- published: 14 Nov 2015
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John Marwood Cleese (/ˈkliːz/; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s he became a member of Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, The Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life.
In the mid 1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. He also starred in Clockwise, and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films as R/Q, two Harry Potter films and three Shrek films.
With Yes Minister writer Antony Jay he co-founded Video Arts, a production company making entertaining training films.
Actors: Randy Kent (director), Hans Hernke (miscellaneous crew), Tom Konkle (actor), Andy Forrest (director), Andy Forrest (actor), Andy Forrest (editor), Andy Forrest (producer), Andy Forrest (writer), J. Anthony McCarthy (actor), Steve Pinto (actor), Paul Michael Bolan (actor), Terri Gibbons (actress), Terri Gibbons (miscellaneous crew), Ian Scott Rudolph (actor), Joshua Benton (actor),
Plot: A desperate writer glomming onto a book by PJ O'Rourke on a producer's desk, pitches the idea as a movie. Green lit, the role of PJ O'Rourke takes an interesting turn of events as various actors become attached to the project.
Genres: Comedy, Short,Actors: Stephen Fry (actor), Steve Punt (actor), Steve Punt (actor), Steve Punt (actor), Steve Punt (actor), Steve Punt (actor), Michael Cochrane (actor), Simon Greenall (actor), James Laurenson (actor), Simon Greenall (actor), Rupert Vansittart (actor), Mark Heap (actor), Alex Macqueen (actor), Jane Jackson (miscellaneous crew), Geoffrey McGivern (actor),
Plot: In 1979 the Monty Python comedy team return from making their film 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' in Tunisia. Premiered in America the film is pilloried by ultra-right religious groups for its depiction of Christ. In England the Popular Peoples' Church of St Sophia (whose members include a Tourette's sufferer who shouts out swear words) find a copy of the script in a dustbin and lobby the British censor for its suppression, leading to many local councils banning its screening. Death threats follow and Michael Palin - "the nicest man in Britain" - has his effigy burned on his front lawn. Finally crazed TV programmer Alan Dick persuades Palin and co-star John Cleese to defend the picture on a late night chat show against the Bishop of Southwark and religious commentator Malcolm Muggeridge. Thanks to Cleese's reasoning the Pythons are seen to triumph, winning over the Popular Peoples' Church. A later encounter with God will show how the film's controversy paved the way for other artistic endeavours which prompted protest. Brilliant characterisations are vitiated by a satirical 'treatment' including animated sequences and irritating attempts at surreal wit when a documentary style treatment would have sufficed. Several of the Pythons were hostile to the film, summed up in the floor manager's comment. "Another fantasy sequence...lame".
Keywords: 1970s, banned-film, blasphemy, censorship, christian-fundamentalism, christian-sect, christianity, england-uk, film-censorship, great-britain