Biography
Born on March 29, 1943, in South Shields, England, Eric Idle helped establish the celebrated Monty Python comedy ensemble. His father, who served in the Royal Air Force, perished in a car accident when Idle was only two. He completed his secondary education at a boarding school in Wolverhampton before enrolling at Cambridge University to read English, where he led the Footlights club as its president during 1964. While performing on the 1967 sketch program At Last the 1948 Show, he encountered John Cleese and Graham Chapman; the larger company, which included Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and the American-born animator Terry Gilliam, began to coalesce while they worked on the children’s series Do Not Adjust Your Set. The BBC commissioned the group in May 1969 to create a thirteen-week series that debuted that October under the title Monty Python’s Flying Circus, quickly gaining widespread popularity across Europe and later acquiring devoted followers beyond the continent.
Beyond the television sketches, the collective produced successful films and recordings. As one of the troupe’s principal writers, Idle often portrayed eccentric vocalists and other show-business parodies. His debut novel, Hello Sailor, appeared in 1975; that same period he collaborated with Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Band on the short-lived series Rutland Weekend Television, which spawned the Beatles parody act the Rutles and the well-regarded mock documentary All You Need Is Cash. After the final group effort, the 1983 feature Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life, Idle took occasional supporting parts in cinema, including Gilliam’s 1988 production The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, while devoting most of his energy to writing until he assumed the leading role in the 1990 comedy Nuns on the Run. He also wrote, produced, and starred in the 1993 film Splitting Heirs. In 1999 he joined the cast of the Brooke Shields vehicle Suddenly Susan, and following its sudden cancellation he launched a solo concert tour the next year to promote the album Eric Idle Sings Monty Python.
Beyond the television sketches, the collective produced successful films and recordings. As one of the troupe’s principal writers, Idle often portrayed eccentric vocalists and other show-business parodies. His debut novel, Hello Sailor, appeared in 1975; that same period he collaborated with Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Band on the short-lived series Rutland Weekend Television, which spawned the Beatles parody act the Rutles and the well-regarded mock documentary All You Need Is Cash. After the final group effort, the 1983 feature Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life, Idle took occasional supporting parts in cinema, including Gilliam’s 1988 production The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, while devoting most of his energy to writing until he assumed the leading role in the 1990 comedy Nuns on the Run. He also wrote, produced, and starred in the 1993 film Splitting Heirs. In 1999 he joined the cast of the Brooke Shields vehicle Suddenly Susan, and following its sudden cancellation he launched a solo concert tour the next year to promote the album Eric Idle Sings Monty Python.
Albums
Singles
