagascar Jungle This Fall". Science Daily. Duke University. 12 October 1998. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.  "Endangered lemurs get Fawlty name". BBC. 11 November 2005. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010.  Cleese, John (3 December 2005). "Monty Python's lemur". New Scientist (2528). Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2015.  Funnyman Cleese rubbishes NZ city Archived 10 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine. The Australian. 21 May 2007.  "Palmerston North's heap of payback on Cleese". New Zealand Herald. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2018.  "Honorary Degree Recipients". Pomona College. Retrieved 13 June 2020.  "University honours John Cleese". Bath.ac.uk.  "John Cleese: oration". Bath.ac.uk.  "Honorary Graduate List". Open University. Retrieved 26 May 2019.  "John Cleese receives honorary degree at The Open University". I Am A Graduate. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021 – via YouTube. Further reading Cleese Encounters: The Unauthorized Biography of Monty Python Veteran John Cleese, Jonathan Margolis, St. Martin's Press, 1992, ISBN 0-312-08162-6 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to John Cleese. Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Cleese. Official website John Cleese Archived 10 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine at the Museum of Broadcast Communications John Cleese at the BBC Guide to Comedy John Cleese at IMDb John Cleese at the Internet Broadway Database Edit this at Wikidata John Cleese on Charlie Rose John Cleese collected news and commentary at The Guardian Edit this at Wikidata John Cleese collected news and commentary at The New York Times Podcast to celebrate The Life of Brian (March 2008) Archived 30 December 2012 at archive.today Daily Llama: John Cleese Visits Lemurs at San Francisco Zoo John Cleese Speaking at the American School in London A Conversation with John Cleese at Cornell University (September 2017) Preceded by Desmond Llewelyn Q (James Bond films) 2001–2002 Succeeded by Ben Whishaw (2012) Academic offices Preceded by Learie Nicholas Constantine, Baron Constantine, Kt. Rector of the University of St Andrews 1970–1973 Succeeded by Alan Coren vte Monty Python vte Rectors of the University of St Andrews University of St Andrews Sir Ralph Abercromby Anstruther, 4th BaronetSir William Stirling-Maxwell, 9th BaronetJohn Stuart MillJames Anthony FroudeCharles Neaves, Lord NeavesArthur Penrhyn StanleyRoundell Palmer, 1st Earl of SelborneSir Theodore MartinDonald Mackay, 11th Lord ReayArthur BalfourFrederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and AvaJohn Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of ButeJames StuartAndrew CarnegieJohn Lubbock, 1st Baron AveburyArchibald Primrose, 5th Earl of RoseberyJohn Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and TemairDouglas Haig, 1st Earl HaigSir J. M. 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Ngor (1984)William Hurt (1985)Bob Hoskins (1986)Sean Connery (1987)John Cleese (1988)Daniel Day-Lewis (1989)Philippe Noiret (1990)Anthony Hopkins (1991)Robert Downey Jr. (1992)Anthony Hopkins (1993)Hugh Grant (1994)Nigel Hawthorne (1995)Geoffrey Rush (1996)Robert Carlyle (1997)Roberto Benigni (1998)Kevin Spacey (1999)Jamie Bell (2000)Russell Crowe (2001)Daniel Day-Lewis (2002)Bill Murray (2003)Jamie Foxx (2004)Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005)Forest Whitaker (2006)Daniel Day-Lewis (2007)Mickey Rourke (2008)Colin Firth (2009)Colin Firth (2010)Jean Dujardin (2011)Daniel Day-Lewis (2012)Chiwetel Ejiofor (2013)Eddie Redmayne (2014)Leonardo DiCaprio (2015)Casey Affleck (2016)Gary Oldman (2017)Rami Malek (2018)Joaquin Phoenix (2019)Anthony Hopkins (2020)Will Smith (2021)Austin Butler (2022)Cillian Murphy (2023) vte BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance 1958–1975 Tony Hancock (1958)Alan Melville (1959)Tony Hancock (1960)Stanley Baxter (1961)Eric Sykes (1962)Michael Bentine (1963)Morecambe and Wise (1964)Millicent Martin (1965)Peter Cook & Dudley Moore (1966)Alan Bennett (1967)Alan Bennett (1968)Marty Feldman (1969)Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (1970)Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (1971)Ronnie Barker & Ronnie Corbett (1972)Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (1973)Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise (1974)Stanley Baxter (1975) 1976–2000 Ronnie Barker (1976)Penelope Keith (1977)Ronnie Barker (1978)Ronnie Barker (1979)John Cleese (1980)Rowan Atkinson (1981)Nigel Hawthorne (1982)Nigel Hawthorne (1983)Tracey Ullman (1984)Judi Dench (1985)Victoria Wood (1986)Nigel Hawthorne (1987)Nigel Hawthorne (1988)Victoria Wood (1989)Rowan Atkinson (1990)David Jason (1991)Richard Wilson (1992)Joanna Lumley (1993)Richard Wilson (1994)Rory Bremner (1995)Rory Bremner (1996)John Bird & John Fortune (1997)Paul Whitehouse (1998)Michael Parkinson (1999)Graham Norton (2000) 2001–present Graham Norton (2001)Graham Norton (2002)Paul Merton (2003)Jonathan Ross (2004)Paul O'Grady (2005)Jonathan Ross (2006)Jonathan Ross (2007)Harry Hill (2008)Harry Hill (2009)Ant & Dec (2010)Graham Norton (2011)Graham Norton (2012)Alan Carr (2013)Ant & Dec (2014)Ant & Dec (2015)Leigh Francis (2016)Michael McIntyre (2017)Graham Norton (2018)Lee Mack (2019)Mo Gilligan (2020)Romesh Ranganathan (2021)Big Zuu (2022)Claudia Winkleman (2023) vte Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series 1986–2000 Roscoe Lee Browne (1986)John Cleese (1987)Cleavon Little (1989)Jay Thomas (1990)Jay Thomas (1991)No Award (1992)David Clennon (1993)Martin Sheen (1994)Carl Reiner (1995)Tim Conway (1996)Mel Brooks (1997)Mel Brooks (1998)Mel Brooks (1999)Bruce Willis (2000) 2001–present Derek Jacobi (2001)Anthony LaPaglia (2002)Gene Wilder (2003)John Turturro (2004)Bobby Cannavale (2005)Leslie Jordan (2006)Stanley Tucci (2007)Tim Conway (2008)Justin Timberlake (2009)Neil Patrick Harris (2010)Justin Timberlake (2011)Jimmy Fallon (2012)Bob Newhart (2013)Jimmy Fallon (2014)Bradley Whitford (2015)Peter Scolari (2016)Dave Chappelle (2017)Katt Williams (2018)Luke Kirby (2019)Eddie Murphy (2020)Dave Chappelle (2021)Nathan Lane (2022)Sam Richardson (2023) Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata International FASTISNIVIAFWorldCat National NorwaySpainFranceBnF dataCataloniaGermanyItalyIsraelBelgiumUnited StatesSwedenLatviaJapanCzech RepublicAustraliaGreeceKoreaCroatiaNetherlandsPolandPortugal Academics CiNii Artists Grammy AwardsMusicBrainz People Deutsche BiographieTrove Other SNACIdRef Categories: 1939 births20th-century English comedians21st-century English comedians20th-century English male actors21st-century English male actors20th-century English screenwriters21st-century English writers21st-century English memoiristsActors from Weston-super-MareAlumni of Downing College, CambridgeBest Actor BAFTA Award winnersBest Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winnersBritish expatriate academics in the United StatesBritish expatriates in Saint Kitts and NevisBritish surrealist artistsComedians from SomersetCritics of multiculturalismCritics of religionsCornell University facultyEnglish comedy writersEnglish EuroscepticsEnglish expatriate male actors in the United StatesEnglish male comediansEnglish male film actorsEnglish male musical theatre actorsEnglish male non-fiction writersEnglish male radio actorsEnglish male stage actorsEnglish male television actorsEnglish male voice actorsEnglish radio writersEnglish television personalitiesEnglish television writersLeft-wing populistsLiberal Democrats (UK) peopleLiving peopleMale actors from Los AngelesMale actors from SomersetMonty Python membersPeople educated at Clifton CollegePrimetime Emmy Award winnersRectors of the University of St AndrewsTelevision show creators

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