Terry Jones (comedian)

Terry Jones (2014)

Terence Graham Parry "Terry" Jones (born February 1, 1942 in Colwyn Bay , Wales ; † January 21, 2020 in London ) was a British comedian , film director , historian and writer . He became known as a member of the Monty Python group.

Life

Jones studied English and history at St Edmund Hall of the University of Oxford , where he attended the Experimental Theater Club . After graduation, Jones came to television in the mid-1960s, collaborating with friend Michael Palin on programs like The Frost Report and Do not adjust your set . Jones also wrote the scripts for many other television shows, including a. for The Complete and Utter History of Britain .

His breakthrough he experienced as a member of Monty Python , in which he not only appeared as a writer and actor in appearance, but in the movies and the Holy Grail (along with Terry Gilliam ), Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life also directed by . As early as the 1970s, he developed his own projects such as the television series The Ripping Yarns (with Michael Palin) or films such as Die Reise ins Labyrinth and Erik the Viking , of which he was also the director. In 1988 he adapted his play Consuming Passions for the cinema.

In his private life, Jones was very committed to environmental protection. He wrote several books in which he was often socially critical. So he published z. B. 1997 together with Douglas Adams the science fiction novel Spaceship Titanic .

In early 2003, Jones attracted attention with a letter published in the Observer , in which he satirically taken up the Iraq conflict and ridiculed the logic of US President George W. Bush .

His work as a children's book author is less well known. Among other things, he wrote the books Nicobobinus. How the brave Tom set out to become a squire and the sequel How the squire Tom did a handstand, lost his heart and almost invented the flush. The latter two are historical novels with a lot of situational humor and audacity. The author Katrin Lange edited his story Nicobobinus for the children's theater. The resulting piece Nicobobinus or the daring journey into the distant land of dragons was premiered on November 17, 2018 in Leipzig .

Jones was also the co-author of a non-fiction book on the history of the Crusades , as well as the presenter and author of the four-part BBC documentary series Crusades from 1995: Crusades - Pilgrims in Arms (Crusades - Pilgrims in Arms), Crusades - Jerusalem (Crusades - Jerusalem), Holy War and Destruction.

In 1970 he married Alison Telfer. With her he had two children; his son Bill (* 1976) from this marriage works as a film editor and documentary film director. The marriage broke up in 2004 when Terry Jones fell in love with the young Swede Anna Söderström, but they did not divorce. In late October 2006, Jones was diagnosed with colon cancer, which required surgery. In early September 2009, Jones and Söderström became parents of a daughter.

Jones was diagnosed with dementia in September 2016 . As a result, he suffered from primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which restricted his communication skills. Therefore, he could no longer give interviews. Jones died at home in London on January 21, 2020.

The asteroid (9622) Terryjones is named after Jones.

Filmography (selection)

• 1971: Monty Python's Wonderful World of Gravity (And Now for Something Completely Different) - screenplay, actor
• 1975: The Knights of the Coconut (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) - co-director, screenplay, actor
• 1979: The Life of Brian (Monty Python's The Life of Brian) - director, screenplay, actor
• 1983: The Meaning of Life (The Meaning of Life) - Director, screenwriter, actor
• 1986: The Journey into the Labyrinth (Labyrinth) - screenplay
• 1987: Personal Service - director
• 1989: Erik the Viking (Erik the Viking) - Director, Screenplay
• 1995: The Crusades: Pilgrims in Arms, Jerusalem, Holy War and Destruction (Crusades) - four-part documentary series by the BBC, as moderator
• 1996: Sturm in den Weiden (The Wind in the Willows) - director, screenplay
• 1997: Douglas Adams' spaceship Titanic - computer game, voice
• 2004: Terry Jones ' Medieval Lives - eight-part documentary series by the BBC, as a presenter
• 2005: The Story of 1 - BBC documentary, as a presenter
• 2015: Absolutely Anything - director, screenplay, actor

Bibliography (selection)

• 1985: Nicobobinus (children's book)
• 1994: Lady Cottington. My secret elven album
• 1995: Of witches, elves and flying tigers (stories for children)
• 1996: The Goblin Companion - a directory of different types of trolls created together with illustrations by Brian Froud (published in German as Hand Handbuch des Übersinnlichen. Volume 1: Trolls. )
• 2000: Strange spots and strange smells (children's book)
• 2000: The Crusades (non-fiction book)
• 2002: How the brave Tom set out to become a squire. (Children's book), ISBN 3-570-21207-6 . Translated by Manfred Miethe .
• 2003: How Squire Tom did a handstand, lost his heart and almost invented the flushing device. (Children's book), ISBN 3-570-21609-8 .

Awards

• 1976: British Fantasy Award for The Knights of the Coconut
• 1983: Grand Prize of the Jury (Cannes Film Festival) for The Meaning of Life
• 1998: Best of the Fest (Chicago International Children's Film Festival) for The Wind in the Willows
• 2000: WisKid Award (Wisconsin International Children's Film Festival) for full-length feature
• 2016: BAFTA Cymru Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television

Web links

Commons : Terry Jones (comedian)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Terry Jones in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Literature by and about Terry Jones in the catalog of the German National Library
• Terry Jones: comedy should have "no taboo areas" , interview with Andrew Duncan in Radio Times, October 19, 2011

Footnotes

1. ↑ I'm losing patience with my neighbors, Mr Bush . In: The Observer . January 26, 2003.
2. ↑ Steffen Georgi: "Nicoboninus or the daring journey into the distant land of dragons" in the TdJW. In: Leipziger Volkszeitung. November 18, 2018, accessed January 22, 2020 . 
3. ^ Richard Price: A baby on the way for Monty Python star Terry Jones and lover who's 41 years younger . In: Daily Mail . April 26, 2009.
4. ↑ Anita Singh: Monty Python star Terry Jones introduces baby Siri . In: The Daily Telegraph . September 28, 2009.
5. ^ Monty Python's Terry Jones diagnosed with dementia. In: bbc.com. September 23, 2016, accessed February 7, 2019 . 
6. ↑ t-online.de: No more interviews possible - "Monty Python" founder Terry Jones has dementia article from September 24, 2016, accessed on February 7, 2019
7. ↑ Monty Python member Terry Jones is dead , sueddeutsche.de, January 22, 2020
8. ↑ Monty Python star Terry Jones dies aged 77 . In: BBC News . January 22, 2020 ( bbc.com [accessed January 22, 2020]).