Monty Python's Terry Jones diagnosed with Dementia

Well, this is a bummer...

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37451043

BBC wrote:

Monty Python star Terry Jones has been diagnosed with a severe variant of dementia.
The 74-year-old is suffering from primary progressive aphasia, which affects his ability to communicate.
As a result, Jones "is no longer able to give interviews", his spokesman said.
The news was confirmed as Bafta Cymru announced the Welsh-born comedian is to be honoured with an outstanding contribution award.
The National Aphasia Association describes primary progressive aphasia as a neurological syndrome in which language capabilities become slowly and progressively impaired.
"It commonly begins as a subtle disorder of language, progressing to a nearly total inability to speak, in its most severe stage," their website states.
Jones, who is from Colwyn Bay in north Wales, was a member of the legendary comedy troupe with Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and the late Graham Chapman.
He directed Monty Python's Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life and co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Gilliam.
The surviving members reunited for 10 reunion performances at the O2 Arena in London in 2014.
Kathryn Smith, director of operations at Alzheimer's Society, said: "We are deeply sorry to hear about Terry Jones's diagnosis of dementia and are thinking of Terry and his family during this time."

that really sucks

That's terrible. Sad to hear that.

Terrible news.

So sad


I have the O2 reunion show and he seemed to be "slipping" even back then.  He fumbled several of his lines.

i need to rewatch The Holy Grail, I've only seen it once surprisingly. I've seen Life of Brian like 4 times though. This is really sad news.

I've seen The Holy Grail at least 25 times.  Life of Brian probably a dozen or so.  Meaning of Life about 5.  I've also seen all the TV episodes at least 3 or 4 times apiece on average, more for the earlier seasons and less for the later ones.

I'm a Python-holic. I'm one of those annoying people who quote Python dialog in a bad English accent.  But at least I usually get the dialog wording correct.

"He must be a King"
"Why?"

I could never get into Life Of Brian.

chewie wrote:

I could never get into Life Of Brian.

I love Life Of Brian because it skewers a lot of the self-righteous, didactic pontificating I grew up with in church.  Stuff like the "Blessed are the cheesemakers" scene where a self-appointed scholar condescendingly says it refers to makers of all dairy products, as if any other interpretation was silly.


Or the "follow the gourd" vs. "follow the shoe" factions.  That reminds me of discussions I remember my parents having about how certain protestant religions were all wrong because they served actual wine for communion instead of grape juice.  Or believed in "sprinkling" for baptism instead of full immersion.

 Real close to home for me.

Sad to hear.

chewie wrote:

"He must be a King"
"Why?"

"He's not covered in sh*t".

tohostudios wrote:

chewie wrote:

I could never get into Life Of Brian.

I love Life Of Brian because it skewers a lot of the self-righteous, didactic pontificating I grew up with in church.  Stuff like the "Blessed are the cheesemakers" scene where a self-appointed scholar condescendingly says it refers to makers of all dairy products, as if any other interpretation was silly.


Or the "follow the gourd" vs. "follow the shoe" factions.  That reminds me of discussions I remember my parents having about how certain protestant religions were all wrong because they served actual wine for communion instead of grape juice.  Or believed in "sprinkling" for baptism instead of full immersion.

 Real close to home for me.

I like 'Life of Brian' better than the 'Holy Grail' for that same reason. Even though I love that one as well. 'The Meaning of Life' was the one that I could never really "get into".

Meaning Of Life has it's moments ("Every sperm is sacred...") but it's really just a collection of sketches whereas Brian and Grail are actually movies.

tohostudios wrote:

Meaning Of Life has it's moments ("Every sperm is sacred...") but it's really just a collection of sketches whereas Brian and Grail are actually movies.

Yea, I've seen it once or twice, but never felt compelled to re-visit it, whereas those other 2, I could watch over and over and never stop laughing.

I usually bail on Meaning Of Life after the opening sketch.  That thing cracks me up every time though.  Big song and dance number mocking Catholicism's mandate against birth control.  Too bad they couldn't figure out a way to work that into Life Of Brian because it would fit right in thematically.



In line with the original subject of this thread, that's Terry Jones in drag at the beginning.

Just watched it again and yep,

I like the part with the nuns.

sad news I use to enjoy watch them on pbs

BBC News is reporting that Terry Jones has passed away at the age of 77.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51209197

R.I.P., "Mr. Creosote." May all your after dinner mints be " waffer thin. "

I saw that reported this morning.

RIP good sir.

Damn!  That really sucks! I'm as big a Monty Python fan as you'll ever find so when someone from that troupe passes it just kills me.

RIP Terry.  Tell Graham we miss him too.

RIP sir. You will be missed.

I revisited MP's "Life of Brian" last night in honor of Terry Jones. Still a hoot. "Follow the gourd!"

"Holy Grail" is still my fave Python film but "Brian" seemed like a more appropriate viewing choice since Terry Jones directed "Brian" solo (as opposed to co-directing the film with Terry Gilliam, as they did with "Holy Grail") and he had a more pivotal acting role in "Brian" as Brian's mother. ("Ee's not the Messiah! Ee's a very naughty boy!")

Fun fact I picked up from the "Brian" IMDb page: over the course of the film, the six Monty Python members play a total of forty (!) different characters.

I used to like Holy Grail more than Brian but eventually that flipped. I like how Life Of Brian really only lampoons organized religion; there's not really anything blasphemous going on. I remember reading an interview with John Cleese where he stated the troupe read a lot of the Gospels in the New Testament to try to make sure they didn't actually say or do anything that could be considered a mockery of Jesus. I think the film succeeds brilliantly in that regard; it mocks organized religion and the blind, unthinking people who follow without question.

R.I.P. Terry Jones.

Brilliant mind, funny guy. Show was excellent, the movies have stood the test of time. I should watch some of them this weekend. I have a DVD box set somewhere with Holy Grail / Life of Brian / Meaning of Life.