Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020)[1][2][3] was a Welsh actor, comedian, director,historian, writer and member of theMonty Python comedy troupe.
Jones co-created and co-wrote with Palin the anthology seriesRipping Yarns. He also wrote an early draft ofJim Henson's filmLabyrinth and is credited with the screenplay. Jones was a well-respectedmedieval historian, having written or co-written several books and presented television documentaries about the period, as well as a prolific children's author. In 2016, Jones received a Lifetime Achievement award at theBAFTA Cymru Awards for his outstanding contribution to television and film. After living for several years with a degenerativeaphasia, he gradually lost the ability to speak and died in 2020 fromfrontotemporal dementia.[2]
Jones was born on 1 February 1942 in the seaside town ofColwyn Bay, on the north coast ofWales, the son of housewife Dilys Louisa (Newnes), and Alick George Parry-Jones, a bank clerk.[2][4] When he was born duringWorld War II, his father was serving with theRoyal Air Force in Scotland.[5][6] A week after he was born, his father was posted in India as aFlight Lieutenant (Temporary).[7] His brother Nigel was two years his senior.[8] He reunited with his father when the war ended four years later; of their first meeting atColwyn Bay railway station he recalled: "I'd only ever been kissed by the smooth lips of a lady up until that point, so his bristly moustache was quite disturbing!"[9] When Jones was four and a half, the family moved toClaygate,Surrey, England.[10]
Jones attended Esher COE primary school and theRoyal Grammar School[11] inGuildford, where he was school captain in the 1960–61 academic year. He read English atSt Edmund Hall, Oxford, but "strayed into history".[12][13] He became interested in the medieval period through readingChaucer as part of his English degree.[14] He graduated with a2:1.[15] While there, he performed comedy with future Monty Python castmateMichael Palin inthe Oxford Revue. Jones was a year ahead of Palin at Oxford, and on first meeting him Palin states, "The first thing that struck me was what a nice bloke he was. He had no airs and graces. We had a similar idea of what humour could do and where it should go, mainly because we both liked characters; we both appreciated that comedy wasn't just jokes."[16]
Jones co-directedMonty Python and the Holy Grail withTerry Gilliam, and was sole director on two further Monty Python movies,Life of Brian andMonty Python's The Meaning of Life. As a film director, Jones finally gained fuller control of the projects and devised a distinct, signature style that relied on visual comedy and surreal touches to complement the jokes. He would repeatedly abandon punchlines and create fragmented,non sequitur story arcs to bring out the deadpan humour.[20][21] His later films includeErik the Viking (1989) andThe Wind in the Willows (1996). In 2008, Jones wrote the libretto for and directed the operaEvil Machines.[22] In 2011, he was commissioned to direct and write the libretto for another opera, entitledThe Doctor's Tale.[23]
Three of the films which Jones directed—The Meaning of Life,Monty Python's Life of Brian andPersonal Services—were banned in Ireland.[24]
Jones directed the 2015 comedy filmAbsolutely Anything, about a disillusioned schoolteacher who is given the chance to do anything he wishes by a group of aliens watching from space.[25] The film featuresSimon Pegg,Kate Beckinsale,Robin Williams and the voices of the five remaining members of Monty Python. It was filmed in London during a six-week shoot.[26]
In 2016, Jones directedJeepers Creepers, a West End play about the life of comicMarty Feldman.[27] It was his last directing work before his death.
Jones co-wroteRipping Yarns with Palin. They also wrote a play,Underwood's Finest Hour, which was staged at theLyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 1981, about an obstetrician distracted during a birth by the radio broadcast of aTest match.[32] Jones also wrote numerous works for children, includingFantastic Stories,The Beast with a Thousand Teeth and a collection of comic verse calledThe Curse of the Vampire's Socks.[33][34]
Jones wrote the screenplay forLabyrinth (1986), although his draft went through several rewrites and several other writers before being filmed; consequently, much of the finished film was not actually written by Jones.[35]
"[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse asfossil fuels, orRupert Bear, or mercenaries in theMiddle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge."
Jones wrote books and presented television documentaries onmedieval andancient history. His first book wasChaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary (1980), which offers an alternative take onGeoffrey Chaucer'sThe Knight's Tale. Chaucer's knight is often interpreted as a paragon ofChristian virtue, but Jones asserts that if one studies historical accounts of the battles the knight claims he was involved in, he can be interpreted as a typicalmercenary and a potentially cold-blooded killer.[37] He also co-wroteWho Murdered Chaucer? (2003) in which he argues that Chaucer was close toKing Richard II, and that after Richard was deposed, Chaucer was persecuted to death byThomas Arundel.[38]
Jones' TV series also frequently challenged popular views of history. For example, inTerry Jones' Medieval Lives (2004; for which he received a 2004Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming")[39] he argues that the Middle Ages was a more sophisticated period than is popularly thought,[40] andTerry Jones' Barbarians (2006) presents the cultural achievements of peoples conquered by theRoman Empire in a more positive light than Roman historians typically have, attributing thesack of Rome in AD 410 to propaganda.[41]
In November 2011, his bookEvil Machines was launched by the online publishing houseUnbound at the Adam Street Club in London. It was the first book to be published by acrowdfunding website dedicated solely to books.[43] Jones provided significant support to Unbound as they developed their publishing concept. In February 2018, Jones releasedThe Tyrant and the Squire, also with Unbound.[44][45]
Jones performed with theCarnival Band and appears on their 2007 CDRinging the Changes.[47][48]
In January 2008, theTeatro São Luiz, inLisbon, Portugal, premieredEvil Machines—a musical play, written by Jones (based on his book), with original music by Portuguese composer Luis Tinoco. Jones was invited by the Teatro São Luiz to write and direct the play, after a successful run ofContos Fantásticos, a short play based on Jones'Fantastic Stories, also with music by Tinoco.[49]
In January 2012 Jones announced that he was working with songwriter/producerJim Steinman on a heavy metal version ofThe Nutcracker.[50]
Jones performing in 2014Jones (right) behind the counter during the "Spam sketch" atMonty Python Live (Mostly) in 2014. He plays a waitress who recites a menu in which nearly every dish containsSpam.
In 2009, Jones took part in theBBC Wales programmeComing Home about his Welsh family history. In July 2014, Jones reunited with the other four living Pythons to perform at ten dates (Monty Python Live (Mostly)) atthe O2 Arena in London. This was Jones' last performance with the group prior to hisaphasia diagnosis.[53][54]
In October 2016, Jones received a standing ovation at theBAFTA Cymru Awards when he received a Lifetime Achievement award for his outstanding contribution to television and film.[55][56]
Jones married Alison Telfer in 1970; they had two children together, Sally in 1974 and Bill in 1976. They lived inCamberwell,London and had anopen marriage.[57][58] In 2009, Jones left Telfer for Anna Söderström; she was 41 years his junior and they had been in a relationship for five years.[59] In September 2009, Söderström and Jones had a daughter,[60] and in 2012 they married.[2] The family settled inHighgate,North London.[61]
In a 1984 interview, Jones stated "if I had any political convictions, I would say that I am ananarchist", stating that anarchism was a belief in government from the bottom up, rather than something imposed from above.[62]
Jones published a number of articles on political and social commentary, principally in newspapersThe Daily Telegraph,The Guardian,The Independent andThe Observer. Many of these articles mocked thewar on terror, belittling it as "declaring war on an abstract noun" and comparing it to attempting to "annihilate mockery".[63]
In August 2014, Jones was one of 200 public figures who signed a letter toThe Guardian expressing their hope thatScotland would vote to remain part of theUnited Kingdom in September'sreferendum on that issue.[64]
In October 2006, Jones was diagnosed withcolon cancer and underwent surgery.[65] After a course ofchemotherapy, he was declared free of the disease. Later reminiscing about the event, he said, "Unfortunately, my illness is not nearly bad enough to sell many newspapers and the prognosis is even more disappointing."[66]
In 2015, Jones was diagnosed withprimary progressive aphasia, a form offrontotemporal dementia that impairs the ability to speak and communicate. He had first given cause for concern during the Monty Python reunion showMonty Python Live (Mostly) in July 2014 because of difficulties learning his lines.[67] He became a campaigner for awareness of, and fundraiser for research into,dementia;[2] he donated his brain for dementia research.[68] By September 2016, he was no longer able to give interviews.[69] By April 2017, he had lost the ability to say more than a few words of agreement.[67]
On 21 January 2020, Jones died at his home in Highgate from complications of dementia.[2][70][71] His family and close friends remembered him with ahumanistfuneral ceremony.[72]
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (with Graham Chapman (Estate), John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin; edited by Bob McCabe).ISBN9781409156789
^Williams, Holly (27 February 2011)."Heads Up: Operashots".The Independent. London. Archived fromthe original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved11 September 2018.
^Taylor, Craig (2015).Moralism: A Study of a Vice. Routledge. p. 171.ISBN978-1-317-54771-6.
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