Graham Arthur Chapman
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1
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Graham Chapman co-founded Monty Python and played King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 and Brian Cohen in Life of Brian 1979. He was an openly gay writer and actor who trained as a doctor. Chapman died of spinal and throat cancer in 1989 at age 48.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Graham Chapman — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Graham Chapman by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Graham Chapman — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
A German air raid was in progress when Graham Chapman was born in Leicester on January 8, 1941. His father, a chief police inspector, likely inspired the constables Chapman often portrayed. He studied medicine at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, earning an M.D. degree. Chapman practiced medicine for only a few years before deciding to pursue comedy full-time.
In 1969, Graham Chapman co-founded Monty Python with John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam. Their BBC series Monty Python’s Flying Circus became an instant hit. Chapman played iconic roles: King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975 and Brian Cohen in Life of Brian 1979. He also wrote and starred in Yellowbeard 1983. Chapman was known for his zany characters like Colonel Volestrangler.
Chapman’s writing partnership with John Cleese produced classic sketches such as the Dead Parrot sketch, originally conceived as a broken toaster. During filming of Life of Brian in Tunisia, he used his medical training to operate a surgery for the cast and crew, dispensing medication for dehydration and food poisoning.
Chapman was openly gay long before it was socially acceptable. He lived with writer David Sherlock for 24 years, and together they adopted and raised a teenage runaway named John Tomiczek. When he came out to his parents, his mother cried for a week, but his father was very accepting. Chapman struggled with alcoholism, which he quit in 1977 after liver damage.
He published his memoirs A Liar’s Autobiography in 1980, choosing the title because he said it was almost impossible to tell the truth.
Jonathan Lynn described Chapman as the only true anarchist among the Monty Python group. His death on October 4, 1989, one day before Monty Python’s 20th anniversary, prompted Terry Jones to call it the worst case of party-pooping. Posthumously, Chapman received the European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ashes were present at the world premiere of his play O Happy Day in 2000 in Atlanta. Audiences remember Chapman for his roles in Monty Python films and for his openness about his sexuality.
The complete filmography of Graham Chapman — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Graham Chapman — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Graham Chapman's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Graham Chapman — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
We Don’t Deliberately Set Out to Offend. Unless We Feel It’s Justified. and in the Case of Certain Well Known Religions, It Was Justified.
I Hope I Will Have Achieved Something Lasting.
John Howard Davies Was Not a Very Human Person … If You Made a Mistake of Any Kind, Any Sort of Pause in Speech, He Would Treat You Rather as If He Was a Schoolmaster.
When the Time Came at School to Think About the Future I Was Thinking of Medicine Merely Because My Brother Was at Medical School I Saw a Piece of the Cambridge Footlights Revue Televised, so I Thought ‘I’d Like to Go to Cambridge!’ I Hadn’t Realised That Had Entered My Thinking It Had Subconsciously so I Found Out How to Get to Cambridge … so That’s Where I Went to Do My Medicine Rather Than Straight to a London Hospital.
My Parents, Tim and Beryl, Sorry, Tim and Betty, Were Outraged When I Arrived Because They’d Been Expecting a Heterosexual, Black Jew with Several Rather Amusing Birth Deformities as They Needed the Problems. They Lived in an Enormous Gothic Castle in the South of France Called Dundrinkingginandslimlinetonicwithicebutnolemonin, Which Was Originally Built by Marco Polo for Himself and a Few Friends He Wanted to Invite Round to His Place After the Pub Closed.
Cambridge. a University Town Built in a Featureless Flat Landscape so Featureless and Flat You Wonder Why Anyone Chose It as a Location for Anything. ‘the Magnificence of St John’s, the Noteworthy Splendour of Trinity, the Sheer Pauntliness of the Backs … and Gazing at the Magnificent, Noteworthy, Sheer Splendour of the Pauntley King’s College Chapel, It Would Be a World Weary Traveller Indeed Who Did Not Pause to Think Why the Fuck Didn’t They Build the Whole Town Two Inches to the Right?‘
Whatever the Failings of the Footlights It Was in Fact More Important Than Cambridge University. Invisible to the Outside World, but Painfully Obvious When You Went for Your First Fitting, the University Wore Rose Coloured Contact Lenses. All It Could Offer Was Three Years of Dull and Pointless Work, with No Hope of a Job at the End of It, While Footlights Had a Much More Practical and Enjoyable Syllabus, Ending with a Very Good Chance of Achieving What Every Human Being Really Wants: Fame.
I Still Hadn’t Been Invited to Join Footlights, the Only Purpose of My University Career.
We Always Used to Rib Terry Gilliam Somewhat Because of His Paucity of English Language. John Cleese Used to Say His Language Use Was Limited, so Things Were Either ‘Great’ or They ‘Really Pissed Him off ‘. Not Many Shades of Meaning in Between There. I Do Remember on One Occasion We Were Touring Canada and We Were Flying Over Lake Superior and Terry Looked Down at Lake Superior and Turned Round to the Rest of Us and Said ‘Hey You Guys a Whole Bunch of Water’ Which I Didn’t Feel Adequately Summed up the Lake. He Had Noticed John Cleese When Both John and I Were in a Revue in New York Called Cambridge Circus and He Was Working for Some Cartoon Magazine at the Time and He Wanted the Archetypal English City Gent Pin Striped Trousers, Bowler Hat, Rolled Umbrella Kind of Person to Have in a Photo Montage Cartoon of a City Gent Who Has an Affair with a Barbie Doll. so There Are Some Rather Nice Pictures in Existence of John Cleese Doing Naughty Things with a Barbie Doll.
Little-known facts about Graham Chapman — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Cancer took Chapman on 4 October 1989, one day before Monty Python’s 20th anniversary. Terry Jones described it as the worst case of party-pooping he had ever seen.
Struggled with alcoholism, especially during filming of Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975. According to Terry Gilliam, Chapman forgot his lines and was drunk during the Bridge of Death scene, requiring an assistant cameraman to double for him.
When he came out to his parents, his mother cried for a week. His father was especially accepting, telling him not to worry and that women don’t understand this sort of thing.
According to John Cleese, his writing partner, Cleese did most of the actual writing while Chapman sat back smoking his pipe, throwing out ideas that often changed the script for the better. For example, the Dead Parrot sketch was originally a broken toaster until Chapman suggested a parrot.
Qualified as a medical doctor at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and practiced for only a few years before comedy.
While filming Life of Brian 1979 in Tunisia, he opened a surgery for the cast and crew, dispensing medication for dehydration and food poisoning.
Out of respect for Chapman’s family, the five surviving Monty Python members did not attend his funeral but sent a wreath in the shape of the Python foot with the message: To Graham from the other Pythons with all our love. PS: Stop us if we’re getting too silly.
Published his memoirs A Liar’s Autobiography in 1980, saying it’s almost impossible to tell the truth.
Is the only Monty Python member who never worked in Terry Gilliam’s non-Python projects.
John Cleese noted that Graham has been credited for so much posthumous material that he is one of the most productive dead persons in history.
At Cambridge, he met John Cleese, with whom he shared a passion for comedy and began writing and performing skits.
Longtime companion of David Sherlock for 24 years, with whom he raised a son, John Tomiczak.
Died of tonsil and spinal cancer on the eve of Monty Python’s 20th anniversary, linked to a history of smoking and alcoholism.
As Jonathan Lynn put it, the only true anarchist among them.
Co-wrote the play O Happy Day with Barry Cryer, which premiered in 2000 at Dad’s Garage Theatre in Atlanta. A portion of Chapman’s ashes were in attendance.
Studied medicine at Cambridge University and was a member of the Cambridge University Footlights Club, taking revues to Broadway and the Ed Sullivan Show.
His last film appearance was in Iron Maiden’s promotional video for Can I Play With Madness, directed by Python editor Julian Doyle.
His partner David Sherlock co-wrote several works, including episodes of Doctor in Charge and the film Yellowbeard 1983.
For 30 years, he was identified as the dead one of Monty Python, a title that changed when Terry Jones passed away in 2020.
Co-wrote episodes of Doctor in the House 1969 and its sequels with John Cleese.
Was to play a reporter in Timeslides 1989 but died before filming; the part went to Ruby Wax.
Was the second tallest Python, at 6 feet 3 inches, an inch taller than Eric Idle and two inches shorter than John Cleese.
Founded his own cabaret show while at Emmanuel College before joining the Footlights, the same year as John Cleese.
Was asked to play Dr. Armstrong in Lifeforce 1985 but did not.
His parents were Walter and Edith.
Born at 8:30 AM BST.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Graham Chapman.
Celebrities similar to Graham Chapman — same craft, ranked by reach.
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