Fawlty Towers 2: BBC Radio Audio Book Cassette (1994)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
Taming of the Shrew | Rentadick
At Last the 1948 Show
The Complete Fawlty Towers
Monty Python - The Monster Box Set
Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Complete First Series | Second Series | Third Series | Fourth Series

British Actor

Spindly, straight-backed, grasshopper-like British comic actor with thinning dark hair, hollow eyes, annoyed expression and snapping, upper-class tones. Perhaps the funniest British star of his generation, his films and TV appearances have been too few for the liking of his fans.

The son of a Somerset insurance salesman, Cleese (the family name was changed from Cheese in 1915) was 6 ft tall at 12 years old, 'a timid, weedy kid with no way of fading into the background'. Seven years and five inches later, he joined the Cambridge University Footlights revue and shattered forever his parents' dreams of him becoming a solicitor.

John Cleese autographs, dvds, photographs, dvds and more @ ebay.com (direct link to signed items)

Film roles, though, remained largely snooty cameos, even after his tremendous TV success as Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers, the monstrous seaside hotelier described by one writer as 'a unique exhibit in the comedy chamber of horrors'. The Fawlty half-hours are little miracles of invention, characterisation and comic timing, and in them Cleese proved himself a master of sarcasm and one of comedy's great escalating panickers, a man whose snide unflappability gradually crumbled as he attempted to put fingers in an ever-increasing number of holes in a dam in the face of a flood of impending disaster.

The Fawlty creation was unusual in that he remained a fairly unsympathetic character. Cleese re-proved the theory that you didn't have to play lovable idiots to get laughs in the films Privates on Parade and Clockwise. In 1988 he had his first really big box-office hit with A Fish Called Wanda, a caper comedy which, like most of his material, Cleese wrote himself.

He was at one time married to American-born actress Connie Booth, his co-writer and co-star in Fawlty Towers.

f i l m o g r a p h y

Bond 21 (2005) (pre-production) .... Q
Valiant (2005) (filming) (voice)
Complete Guide to Guys (2005) (post-production) .... British Expert

Around the World in 80 Days (2004) .... Grizzled Sergeant
Shrek 2 (2004) (voice) .... King
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004) (VG) (voice) .... Q
... aka Everything or Nothing (2004) (VG) (USA: short title)
Education Tips No. 41: Choosing a Really Expensive School (2003) (V) .... Prof. Dik Bonkers/Dr. Ken Enron Chaney
George of the Jungle 2 (2003) (V) (voice) .... Ape
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) .... Mr. Munday
Die Another Day (2002) .... Q
... aka D.A.D. (2002) (USA: promotional abbreviation)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) .... Nearly Headless Nick
Pinocchio (2002) (voice: US version) .... The Talking Cricket
... aka Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio (2002) (USA: promotional title)
Mickey's House of Villains (2002) (V) (voice) .... Narrator (segment "Mickey's Mechanical House")
Adventures of Pluto Nash, The (2002) .... James
... aka Pluto Nash (2002) (UK) (USA: working title)
Scorched (2003/I) .... Mr. Merchant
"Wednesday 9:30 (8:30 Central)" (2002) TV Series .... Red Lansing
... aka "My Adventures in Television" (2002) (USA: new title)
Taking the Wheel (2002)
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse (2001) (V) .... Narrator
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) .... Nearly Headless Nick
... aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) (International: English title) (UK)
... aka Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) (USA)
Rat Race (2001) .... Donald P. Sinclair
... aka Course folle (2001) (Canada: French title)
"House of Mouse" (2001) TV Series (voice) .... Narrator
Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big (2000) (voice)
Rockstar (2000) .... Interviewer in lounge
Magic Pudding, The (2000) (voice) .... Albert the Magic Pudding
007 Racing (2000) (VG) (voice) .... R
Quantum Project (2000) .... Alexander Pentcho
Isn't She Great (2000) .... Henry Marcus
... aka Ist sie nicht großartig? (2001) (Germany)

World Is Not Enough, The (1999) .... R
... aka Pressure Point (1999) (USA: changed title)
... aka T.W.I.N.E. (1999) (UK: promotional abbreviation)
"Mickey Mouse Works" (1999) TV Series (voice) .... Narrator
BFI London Imax Signature Film, The (1999)
Out-of-Towners, The (1999) .... Mr. Mersault
Parting Shots (1999) .... Maurice Walpole
Starship Titanic (1998) (VG) (as Kim Bread) .... The Bomb
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997) (VG) .... Various
Unorganized Manager, Part Three: Lamentations, The (1997) (V) .... St. Peter
George of the Jungle (1997) (voice) .... An Ape Named 'Ape'
Fierce Creatures (1997) .... Rollo Lee
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996) (VG) .... Sir Lancelot, et. al.
Wind in the Willows, The (1996/I) .... Mr. Toad's Lawyer
... aka Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1997) (USA: video title)
"Look at the State We're In!" (1995) (mini) TV Series .... Minister
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) (VG) .... Various
Jungle Book, The (1994) .... Dr. Julien Plumford
... aka Libro de la selva, El (1994) (USA: Spanish title)
... aka Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book (1994)
Swan Princess, The (1994) (voice) .... Jean-Bob
Frankenstein (1994) .... Professor Waldeman
... aka Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
Splitting Heirs (1993) .... Raoul P. Shadgrind
American Tail: Fievel Goes West, An (1991) (voice) .... Cat R. Waul
Grime Goes Green: Your Business and the Environment (1990) (V) .... Mr. Grime
Bullseye! (1990) .... Man on the Beach in Barbados Who Looks Like John Cleese

Big Picture, The (1989) .... Bartender Frankie
Erik the Viking (1989) .... Halfdan the Black
... aka Erik viking (1989) (Sweden)
Fish Called Wanda, A (1988) .... Archie Leach
Baby Quark (1987) (TV) (voice: English version) .... Narrator
Quark and the Highway Robber (1987) (voice)
Clockwise (1986) .... Brian Stimpson
Silverado (1985) .... Sheriff John T. Langston, Turley
Budgeting (1984) (V) .... Julian Carruthers
Yellowbeard (1983) .... Harvey 'Blind' Pew
Meaning of Life, The (1983) .... Fish #2/Dr. Spenser/Humphrey
Williams/Sturridge/Ainsworth/Waiter/Man/Maitre D/Grim Reaper
... aka Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) (UK: complete title)
Privates on Parade (1982) .... Major Giles Flack
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) .... Various roles
"Whoops Apocalypse" (1982) TV Series .... Lacrobat
Time Bandits (1981) .... Robin Hood
Great Muppet Caper, The (1981) .... Nevil
Cost, Profit, and Break-Even (1980) (V) .... Julian Carruthers
Depreciation and Inflation (1980) (V) .... Julian Carruthers
Taming of the Shrew, The (1980) (TV) .... Petruchio
... aka Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew, The (1980) (TV) (USA: video title)
Peter Cook & Co. (1980) (TV) .... Various Characters

Away from It All (1979) (as Nigel Farquhar-Bennett) .... Narrator
I'd Like a Word with You (1979) (V) .... Ethelred the Unready/Ivan the Terrible/William the Silent
To Norway, Home of Giants (1979) (TV) .... Norman Fearless
Life of Brian (1979) .... Wise Man #1/Reg/Jewish Official/Centurion/Deadly Dirk/Arthur
... aka Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) (UK: complete title)
Control of Working Capital, The (1978) (V) .... Julian Carruthers
Balance Sheet Barrier, The (1977) (V) .... Julian Carruthers
Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It, The (1977) .... Arthur Sherlock Holmes
Mermaid Frolics, The (1977) (TV) .... Various
... aka Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles, An (1977) (TV) (UK)
Can We Please Have That the Right Way Round? (1976) (V)
Cold Call, The (1976) (V)
Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976) (TV) .... Various
... aka Monty Python Meets Beyond the Fringe (1976) (TV)
Awkward Customers (1975) (V)
... aka Selling Line: Awkward Customers, The (1975) (V) (UK: complete title)
Decisions, Decisions (1975) (V) .... Field Marshal Montgomery/Queen Elizabeth I./Brutus/Sir Winston Churchill
In Two Minds (1975) (V)
... aka Selling Line: In Two Minds, The (1975) (V) (UK: complete title)
Meeting of Minds, The (1975) (V)
More Akward Customers (1975) (V)
... aka Selling Line: More Awkward Customers, The (1975) (V) (UK: complete title)
How Not to Exhibit Yourself (1975) (V)
... aka Selling Line: How Not to Exhibit Yourself, The (1975) (V) (UK: series title)
I'll Think About It (1975) (V)
... aka Selling Line: I'll Think About It, The (1975) (V) (UK: series title)
It's Alright, It's Only a Customer (1975)
... aka Selling Line: It's Alright, It's Only a Customer, The (1975) (UK: series title)
Who Sold You This, Then? (1975) (V) .... Charlie Jenkins
... aka Selling Line: Who Sold You This, Then?, The (1975) (V) (UK: complete title)
"Fawlty Towers" (1975) TV Series .... Basil Fawlty
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) .... Second Swallow-Savvy Guard/The Black Knight/Peasant 3/Sir Lancelot, the Brave/Taunting French Guard/Tim the Enchanter
Romance with a Double Bass (1974) .... Musician Smychkov
Golf Etiquette (1973) .... A Golfer
Love Ban, The (1973) .... Contraceptives Lecturer
... aka Anyone for Sex? (1973) (UK: changed title)
... aka It's a 2'6'' Above the Ground World (1973)
Goodies and the Beanstalk, The (1973) (TV) .... The genie
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) (TV) .... Various roles
"Sez Les" (1969) TV Series .... Various Characters (Series 3, 8-9) (1971, 1974)
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) .... Announcer/Hungarian Man/Self-Defence Teacher/Sir George Head/Policeman/Interviewer/Mr. Praline/Second General/Christopher Columbus/Mungo the Cook/Bank Robber/Accountant #2 (falling past the window)/Vocational Guidance Counselor/Vivian Smith Smythe Smith
... aka Monty Python's And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) (UK: complete title)
Euroshow 71 (1971) (TV) (as Montypython Flyingcircus) .... Various
Ronnie Barker Yearbook, The (1971) (TV) .... Various Characters
Statue, The (1971) .... Harry
Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, The (1970) .... Pumer

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969) TV Series .... Announcer/Various Roles (1969-1973)
... aka "Monty Python" (1974) (UK: new title)
Light Entertainment Killers (1969) (TV)
Magic Christian, The (1969) .... Mr. Dougdale (director in Sotheby's)
Best House in London, The (1969) (uncredited) .... Jones
How to Irritate People (1968) (TV) .... Various
... aka John Cleese on How to Irritate People (1968) (TV)
Bliss of Mrs. Blossom, The (1968) .... Post Office clerk
Interlude (1968) .... TV Publicist
"At Last the 1948 Show" (1967) TV Series .... Various Characters

Unorganized Manager, Part Four: Revelations, The (????) (V) .... St. Peter