Age: 81
Birthday: 27th October
John Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. 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 co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python co-stars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
In the mid 1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote the sitcom Fawlty Towers, and he starred in it as Basil Fawlty. The series resulted in Cleese's receiving the 1980 BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance, and in 2000 the show topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes. In a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Basil was ranked second on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. Cleese co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda (1989) and Fierce Creatures (1997), both of which he also wrote. For A Fish Called Wanda he was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He has also starred in Time Bandits (1981) and Rat Race (2001) and has appeared in many other films, including 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.
Cleese has specialised in satire, black comedy, sketch comedy and surreal humour.
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: 1
1989 - Best Original Screenplay: A FISH CALLED WANDA
BAFTA AWARD NOMINATIONS: 6 WINS: 2
1989 - Best Original Screenplay: A FISH CALLED WANDA
1989 - WINNER: Best Actor: A FISH CALLED WANDA
1980 - WINNER: Best Light Entertainment Performance: FAWLTY TOWERS
1976 - Best Light Entertainment Performance: FAWLTY TOWERS
1971 - Best Light Entertainment Performance: MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
1970 - Best Light Entertainment Performance: MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS: 1
1989 - Best Actor: A FISH CALLED WANDA
JOHN CLEESE TOP 10 MOVIES...
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Trolls (2016)
Shrek Forever After (2010)
Shrek 2 (2004)
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Shrek the Third (2007)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Igor (2008)
Rat Race (2001)
How do you rate John Cleese's movies?
WATCH JOHN CLEESE THIS WEEK
ON NETFLIX:
Fawlty Towers
One of Cleese's finest moments - as Basil Fawlty! Don't miss it!
FILM: Shrek 2 (2004)
ON AMAZON PRIME
FILM: Shrek the Third (2007) / FILM: Shrek Forever After (2010)
ALSO ON NETFLIX
Cleese provides the voice of Fiona's father the King in the animated comedy sequels.
FILM: Charlotte's Web (2006)
ON NETFLIX
Cleese on vocal duties again, this time as a sheep!
FILM: Rat Race (2001)
ON AMAZON PRIME
Cleese is part of the comedy ensemble for this Wacky Race style comedy.
ON NETFLIX:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) (Age 15)
Fancy a John Cleese Frankenstein double bill? How about Igor followed by this gothic horror melodrama. Cleese is great in this in a serious role.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
You can catch a whole load of Monty Python on Netflix at the moment including this hilarious spin on the King Arthur legend.
What's your favourite John Cleese role / movie?
Make sure you are booked in for this week's DRAMA CLASSES
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