Eric Idle
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Biography
Eric Idle was born on March 29, 1943 in South Shields, County Durham, England. After a childhood spent in boarding school, Idle enrolled in Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1965, where he began his love affair with performance by way of the renowned Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club. Through the program, Idle met John Cleese and Graham Chapman, with whom he'd eventually go on to form the comedy troupe Monty Python. Idle met further future fellow Python members Terry Jones and Michael Palin while working on the comedy television series "Do Not Adjust Your Set" (ITV 1967-69) while still enrolled in college. Upon his graduation in '69, Idle and the others, along with Terry Gilliam, formed Monty Python, taking form early on with the sketch series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (BBC One/BBC Two 1969-1974). Despite the success of the program, the team opted at the point of the show's termination to pursue individual projects; Idle experimented first with a radio show, "Radio Five" (BBC Radio One 1973-74), and then with a new sketch show, "Rutland Weekend Television" (BBC Two 1975-76), which spawned his best-known project outside Monty Python, "All You Need Is Cash" (NBC 1978), a satirical film based on the career of The Beatles that Idle wrote and starred in as both the narrator and Paul McCartney stand-in Dirk McQuickly, with songs by longtime collaborator Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Band, whom he first met on "Do Not Adjust Your Set." These aspirations notwithstanding, Monty Python did reunite for feature films like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), "Life of Brian" (1979) and "The Meaning of Life" (1983). Going forward, Idle appeared in movies like "The Transformers: The Movie" (1986), the Gilliam-directed "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1986), "Casper" (1995), "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" (1997), and "Ella Enchanted" (2004). In 2005, Idle adapted "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" as a Broadway musical called "Spamalot," originally directed by Mike Nichols.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Special)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1963
Joined Cambridge theater troupe, The Footlights, eventually becoming group's president; met future comic mates John Cleese and Graham Chapman
1965
Professional stage debut, "One for the Pot"
1966
Wrote for the BBC TV series "The Frost Report", starring David Frost
1966
English TV debut as the chauffeur in Ken Russell's "Isadora: The Biggest Dancer in the World" (BBC-1)
1969
Worked as a performer and writer on the popular TV series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (BBC), shows aired in 1969-1970 and from 1972 to 1974 with a two-year hiatus
1969
Co-founded the English comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus with Cleese, Chapman, Palin, Jones and token 'Yank' Terry Gilliam
1971
Feature acting and writing debut, "And Now for Something Completely Different", the first Monty Python feature
1974
"Monty Python's Flying Circus" premiered in the USA on PBS
1975
Published novel, "Hello Sailor"
1975
Portrayed 13 characters in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"
1976
Hosted the third show of the second season of NBC's "Saturday Night Live"; he would go on to host "SNL" three more times over the years, as well as guest-starring twice
1978
Wrote, co-starred and co-directed the story of The Rutles, "All You Need is Cash", an NBC special
1979
First collaboration with George Harrison's HandMade Films, "Monty Python's Life of Brian", playing 14 characters; Harrison contributed cameo as Mr. Papadopolous
1980
Guest-starred with Peter Noone (of Herman's Hermits fame) as British rock stars on episode of "Laverne and Shirley" (ABC)
1982
Wrote and directed "The Frog Prince", the debut episode for Showtime's "Faerie Tale Theatre", starring Robin Williams and Teri Garr
1982
Wrote first stage play, "Pass The Butler"
1983
Last Python film to date, "Monty Python's Meaning of Life"
1985
Portrayed bike rider in "National Lampoon's European Vacation"
1987
Played Ko-Ko in an English National Opera Company revival of "The Mikado"
1989
Starred in the short-lived NBC fantasy sitcom "Nearly Departed"
1989
Appeared in Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
1989
Co-starred as Passepartout in the NBC miniseries, "Around the World in 80 Days"
1990
Acted opposite Robbie Coltrane as "Nuns on the Run" for HandMade Films
1990
Wrote and performed the title music for British sitcom "One Foot in the Grave" (BBC)
1993
Wrote, executive produced and starred (with Cleese) in "Splitting Heirs"
1994
First Python CD-Rom released, "Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time"
1996
Reteamed (as Rat) with Jones (Toad), Cleese (Toad's Lawyer) and Palin (The Sun) for a live-action version of "The Wind and the Willows", adapted and directed by Jones
1997
Starred as Alan Smithee in the egregious "Burn, Hollywood, Burn"
1997
His "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" (originally sung in "Monty Python's Life of Brian") popped up in "As Good as It Gets" (performed by Art Garfunkle)
1998
Provided the singing voice of Devon (the two-headed dragon) in the animated "Quest for Camelot"
1998
Voiced Parenthesis on animated series "Disney's Hercules" (ABC)
1998
Contributed vocal talent to the straight-to-video animation release "The Secret of Nimh II: Timmy to the Rescue" and to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie", which had a limited release in theaters
1999
Played a prospector who mentors the title character when he is drummed out of the Mounties in the live-action feature version of "Dudley Do-Right"
1999
Joined cast of the NBC sitcom "Suddenly Susan", playing magazine owner Ian Maxtone-Graham
1999
Participated in Toronto workshop of the stage musical "The Seussical"; had written a version of the libretto (not used), credited as "creative consultant" when show opened on Broadway in 2000
1999
Performed with surviving mates in "Monty Python Reunion Special" (BBC), celebrating their 30th anniversary
1999
Was the voice of Dr. Vosknocker in "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut"
2003
Received a grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Album For Children, for his work on "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory"
2004
Was the voice of the Narrator for "Ella Enchanted"
2005
Wrote and Composed the Broadway musical "Monty Python's Spamalot," which starred David Hyde Pierce (Sir Robin), Tim Curry (King Arthur), and Hank Azaria (Sir Lancelot), received a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score
2007
Voiced Merlin in the animated feature, "Shrek the Third"
Family
Companions
