Terry Jones was a Welsh actor, writer, comedian, screenwriter, film director, and historian. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, He and writing partner Michael Palin wrote and performed for several high-profile British comedy programs, including Do Not Adjust Your Set and The Frost Report, before creating Monty Python’s Flying Circus with Cambridge graduates Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman, and American animator/filmmaker Terry Gilliam.
In 2016, He received a Lifetime Achievement award at the BAFTA Cymru Awards for his outstanding contribution to television and film. After living for several years with degenerative aphasia, he gradually lost the ability to speak and died on 21st January 2020. Let’s know more about him through this article.
What is Terry Jones famous for?
- A Welsh actor, writer, comedian, screenwriter, film director, and historian.
- Being a member of the Monty Python comedy team.
Where is Terry Jones from?
Recalling his early life, Jones was born in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, Wales. He holds Welsh citizenship and belongs to White ethnicity. He was born to Dilys Louisa, a homemaker, and Alick George Parry-Jones, a bank clerk. His father was stationed with the RAF in India. When he was four-and-a-half, the family moved to Surrey, England.
Where did Terry Jones go for education?
Concerning his education details, Jones attended Esher COE primary school, followed by the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, where he was school captain in the 1960-61 academic year. Later, he attended Oxford University and graduated with a degree in English.
When did Terry Jones begin his writing career?
- After his graduation, Jones wrote many books and screenplays, including comic works and more serious writing on medieval history.
- He co-wrote Ripping Yarns with Palin. They also wrote a play, Underwood’s Finest Hour, about an obstetrician distracted during birth by the radio broadcast of a Test match, which played at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1981.
- He also wrote 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.
- He was 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.
- He also wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth (1986), although his draft went through several rewrites and several other writers before being filmed; consequently, much of the finished film was not written by him.
- Besides that, He wrote books and presented television documentaries on medieval and ancient history. 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.
- He also co-wrote Who Murdered Chaucer? (2003) in which he argues that Chaucer was close to King Richard II and that after Richard was deposed, Chaucer was persecuted to death by Thomas Arundel.
- His TV series also frequently challenges 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”).
- He 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, attributing the Sack of Rome in 410 AD to propaganda.
- He wrote numerous columns 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.
- In November 2011, his book Evil Machines was launched by the online publishing house Unbound at the Adam Street Club in London. It was the first book to be published by a crowdfunding website dedicated solely to books. He provided significant support to Unbound as they developed their publishing concept. In February 2018, He released The Tyrant and the Squire, also with Unbound.
- Further, he was a member of the Poetry Society, and his poems have appeared in Poetry Review
When did Terry Jones begin his acting career?
- Moving towards his career, 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 programs on British television. His contributions as a performer to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, his depictions of middle-aged women are among the most memorable.
- Apart from a cameo in Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky and a memorable minor role as a drunken vicar in the BBC sitcom The Young Ones, He rarely appeared in work outside his projects.
- He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam and was the sole director on two further Monty Python movies, Life of Brian and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
- As a film director, He finally gained fuller control of the projects and devised a visual style that complemented the humor. His later films include Erik the Viking (1989) and The Wind in the Willows (1996).
- In 2008, He wrote the libretto for and directed the opera Evil Machines. In 2009, He took part in the BBC Wales program Coming Home about his Welsh family history.
- 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 2011, he was commissioned to direct and write the libretto for another opera, entitled The Doctor’s Tale. Three of the films which he directed; The Meaning of Life, Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Personal Services were banned in Ireland.
- In July 2014, He reunited with the other four living Pythons to perform at ten dates (Monty Python Live (Mostly)) at the O2 Arena in London. This was his last performance with the group before his aphasia diagnosis.
- He directed the 2015 comedy film Absolutely Anything, about a disillusioned school teacher who is given the chance to do anything he wishes by a group of aliens watching from space. The film features Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Robin Williams and the voices of the five remaining members of Monty Python. It was filmed in London during a six-week shoot.
- In October 2016, He received a standing ovation at the BAFTA Cymru Awards when he received a Lifetime Achievement award for his outstanding contribution to television and film.
How did Terry Jones die?
Talking about his heath, Jones was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a form of frontotemporal dementia that impairs the ability to speak and communicate in 2015.
He had first given cause for concern during the Monty Python reunion show Monty Python Live (Mostly) in July 2014 because of difficulties learning his lines. He became a campaigner for awareness of, and fundraiser for research into, dementia.
By September 2016, he was no longer able to give interviews. By April 2017, He had lost the ability to say more than a few words of agreement. Unfortunately, He died on 21st January 2020 from complications of dementia at his home in North London.
Who was Terry Jones married to?
Reflecting on her personal life, Jones was married twice until his death. He has married Alison Telfer in 1970, and they had two children together, Sally and Bill. The pair had an open marriage. Thus in 2009, he left her for Anna Söderström, who was 41 years his junior and with whom he had been in a relationship for five years. In September 2009 a daughter named Siri was born to them. Later, They married in 2012. He was life blissfully with his wife and kids until his death in 2020.
How much is Terry Jones worth?
Being a part of the entertainment industry, Jones earns a decent amount of money and fame through his profession as a comedian, writer, actor, director, and historian. Based on some online reports, his estimated net worth said to be $15 million at the time of his death. However, his salary is yet to be disclosed.
How tall was Terry Jones?
Before his death, Jones stands a height of 5 feet 7 inches and his weight is unknown. Similarly, he has a pair of black eyes and white-grey hair color. His other body information is yet to be disclosed. In the case of disclosed, we will let you know.
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