John Cleese

John Cleese

Acting

October 27, 1939
Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK
214 movies

Biography

John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s he became a member of Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. In the mid 1970s, Cleese and...

🎬 John Cleese's Filmography

214 movies sorted by popularity

A.C.O.R.N.S.: Operation Crackdown
4.7

After breaking out of a rehabilitation zoo, Frankie, a squirrel with all the angles, returns to his forest. He learns from his dim-witted best friend, Cody, a porcupine and street-con, that while he was in lock-up, the entire forest was picked clean by The A.C.O.R.N.S. Institute (Alternative Cosmetic Oils for Regenerative Natural Skin-care). No acorn was left behind. With winter just around the corner, it's a potentially devastating blow to all forest critters. So, Frankie has no choice but to bust into the brand new, state-of-the-art, rodent-proof A.C.O.R.N.S. Processing Plant and take back all of the acorns! Though a seemingly impossible heist, success would not only save the lives of his forest friends, but it would also give Frankie a chance to win back the love of his life, Lola, a local "show squirrel." Sadly, Lola has been burnt by too many of Frankie's false promises in the past.

A.C.O.R.N.S.: Operation Crackdown

2015
Spud 3: Learning to Fly
6.0

As Spud Milton continues his awkward stagger through adolescence, he learns one of life's most important lessons: When dealing with women and cretins, nothing is ever quite as it seems. "I'm practically a man in most areas," writes Spud confidently on his sixteenth birthday. The year is 1992 and, in South Africa, radical change is in the air. The country may be on the bumpy road to an uncertain future, but Spud Milton is hoping for a smooth ride as he returns to boarding school as a senior. Instead, he discovers that his vindictive arch enemy is back to taunt him and that a garrulous Malawian has taken residence in his dormitory, along with the regular inmates and misfits he calls friends. Spud's world has never seemed less certain; he attempts to master Shakespeare, wrestles constantly with his God, and the power of negative thinking, and develops an aversion to fried fish after a shocking discovery about his grandmother, Wombat.

Spud 3: Learning to Fly

2014
The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers is a sitcom that needs no introduction for those familiar with British comedy, and yet it only lasted for two short series with a total of 12 episodes. Created by comedy legends John Cleese and Connie Booth, the show quickly became iconic after its first series in 1975. Basil Fawlty, the hotel owner with a short fuse, and his chaotic attempts to run a Torquay hotel, captivated millions. The series reached heights of popularity few shows at the time could rival. So, why does the show only exist in a re-cut, sanitised, edited form, with some of the original scenes deleted? In this programme, we explore these controversies, peeling back the layers of Fawlty Towers and examining its sometimes uncomfortable place in today's world. Through unearthed deleted scenes and archival interviews, we piece together the story of how a sitcom that seemed untouchable in the 1970s came to be viewed through a more critical lens.

The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers

2025
Spud 2: The Madness Continues
6.9

The year is 1991, and Spud Milton's long walk to manhood is still creeping along at an unnervingly slow pace. Approaching the ripe old age of fifteen and still no signs of the much anticipated ball-drop, Spud is coming to terms with the fact that he may well be a freak of nature. With a mother hell-bent on emigrating, a father making a killing out of selling homemade moonshine, and a demented grandmother called Wombat, the new year seems to offer little except extreme embarrassment and more mortifying Milton madness. But Spud is returning to a boarding school where he is no longer the youngest or the smallest. His dormitory mates, known as the Crazy Eight, have an unusual new member and his house has a new clutch of first years (the Normal Seven). If Spud thinks his second year will be a breeze, however, he is seriously mistaken.

Spud 2: The Madness Continues

2013
The Goodies and the Beanstalk

The Goodies fall on hard times, and Tim and Graeme send Bill to sell their trusty three-seater trandem. All the local townspeople find it ridiculous and Bill is humiliated by only being offered a tin of baked beans. Tim and Graeme are disgusted with only getting baked beans, instead of money, but Graeme gets the idea to plant a bean. This rapidly grows into an enormous beanstalk - reaching all the way from England to the summit of Mt. Everest. In hot pursuit of their beanstalk, the Goodies enter an "It's a Knockout" competition, which is being held at the foot of Mt. Everest. Among other things, the Goodies have to climb the beanstalk to the top of the mountain, as part of the contest. There, they find the Giant's castle and, in it, a Giant of surprising height who has a valuable secret to protect.

The Goodies and the Beanstalk

1973
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
6.3

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

1982
Monty Python's Best Bits Celebrated

Monty Python’s influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles’ influence on music, a pivotal moment in the evolution of television humor. Celebrating the cultural legacy and influence of the troupe, this special pairs their original material with new and entertaining commentary from celebrities who consider Monty Python hugely significant, both personally and to the history of screen satire. Celebrity humorists discuss, laugh, and reminisce about various Python segments and bring a fresh perspective to the material, connecting Monty Python’s work to today’s most successful television humor. In a time when a few moments of escape and laughter couldn’t be more sought after, this special reminds viewers of Python’s cultural impact, and that PBS introduced them to American viewers.

Monty Python's Best Bits Celebrated

2021
Peter Cook: At a Slight Angle to the Universe

TV documentary tracing the life of the comedian and satirist from his school days, through the Cambridge Footlights, to Beyond the Fringe and his partnership with Dudley Moore. With contributions from Cook's school friends Peter Rabey and Jonathan Harlow; Cook's first wife Wendy Cook; Cambridge University friends Tim Harrold and Roger Law; Adrian Slade (ex-president of Cambridge Footlights); Jonathan Miller; Sir David Frost; Ned Sherrin; John Bassett (creator, Beyond The Fringe); Willie Donaldson (producer, Beyond The Fringe); John Cleese; Eric Idle; Michael Parkinson; Brenda Vaccaro; John Fortune; Nicholas Luard (co-owner with Cook of The Establishment club); actress Gaye Brown; Christopher Booker; Ian Hislop; Victor Lownes and Michael Bawtree (friends of Cook); Joe McGrath; Dick Clement; Mel Smith; Clive Anderson; tv producer and executive Paul Jackson; Harry Enfield, radio presenter Clive Bull, and archival interview footage of both Cook and Dudley Moore.

Peter Cook: At a Slight Angle to the Universe

2002
The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979
7.3

Ten years ago exactly, more or less, give or take a day or two, six young men sat down, or maybe stood, or perhaps some of them just lounged, and wrote the first episode of a new series called Owl Stretching Time. They were called Graham Chapman , John Cleese, Terry Gilliam , Eric Idle,Terry Jones and Michael Palin and later both they and the series became known as Monty Python 's Flying Circus . Today they are the best known British comedy group in the world, famous from Cathay to Kathmandu, from Sydney to Sidcup (except in Japan where the programme is called The Gay Boys' Dragon Show ... say no more). To commemorate their tenth anniversary a BBC team tracked them down in the deserts of Tunisia where they were filming their Life of Brian and almost persuaded them to examine the genesis, the genius and the gender of Monty Python.

The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979

1979
John Cleese: The Alimony Tour Live
7.6

For the first time ever, comedy legend John Cleese brings his unique comedic perspective to DVD in John Cleese: The Alimony Tour. Best known for his part in 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' and as Basil Fawlty in 'Fawlty Towers,' John Cleese draws on his many years in the limelight as well as some of his own personal interests. In Cleese's very own words: "it is an evening of well honed anecdotes, psychoanalytical tit-bits and unprovoked attacks on former colleagues, especially Michael Palin." Cleese has achieved a lot in his career which started as a sketch writer for BBC Radio's Dick Emery Show and then The Frost Report. After this stardom beckoned, and Monty Python was created with Cleese co-writing and starring in four series and three films. He went on to achieve further great success as the neurotic hotel manager Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, which he co-wrote with then wife Connie Booth.

John Cleese: The Alimony Tour Live

2011
John Cleese | MovieMind AI