Terry Jones, a founding member of legendary sketch troupe Monty Python, has died. He was 77.
Citing the Welsh comedian’s family, BBC reports Jones “gently slipped away at his home in north London” while surrounded by family and friends.
Jones, one of the group’s key on-screen stars and the directorial talent behind The Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life, died four years after being diagnosed with a rare form of dementia.
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His Python cast mates have publicly reflected on the immense loss.
On Twitter, John Cleese praised “a man of so many talents and such endless enthusiasm,” while Michael Palin said Jones “was far more than one of the funniest writer performers of his generation, he was the complete Renaissance comedian.”
Just heard about Terry J
It feels strange that a man of so many talents and such endless enthusiasm, should have faded so gently away…
Of his many achievements, for me the greatest gift he gave us all was his direction of ‘Life of Brian’. Perfection
Two down, four to go
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) January 22, 2020
Jones was known for dotting Monty Python’s work with absurd characters, who also uttered some of the most memorable lines in British comedy history.
That’s how I remember him, at least. My father, an English baby boomer, was mandated by law to introduce his children to Monty Python at a perilously young age; as such, Jones The Life Of Brian line “He’s not the Messiah, he’s just a very naughty boy!” has ping-ponged in my head since my own naughty boyhood.
You may also recall Jones as Mr Creosote, the restaurant patron whose endless stream of puke was perhaps the funniest thing 6-year-old me had ever encountered.
Outside of his Monty Python work, Jones also penned the screenplay for cult hit Labyrinth, which stands as a crowning achievement in the illustrious career of one Mr David Bowie.
He also penned a raft of children’s books and TV documentaries, and also found time to criticise Western involvement in the so-called War on Terror.
Not a bad run for a man who once exploded on-screen. Go well, Terry.
