Cleese Encounters

Adored around the world by an extraordinary spread of generations, from early Monty Python fans to teenagers for whom Fawlty Towers is a cult - and who know all the Monty Python catchphrases - John Cleese is the quintessential English eccentric.
Most of Cleese's admirers regard him as a sophisticated clown, like the repressed lawyer dangled by his legs from a window in A Fish Called Wanda - but he is a far more complex character than that. Others see him as one of the finest comedy writers ever, the creator, for example, of Basil Fawlty, the manic hotelier who thrashed his car with the bough of a tree. Still others are interested in his insightful discussions of marriage and the nature of the family. In fact, the introverted and awkwardly tall boy (six feet, four and three-quarter inches at the age of thirteen) from the dreary English village of Weston-super-Mare nearly became a lawyer, until he discovered Cambridge and the footlights at the dawn of the Swinging Sixties. Today, after masterful roles in films like Life of Brian ("miserable little film" - Malcolm Muggeridge), Clockwise, and A Fish Called Wanda (thought to be incredibly sexy in Japan), John Cleese may at last have the answer to that tormenting question from Wanda: "Do you have any idea what it's like being English?"

British journalist Margolis, undeterred by his subject's opposition to this biography, produces an edifying, entertaining portrait of internationally-known comedian John Cleese. Member of the Monty Python troupe, creator and star of the BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers , writer and star of the notable film A Fish Called Wanda, the towering (nearly 65) Cleese delights in mocking stuffy British authority figures. Here, we follow the development of his subversive wit during his quiet, cricket-playing adolescence to his more extroverted years at Cambridge University; although urged by parents and teachers to be a schoolmaster or barrister, Cleese preferred to target such professions with his comedy. We take a behind-the-scenes look at Monty Python's bickering members, meet Cleese's ex-wives and companions, learn of the comedian's positive views of his psychotherapy. Although Margolis must sometimes backtrack as he speeds through his roughly chronological narrative, he describes memorable comic turns--Cleese's silly walks, for example--admirably. Anecdotes, thoughtful observations and quotes collected from Cleese's acquaintances, friends and published statements make this an altogether enjoyable account. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This unauthorized biography, written by a self-described "unreconstructed admirer" of John Cleese, offers a respectful and well-researched--if not very meaty--profile of the most famous member of the Monty Python comedy ensemble. Margolis recounts Cleese's career as an erstwhile law student, revue sketch comedian, member of Monty Python, maker of best-selling industrial films, coauthor of pop psychology books, cocreator of the Fawlty Towers TV series and hit film A Fish Called Wanda (1988), and commercial spokesperson-for-hire. Cleese fans who aren't already familiar with these details will be fascinated to learn what a complex, enterprising, and generously talented individual this popular performer really is. For popular collections.
- Anne Sharp, Ypsilanti Dist. Lib., Mich.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.