Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, playwright, director and songwriter. Co-creator of Monty Python on TV, stage and five films, including The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail, which latter he adapted for the stage with John Du Prez as Monty Python's Spamalot, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005, a Grammy, a Drama Desk Award, and playing for almost five years on Broadway. They also wrote the comic oratorio Not The Messiah, He's a Very Naughty Boy, in 2007, which played round the world and at The Hollywood Bowl and was filmed live at The Royal Albert Hall, and a musical play What About Dick? available soon on I Tunes. He created and directed the first mockumentary The Rutles for NBC, starred as Ko-Ko in the English National Opera version of The Mikado, in London and Houston, and appeared last year in The Pirates of Penzance in Central Park and in Not The Messiah at Carnegie Hall. He is also one of the conceiver's of the musical Seussical. In 2012 he appeared live in front of a billion people worldwide singing his song Always Look On the Bright Side of Life at the Closing Ceremony of the London Olympics. Last year he created, directed and appeared in the sold out final Monty Python reunion show One Down Five To Go at London's O2 Arena for ten nights, whose final performance was broadcast live round the world. He has also acted in several movies, such as Nuns On the Run, Splitting Heirs, Casper, Shrek The Third, and The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen and written two novels, The Greedy Bastard Diary and Pass The Butler a West End play.
Daughter, Lily , with Tania Kosevich.
Son, Carey (b. 1973), with Lyn Ashley.
Member of the comedy group "Monty Python"
Studied English at Cambridge University. While at university, he was a member of the prestigious Cambridge Footlights Club, and later, President of the Footlights Club.
Erics father, who served in the Royal Air Force, died in a car crash on Christmas eve when he was two years old.
The only member of the Monty Python group to write alone.
In 1963, as a collegiate, he was admitted into the Cambridge Footlights comedy club. He became president of the club the following year and one of his first acts was to open the membership up to include women. Feminist/writer Germaine Greer was one of the first to join.
Proudly calls himself "the third tallest member of Monty Python."
Is an accomplished guitar player.
Biography in: "Whos Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 225-226. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
Defeated Charles Barkley and Martha Stewart on a celebrity episode of "Jeopardy!" in 2002.
Got permission from the other members of Monty Python (except, naturally, Graham Chapman ) to go ahead with his play/musical "Spamalot" (set to hit Broadway in early 2005), a twist on their classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail , because they all found the script hilarious.
Was once tasked by his fellow Pythons with composing a response to an angry piece of fan mail. Monty Python member Graham Chapman was openly gay, and a letter had been written citing Bible verses, stating that homosexuals should be stoned to death. He jokingly replied that they had stoned Chapman to death.
Friend of Robin Williams.
Describes himself as having "creative dyslexia", meaning he can look at any word and automatically see the anagrams that can be made from it. One of the characters he played in "Monty Pythons Flying Circus" was a man who speaks only in anagrams.
Admired by the other Pythons for his circle of friends, it was he who procured part of the production money for Life of Brian from former Beatle George Harrison.
Appears as the M.C. in the 3-D film Honey, I Shrunk the Audience at Disneyland.
Although his picture An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn was a commercial and critical disappointment, Idle has been asked for Alan Smithee s "autograph" in real life...and consented (Smithee was the nonexistent, pseudonymous director whom Idle "portrayed" in said movie).
Rented out his house to Carrie Fisher during the production of Life of Brian , while she was in London filming Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back .
Steve Martin calls him his mentor.
The only member of Monty Python not to appear on "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" .
Was invited to the party Steve Martin was throwing that turned out to be his wedding.
Member of Monty Python along with John Cleese , Michael Palin , Terry Jones , Graham Chapman and Terry Gilliam.
(February 2005) Producer of hit Broadway musical Monty Pythons Spamalot ("lovingly ripped-off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail .")
(July 2005) Just signed a deal to have his musical "Spamalot" performed in Wynns Resorts in Las Vegas in 2007. It will perform there for 10 years.
John Du Prez and his musical, "Monty Pythons Spamalot" at the Nightblue Performing Arts Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2014 Joseph Jefferson Non-Equity Award for Musical Production.
Knew Michael Palin and Terry Jones from university.
Longtime advocate for womens rights and animal rights.
On July 1st - 5th & July 15th - 20th, 2014 The Pythons perform Monty Python Live (mostly) at the O2 to sold out crows of 16,000 for each of the 10 nights, Eric Idle wrote and directed the show.
Longtime friend of George Harrison.
On August 12, 2012 Eric performs "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" live at the London Olympic Games Closing Ceremony which was broadcast live around the world to approximately 1 Billion people.
On October 15, 2009 - Eric and the other surviving members of Monty Python accept the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award on the 40th Anniversary of Monty Python in New York.
On November 12, 2008 Eric performs Swan Lake with the English National Ballet, and sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the We Are Most Amused Gala event held at the New Wimbledon Theatre in honor of the 60th birthday of HRH Prince Charles.
John Du Prez and he were awarded the 2010 Musical Score for "Monty Pythons Spamalot" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Born on the same date as Vangelis.
[on his favourite sexual position] Flat on my back with my wallet open.
If the studios paid the artists, how would they ever be able to afford,the executives?,There was a time when we were almost universally hated by large sections,of society. Now that we are the cuddly old farts of comedy, I rather,miss the hatred.
Americans like to think Python is how English people really are. There,is an element of truth to that.
When we got to North America it was extraordinary to find that everybody,assumed that we were totally stoned all the time while making it up.
[1975] A comedian must never be vulnerable. The great comedians are,always apparently invulnerable on stage although off stage they were,not such supermen.
We [Brits] like to call it [soccer] "football" because, unlike American,football, it is played with the feet.
The dreadful thing about getting older is you cry at the drop of a hat.
[At boarding school] I got used to dealing with groups of boys and,getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart, funny,and subversive at the expense of authority. Perfect training for,Python. The senior school was very rough when I got there at the age of,eleven. Beatings were common. The masters could beat you with canes.
The older boys, the prefects, were allowed to whack you with slippers.
[on receiving abuse on Twitter] I tell them to fuck off. I find that,works.
[2009] It is an odd thing to do comedy and we were an odd bunch. And it,was not undergraduate humour, we are all graduates thank you very much.
Perhaps our best achievement was managing to stay together long enough,to segue from TV comedy into movies. All in all we managed fourteen,years and that while we turned from young men into husbands and,fathers. And do we still get on? Yes. We do. So there. Of course we,bicker and bitch and gossip and moan about each other, but you just try,attacking one of the others and see what you get.
I was born on 29 March 1943 in Harton Hospital, South Shields. My mother,was born in the same hospital, but not at the same time, interestingly,enough.
I learned at boarding school to always quit [running] while you are,behind [in physical education class], and then sneak off behind the,bogs for a smoke.
[on growing up in a semi-orphanage] Sad? A million sad tales I can tell,you, repressed emotion recollected in tranquillity. A thing of duty is,a boy forever. Per ardua ad astra. Through hard work to the stars.
Could be the motto of mankind entering the Space Age. Or a young man,entering show business.
[January 2017; asked about why his leg is in a cast] I fell over looking,under the bed for a guitar case and broke my damn ankle. Not easy to do,and quite painful.
[asked if he has taken part in a London park run yet] No gentleman ever,runs. . .
At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.
Mere lack of evidence, of course, is no reason to denounce a theory. Look at intelligent design. The fact that it is bollocks hasn’t stopped a good many people from believing in it. Darwinism itself is only supported by tons of evidence, which is a clear indication that Darwin didn’t write his books himself.
I have been very blessed in my life and rewarded with good friends and good health. I am grateful and happy to be able to share this.
My education was paid for by the RAF Benevolent Fund, so a charity school, run like an orphanage, with uniforms and beatings. It was tough, but it got me to Cambridge - like being a chrysalis suddenly becoming a butterfly.
I love my family, my wife, my kids, my dogs, my home, my life. I am a very happy and contented man.
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