John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleeseis 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 co-founded 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, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth27 October 1939
needs comedy fixed
When you do comedy in front of an audience, they are the ones who tell you whether it's funny or not and which bits are funny and which bits need to be fixed.
intelligent creative trying
If you are leaping a ravine, the moment of takeoff is a bad time for considering alternative strategies... Do it in the 'closed' mode. But the moment the action is over, try to return to the 'open' mode... because in that mode we are the most aware, most receptive, most creative, and therefore at our most intelligent.
character mean bully
Basil Fawlty was an easy character for me. For some reason, portraying a mean uptight incompetent bully comes naturally to me.
school vision psychological
When I was in school, I was beaten every 30 minutes. It never did me any harm except for some psychological mal-adjustments and blurred vision.
writing circles important
The writing is the most important bit, and performing it is just closing the circle because I'm less likely to screw it up than anyone else.
country littles england
England is a fairly envious little country and it's embodied in the press. They don't like anyone being more distinguished than they are.
life asking politics
If life were fair, Dan Quayle would be making a living asking 'Do you want fries with that?'
interest relationship supremely
I had a very, very difficult relationship with my mother, who was supremely self-centred. She was hilariously self-centred. She did not really take interest in anything that didn't immediately affect her.
games towers want
I can never do better than Fawlty Towers whatever I do. Now I very much want to teach young talent some rules of the game.
writing actors performers
I've always called myself a writer/performer, not an actor because I basically write what I perform.
travel giving-up watches
Michael Palin decided to give up on his considerable comedy talents to make those dreadfully tedious travel shows. Have you ever tried to watch one?
girl america attractive
In Britain, girls seem to be either bright or attractive. In America, that's not the case. They're both.
people lists meetings
I'm always meeting new people, and my list of friends seems to change quite a bit.
people want rich
I don't understand why very, very rich people want to have even more money than they've already got.