Graham Chapman

Graham Chapman

writer, actor, additional crew

Graham Chapman was born on Jan 08, 1941 in UK. Graham Chapman's big-screen debut came with Monty Python's Flying Circus - Season 1 directed by Ian MacNaughton in 1969, strarring Various. Graham Chapman is known for Monty Python's Flying Circus directed by Ian MacNaughton, Graham Chapman stars as Various and Eric Idle as Various. Graham Chapman has got 1 awards and 1 nominations so far. The most recent award Graham Chapman achieved is Online Film & Television Association. The upcoming new tvshow Graham Chapman plays is Monty Python's Flying Circus - Season 4 which will be released on Oct 02, 2018.

Graham Chapman was born on January 8, 1941 in Leicester, England while a German air raid was in progress. Graham's father was a chief police inspector and probably inspired the constables Graham often portrayed later in comedy sketches. Graham studied medicine in college and earned an M.D., but he practiced medicine for only a few years.At Cambridge, he took part in a series of comedy revues and shortly after completing his medical studies at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Graham realized what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to perform comedy. In 1969, Graham along with University friends John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and American Terry Gilliam formed their own comedy group called Monty Python. Their BBC TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus ; Absurde, n'est-il pas? (1969), which aired a short while later was a an instant hit. Their often self-referential style of humor was delightfully original but completely accessible to most audiences in the UK.Before the show appeared on public television in the US, many people assumed that Americans would find Monty Python much too British to consider it funny. But PBS never had a larger audience than when stations began to air it during the early 1970s. The classic routines have since become standard college humor.So enduring was the Python humor that fans know entire sketches such as "The Pet Shop," "Nudge-Nudge, Wink-Wink," "Argument Clinic," and "Penguin on the Telly." Graham was a standout of the group with his tall, blond profile and his zany characters (one of the more memorable was Colonel Muriel Volestrangler, a vaguely military-type character who would stop a sketch because it was "much too silly").Graham was openly gay long before it was socially acceptable, and was open about his long-term relationship with writer David Sherlock, who lived with him for 24 years. He even adopted and raised a teenage runaway named John Tomiczek. Graham played the title role in the movie Monty Python : La Vie de Brian (1979) as well as King Arthur in Monty Python : Sacré Graal ! (1975). By the late 1970s, most of the Python members were pursuing independent movie projects and the group was slowly fading into obscurity after their last successful effort Monty Python, le sens de la vie (1983). Also in 1983, Graham co-wrote and starred in the movie Barbe d'or et les pirates (1983), which received negative reviews.In 1988, Graham began working on another series when his health began to decline. A longtime alcoholic, who suffered liver damage before he stopped drinking for good in 1977, Graham began to have trouble concentrating at work. In November 1988, a routine visit to a dentist revealed a malignant tumor on one of his tonsils which was surgically removed. A visit to the doctor a few months later revealed another tumor on his spine which had to be removed which confined him to a wheelchair. During most of 1989, he underwent a series of surgical operations and radiation therapy but for every tumor that was found and removed, another would form either along his spine or in his throat. By July 1989, his cancer was declared terminal and that he would not survive the year, yet he continued to pursue treatments which included chemotherapy. In his wheelchair, he attended the September 1989 taping for the Monty Python's 20th anniversary special. But on October 1, he was hospitalized after a massive stroke which turned into a hemorrhage. He died at the Maidstone hospital at age 48 on October 4, 1989 from complications of the stroke as well as throat and spinal cancer.

  • Birthday

    Jan 08, 1941
  • Place of Birth

    Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK

Known For

Awards

1 wins & 1 nominations

Online Film & Television Association
2020
Behind the Scenes
Winner - OFTA TV Hall of Fame

Movies & TV Shows

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Movies
TV Shows