Terry Jones

Terry Jones
Jones in May 2007
Born	Terence Graham Parry Jones (1942-02-01) 1 February 1942 Colwyn Bay, Wales, United Kingdom
Alma mater	St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Occupation	Actor comedian film director presenter poet writer historian
Known for	Monty Python
Spouse(s)	Alison Telfer (1970–2012,divorced) Anna Söderström (2012–present)

Terence Graham Parry "Terry" Jones (born 1 February 1942) is a British comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, historian and author. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.

Early life

Jones was born in the seaside town of Colwyn Bay, on the north coast of Wales. The family home was named Bodchwil. His father was stationed with the RAF in India. When Jones was 4½, the family moved to Surrey in England.^[1]

Jones attended primary school at Esher COE school and later attended the Royal Grammar School^[2] in Guildford, where he was school captain in the 1960-61 academic year. He read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, but "strayed into history".^[3] He graduated with a 2:1.^[4] While there, he performed comedy with future Monty Python castmate Michael Palin in The Oxford Revue.

Career history

Before Python and early Python

Jones appeared in Twice a Fortnight with Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, as well as the television series The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969). He appeared in Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–69) with Palin, Eric Idle and David Jason. He wrote for The Frost Report and several other David Frost programmes on British television. Along with Palin, he wrote lyrics for the 1968 Barry Booth album "Diversions".

Early on, Jones was interested in devising a fresh format for the Python TV shows, and it was largely he who developed the stream-of-consciousness style which abandoned punchlines and encouraged the fluid movement of one sketch into another, allowing the troupe's conceptual humour the space to “breathe”. Jones took a keen interest in the direction of the show. As demonstrated in many of his sketches with Palin, Jones was interested in making comedy that was visually impressive, feeling that interesting settings augmented, rather than distracted from, the humour. His methods encouraged many future television comedians to break away from conventional studio-bound shooting styles, as demonstrated by shows such as Green Wing, Little Britain and The League of Gentlemen.

Of Jones' contributions as a performer, his depictions of middle-aged women are among the most memorable. His humour, in collaboration with Palin, tends to be conceptual in nature. A typical Palin/Jones sketch draws its humour from the absurdity of the scenario. For example, in the “Summarise Proust Competition”, Jones plays a cheesy game show host who gives contestants 15 seconds to condense Marcel Proust's lengthy work À la recherche du temps perdu. Jones was also noted for his gifts as a Chaplinesque physical comedian. His performance in the "Undressing in Public" sketch, for instance, is done in total silence.

Directorial work

Jones co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam, and was sole director on two further Monty Python movies, Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. As a film director, Jones finally gained fuller control of the projects and devised a visual style that complemented the humour. His later films include Erik the Viking (1989) and The Wind in the Willows (1996). In 2008, Jones wrote and directed an opera titled Evil Machines.^[5] In 2011, he was commissioned to direct and write the libretto for another opera, entitled The Doctor's Tale.^[6]

On the commentary track of the 2004 "2 Disc Special Edition" DVD for the film Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Terry Jones stated that to his knowledge Ireland had banned only four movies, three of which he had directed: The Meaning of Life, Monty Python's Life of Brian and Personal Services.

Jones directed the comedy film Absolutely Anything, starring members of Monty Python, about a disillusioned schoolteacher who is given the chance to do anything he wishes by a group of aliens watching from space.^[7] The film features Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and the remaining members of Monty Python and was shot in London during a 6-week shoot.^[8]

Writer

Jones has written many books and screenplays, including comic works and more serious writing on medieval history.

Comedy

Jones co-wrote Ripping Yarns with Palin. He has also written numerous works for children, including Fantastic Stories, The Beast with a Thousand Teeth, and a collection of Comic Verse called The Curse of the Vampire's Socks.

Jones was also the co-creator (with Gavin Scott) of the animated TV series Blazing Dragons (1996-1998), which parodied the Arthurian legends and Middle Ages periods. Reversing a common story convention, the series' protagonists are anthropomorphic dragons beset by evil humans.

Screenplays

Jones wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth (1986), although his draft went through several rewrites and several other writers before being filmed; much of the finished film wasn't written by Jones at all.

History

Jones has written books and presented television documentaries on medieval and ancient history and the history of numeral systems.

His first book was Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary (1980), which offers an alternative take on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Knight's Tale. Chaucer's knight is often interpreted as a paragon of Christian virtue, but Jones asserts that if one studies historical accounts of the battles the knight claims he was involved in, he can be interpreted as a typical mercenary and a potentially cold-blooded killer. He also wrote "Who Killed Chaucer?" (2003) in which he argues that Chaucer was close to King Richard the Second and after Richard was deposed Chaucer was persecuted to death by Thomas Arundel.^[9]

Jones's TV series also frequently challenge popular views of history. For example, Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (2004) (for which he received a 2004 Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming") argues that the Middle Ages was a more sophisticated period than is popularly thought, and Terry Jones' Barbarians (2006) presents the cultural achievements of peoples conquered by the Roman Empire in a more positive light than Roman historians typically have, while criticising the Romans as the true "barbarians" who exploited and destroyed higher civilisations.

Anti-Iraq war writing

He has written numerous editorials for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Observer condemning the Iraq war. Many of these editorials were published in a paperback collection titled Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror.

His most recent book, Evil Machines, was launched by the online publishing house Unbound at the Adam Street Club in London on 4 November 2011. Evil Machines is the first book to be published by a crowd funding website dedicated solely to books. Jones provided significant support to Unbound as they developed their publishing concept.

Poetry

He is also a member of the UK Poetry Society, and his poems have appeared in Poetry Review.

Working with musicians

Jones has performed with The Carnival Band and appears on their 2007 CD Ringing the changes (Park Records PRKCD98).

In January 2008, the Teatro São Luiz, in Lisbon, Portugal, premiered Evil Machines – a musical play, written by Jones (based on his book) and with original music by Portuguese composer Luis Tinoco. Jones was invited by the Teatro São Luiz to write and direct the play, after a very successful run of Contos Fantásticos, a short play based on Jones' Fantastic Stories, also with music by Luis Tinoco.

In January 2012, it was announced that Jones is working with songwriter/producer Jim Steinman on a heavy metal version of "The Nutcracker."^[10]

As performer

Apart from a cameo in Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky and a memorable minor role as a drunken vicar in BBC sitcom The Young Ones, Jones has rarely appeared in work outside of his own projects. From 2009 to 2011, however, he provided narration for The Legend of Dick and Dom, a CBBC fantasy series set in the Middle Ages. He also appears in two French films by Albert Dupontel: Le Créateur (1999) and Enfermés dehors (2006).

In 2009 Jones took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about his Welsh family history.

On 2 October 2016 Jones received a standing ovation at the BAFTA Cymru Awards when he received a Lifetime Achievement award for his outstanding contribution to television and film.^[11][12]

Personal life

Jones married Alison Telfer in 1970, and they have two children together, Sally (born in 1974), and Bill (born in 1976). Jones left her for Anna Söderström, and their daughter Siri was born in early September 2009.^[13]

In September 2016 it was announced that Jones had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a form of frontotemporal dementia that impairs the ability to speak and communicate, and that he was no longer able to give interviews.^[14]

Selected bibliography

Fiction

• Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic (1997), ISBN 0-330-35446-9 – a novel based on the computer game of the same name by Douglas Adams.
• Evil Machines (2011), ISBN 978-1-908717-01-6

Illustrated by Michael Foreman

• Fairy Tales (1981), ISBN 0-907516-03-3
• The Saga of Erik the Viking (1983), ISBN 0-907516-23-8 – Children's Book Award 1984
• Nicobobinus (1985), ISBN 1-85145-000-9
• The Curse of the Vampire's Socks and Other Doggerel (1988), ISBN 1-85145-233-8 – poetry
• Fantastic Stories (1992), ISBN 1-85145-957-X
• The Beast with a Thousand Teeth (1993), ISBN 1-85793-070-3
• A Fish of the World (1993), ISBN 1-85793-075-4
• The Sea Tiger (1994), ISBN 1-85793-085-1
• The Fly-by-Night (1994), ISBN 1-85793-090-8
• The Knight and the Squire (1997), ISBN 1-86205-044-9
• The Lady and the Squire (2000), ISBN 1-86205-417-7 – nominated for a Whitbread Award
• Bedtime Stories (2002), ISBN 1-86205-276-X – with Nanette Newman

Illustrated by Brian Froud

• Goblins of the Labyrinth (1986), ISBN 1-85145-058-0
  • The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins (1996), ISBN 1-85793-795-3 – an abridged re-release, in a smaller format, with the colour plates missing
• Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (1994), ISBN 1-85793-336-2
• Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research (1996), ISBN 0-684-83206-2
• Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Journal (1998), ISBN 1-86205-024-4
• Lady Cottington's Fairy Album (2002), ISBN 1-86205-559-9

Illustrated by Martin Honeysett and Lolly Honeysett

• Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls with Michael Palin (1974) ISBN 0-413-32740-X

Non-fiction

• Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary. 1980. ISBN 0-297-77566-9. ; rev. ed. (1994), ISBN 0-413-69140-3
• Jones, Terry; Yeager, Robert F.; Doran, Terry; Fletcher, Alan; D'or, Juliett (2003). Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery. ISBN 0-413-75910-5. 
• Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror. 2005. ISBN 1-56025-653-2. 

With Alan Ereira

• Crusades. 1994. ISBN 0-563-37007-6. 
• Terry Jones' Medieval Lives. 2004. ISBN 0-563-48793-3. 
• Terry Jones' Barbarians. 2006. ISBN 0-563-49318-6. 

Filmography

Television

Title	Year	Credited as					Notes
Actor	Writer	Director	Other	Role
The Frost Report	1966–1967		Yes
A Series of Bird's	1967		Yes				Additional material
Twice a Fortnight	1967	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Do Not Adjust Your Set	1967–1969	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Horne A'Plenty	1968		Yes
Broaden Your Mind	1968	Yes	Yes			Various characters	Additional material
The Complete and Utter History of Britain	1969	Yes	Yes		Yes	Various characters	Also co-creator
Marty	1969	Yes	Yes		Yes	Various characters
Christmas Night with the Stars	1969, 1972	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Monty Python's Flying Circus	1969–1974	Yes	Yes		Yes	Various characters	Also co-creator
Frost on Sunday	1970		Yes
Marty Amok	1970		Yes				Television special
The Two Ronnies	1971–1976		Yes				13 episodes
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus	1972	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Black and Blue	1973		Yes				Episode: "Secrets"
Ripping Yarns	1976–1979	Yes	Yes		Yes	Mr. Ellis / Bear / Mr. Moodie / Director	Also co-creator
The Mermaid Frolics	1977	Yes	Yes	Yes		Various characters	Television special
Saturday Night Live	1978	Yes				Orson Welles' director (voice)	Episode: "Michael Palin/Eugene Record"
Peter Cook & Co.	1980	Yes				Various characters	Television special
The Rupert Bear Story: A Tribute to Alfred Bestall	1982		Yes	Yes	Yes	Himself	Television documentary
The Young Ones	1984	Yes				Drunk Vicar	Episode: "Nasty"
Bombardemagnus	1985		Yes				2 episodes
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	1992	Yes		Yes		Marcello	Episode: "Barcelona, May 1917"
Jackanory	1993	Yes				Reader	2 episodes
Crusades	1995		Yes		Yes	Presenter	4 episodes
Blazing Dragons	1996–1998				Yes		Co-creator and executive producer
Ancient Inventions	1998		Yes		Yes	Presenter	3 episodes
Boy in Darkness	2000	Yes				Storyteller	Television short film
Comedy Lab	2001, 2010	Yes				Knife (voice) / Handyman	2 episodes
The Surprising History of Egypt	2002		Yes		Yes	Presenter
The Surprising History of Rome	2002		Yes		Yes	Presenter
Dinotopia	2002	Yes				Messenger Bird (voice)
The Surprising History of Sex and Love	2002		Yes		Yes	Presenter
Terry Jones' Medieval Lives	2004		Yes		Yes	Presenter	8 episodes
The Story of 1	2005				Yes	Presenter	Documentary
Terry Jones' Barbarians	2006		Yes		Yes	Presenter	4 episodes
Kombat Opera Presents	2007			Yes			Episode: "The South Bragg Show"
Terry Jones' Great Map Mystery	2008				Yes	Presenter	4 episodes
The Legend of Dick and Dom	2009–2011	Yes				Narrator
Perspectives	2015				Yes	Presenter	Episode: "In Charlie Chaplin's Footsteps"

Film

Title	Year	Credited as					Notes
Actor	Writer	Director	Other	Role
And Now for Something Completely Different	1971	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Monty Python and the Holy Grail	1975	Yes	Yes	Yes		Sir Bedevere the Wise / Various
Jabberwocky	1977	Yes				Poacher
Monty Python's Life of Brian	1979	Yes	Yes	Yes		Various characters
The Box	1981	Yes	Yes			Harrington (voice)	Short film
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl	1982	Yes	Yes			Various characters	Concert film
The Crimson Permanent Assurance	1983	Yes				Very Big Corporation of America Clerk	Uncredited
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life	1983	Yes	Yes	Yes		Various characters
Labyrinth	1986		Yes
Personal Services	1987			Yes
Erik the Viking	1989	Yes	Yes	Yes		King Arnulf
L.A. Story	1991	Yes				Sara's Mother (voice)	Uncredited
The Wind in the Willows	1996	Yes	Yes	Yes		Mr. Toad
Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar	1999	Yes				Obelix (voice)	English version
The Creator	1999	Yes				God
Help! I'm a Fish	2000	Yes				Professor Mac Krill (voice)	English version
Locked Out	2006	Yes				Homeless person
Anna and the Moods	2007	Yes				Narrator (voice)	Short film
King Guillaume	2009	Yes				Oxford Professor
Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)	2010	Yes				Workingman / Mexican / Mountie
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman	2012	Yes				Graham's mother / Various voices
Monty Python Live (Mostly)	2014	Yes	Yes			Various characters
Absolutely Anything	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes		Scientist Alien (voice) / Van Driver
Boom Bust Boom	2015		Yes	Yes	Yes	Presenter	Documentary

Documentary series

• Crusades (1995)
• Ancient Inventions – directed by Phil Grabsky and Daniel Percival (1998)^[15]
• The Surprising History of Egypt (USA, 2002) a.k.a. The Hidden History of Egypt (UK, 2003) – directed by Phil Grabsky
• The Surprising History of Rome (USA, 2002) a.k.a. The Hidden History of Rome (UK, 2003) – directed by Phil Grabsky
• The Surprising History of Sex and Love (2002) – directed by Alan Ereira and Phil Grabsky
• Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (2004)
• The Story of 1 (2005)
• Terry Jones' Barbarians (2006)
• Terry Jones' Great Map Mystery (2008)
• In Charlie Chaplin's Footsteps with Terry Jones (2015)^[16]
• Boom Bust Boom (2016)^[17]

Political views

Jones has published a number of articles on political and social commentary, principally in newspapers The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent, and The Observer. Many of these articles criticised the War on Terror, belittling it as "declaring war on an abstract noun" and comparing it to attempting to "annihilate mockery".^[18] In August 2014, Jones was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.^[19]

Collaborations

	Monty Python and the Holy Grail	Monty Python's Life of Brian	Monty Python's The Meaning of Life	Erik the Viking	The Wind in the Willows	Absolutely Anything
Graham Chapman	Y	Y	Y
John Cleese	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Carol Cleveland	Y	Y	Y
Terry Gilliam	Y	Y	Y			Y
Eric Idle	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y
Neil Innes	Y	Y		Y
Charles McKeown		Y		Y
Michael Palin	Y	Y	Y		Y	Y
Antony Sher				Y	Y
John Young	Y	Y

See also

• An asteroid, 9622 Terryjones, is named in his honour.^[20]

References

Further reading

• Wilmut, Roger (1980). From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy, 1960–1980. London: Eyre Methuen. ISBN 0-413-46950-6. 

External links

• Terry Jones at DMOZ
• Terry Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Terry Jones at the BBC Guide to Comedy
• Terry Jones at the Comedy Zone