John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and television presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he achieved early success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. He subsequently cofounded the comedy troupe Monty Python, co-writing and starring in the surreal sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus as well as feature films including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life.

Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, the only child of insurance salesman Reginald Francis Cleese and Muriel Evelyn. His family's surname was originally Cheese until his father officially changed it to Cleese in 1923. Cleese attended St Peter's Preparatory School and Clifton College, excelling academically and participating in cricket and boxing. Before attending university, he spent two years teaching at his prep school. He went on to read law at Downing College, Cambridge, where he joined the Cambridge Footlights theatrical club and met his future writing partner Graham Chapman.

After graduating from Cambridge in 1963, Cleese wrote and performed in the Footlights revue Cambridge Circus, touring London's West End, New Zealand, and Broadway. He then worked on BBC Radio programs, including I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, and joined the writing staff of The Frost Report in 1965. His television breakthrough occurred on The Frost Report, notably through his performance in the classic "Class" sketch. Following this success, he contributed as a writer and performer to At Last the 1948 Show and cowrote episodes for Doctor in the House.

Alongside Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, Cleese launched Monty Python's Flying Circus in 1969. Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, later cowrote the television sitcom Fawlty Towers, in which Cleese starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty. Cleese also wrote and starred in the heist comedy film A Fish Called Wanda and its quasi-sequel Fierce Creatures. His additional film credits include Time Bandits, Silverado, Clockwise, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, George of the Jungle, Rat Race, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Cleese featured in prominent film franchises, portraying R and Q in the James Bond movies The World Is Not Enough and Die Another Day, Nearly Headless Nick in the first two Harry Potter films, and roles in the last three Shrek films. Over his career, Cleese earned the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for Fawlty Towers, a Primetime Emmy Award for a guest appearance on Cheers, and Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for A Fish Called Wanda.

Specialising in dark humour, political and religious satire, and surreal sketch comedy, Cleese cofounded Video Arts, a production company that created training films and organised The Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows for Amnesty International. Formerly a supporter of the Liberal Democrats, he declined an offer from the party for a life peerage nomination in 1999. In 2005, a Channel 4 poll of fellow comedians ranked Cleese as the second best comedian ever.