You couldn't have a screwed-up Margaret Schlegel." Monty Python Official Site "Centurion: Crucifixion lasts hours. Her thick brown hair is piled tight in the grip of a great blue plastic clamp. Monty Python first rose to fame when they created the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which consisted of a number of surrealist comedy sketches. That rabbit's dynamite.". "Much Ado" and "Remains" will be out later this year, there is "Sense and Sensibility" to finish, and a film to shoot next month. This month marks a half-century since the debut of Monty Python's Flying . There's no more work. ", She has never chosen a role, per se, she says ("I never had the choice; it just happened to be the only film that was there at the time"), but has standards: "That the roles are three-dimensional. Some of the best Monty Python quotes from their TV show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', along with some great funny Monty Python quotes and more! "Ken," Thompson recalls, "started to sing, in a little falsetto, to kind of amuse me -- and I burst into tears. with these 20 essential sketches. Come and see the violence inherent in the system! The blackouts, performed by friends and family (including Branagh, Phyllida Law and Thompson's actress sister, Sophie), went without introduction, studio audience or laugh track. She married Branagh in 1989, continued to work with him professionally, and formed a production company with him. I'm not a pacifist, sir. To whom, then, might a Grub Street hack compare them? ", Silver clatters against china. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. "Honestly," she had said a few days before, "it's really very false to assume that after success such as 'Howards End,' a great kind of gaggle of wonderful things come shooting through the post box, because they don't.". "I know that sounds absurd, but in this day and age you meet so many actresses who seem screwed up. Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2015, Great DVD Set, but the comedy is often very hit and miss, Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2008. She connects culture and pleasure, politics and play. Their work is credited with bringing comedy to a whole new level in England and the world respectively. Emma Thompson was born on April 15, 1959 in Paddington, London, into a family of actors - father Eric Thompson and mother Phyllida Law, who has co-starred with Thompson in several films. "The mill's closed. "We work together," says Thompson. It's stiff. "These men in my life," she comments with studied off-handedness, "dropping off the twig very young, very worrying. Bruces sketch - Wikipedia "That rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! 'Results' Star Kevin Corrigan Talks Taking A Punch & Love Of Monty Python, Terry Gilliam has had a successful directing career, The Funniest Monty Python's Flying Circus Sketches, Amazon Responds To WB's Competing Lord of the Rings Movies, MCU Vibranium Theory Answers Major Origin Questions, 7 Fairytale Princesses That Still Need Disney Adaptations. Most recently he portrayed The Green Man in Worzel Gummidge, a fantasy mini-series based written and directed by Pirates of the Caribbean's Mackenzie Crook. Emma was 23. "I'd had all this success, unlooked-for, as an actress," she says, "and suddenly, when I go back to my roots, which were comedy, I was being accused of somehow cashing in on being a successful actress and trying to be a comedian. She faced the bug sensibly, too: With her husband, Kenneth Branagh, playing Hamlet five times a week with the Royal Shakespeare Company, she took "the infection out of the house so Ken didn't get it." Emma Thompson was born on April 15, 1959 in Paddington, London, into a family of actors - father Eric Thompson and mother Phyllida Law, who has co-starred with Thompson in several films. You know: a nice atmosphere and to talk over food and drink. ", 6. Well send you tons of inspiration to help you find a hidden gem in your local area or plan a big day out. King Arthur, 'Monty Python And The Holy Grail'. "Woman: Well, how did you become king then? Well, you're dead now, so shut up! ", 7. In New York a few days later, the National Board of Review gave Emma Thompson her fifth best-actress award since Christmas. And so recently! ", "There's a kind of curmudgeonly, defensive attitude in this country to exuberant talent," says Barclay. The Graham Norton Show: Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson had 'a thing'! Though Branagh is also up for an Oscar (for "Swan Song," his short film adapted from Chekhov), he will watch the telecast from Stratford-on-Avon, at 2 A.M., via satellite; he is still playing Hamlet. I'm afraid I have no choice but to sell you all for scientific experiments.". This is a late parrot. She sips a cool, slightly yellowish martini. And cooking's a really nice thing to do.". 5. Your privacy is important to us. Cleese received the greatest royalties, however, since Cleese's voiceover for God was used in Spamalot. 40. 99+ Photos Michael Palin is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. Emma was at Cambridge. We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content. Wonderful performances by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson (old school chums). It's much more important to me that I get some writing done.". "Honestly, darling, I'm so embarrassed. Terry Gilliam. Kidadl has a number of affiliate partners that we work with including Amazon. She tried drama at Cambridge, but comedy held her heart. Thompson, Branagh says, was suspicious of his background in the smug, hermetic world of legitimate theater. Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2009. "We serve no meat of any kind. Geoffrey: Well that's cast rather a gloom over the evening, hasn't it? Getty Images. And I'd never seen my father cry. I would always wait to see if my dad laughed. She's been through this before -- the flurry of attention, the burst into success, the discovery that she can't control the reactions of others (or, sometimes, as was the case last month, of her own body). Monty Python produced these albums for Charisma, a company that mostly focused on pop and rock acts. Jones was the second member of the group to die after Graham Chapman's passing in 1989 aftertonsil cancer spread to his spine. (Just now it's Edward Said's "Culture and Imperialism"; "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" last autumn while shooting "Remains."). It's mostly 'Oi!' "Peasant: I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition. The Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, or The Footlights, as it is commonly known, is an amateur theater group mainly for the students at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Not only does her mother act, but her father acted, directed and created a popular children's television show, "The Magic Roundabout." Wry, cross-dressing Rosalind would fit nicely into Thompson's catalog of sweet, gutsy heroes. The surreal comedy troupe Monty Python performed their last show in 2014 before disbanding, but what is each member of the comedy group doing now? Announcer's Voice: And now on BBC 1, one more minute of Monty Python's Flying Circus. 31. The betting shops of London have Thompson 2-to-1 to take the Oscar for her portrayal of the merry, stable Margaret Schlegel in the Ismail Merchant-James Ivory film of E. M. Forster's "Howards End," overcoming the box-office attraction of Michelle Pfeiffer, the sophistication of Catherine Deneuve and especially, the longstanding appeal of Susan Sarandon. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. 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With six films out and two set for release this year, she is also an experienced sketch comedian and a novice screenwriter daring to breach Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility.". She tells the story rapidly, four fingertips spinning a butter knife. "You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring!". Thompson cooks them dinner on long shoots. "She projects a quality of mental health," says Ivory, who directed her in "Howards End" and "The Remains of the Day." Jones made his directorial debut with Python's most revered movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! Subscribe for virtual tools, STEM-inspired play, creative tips and more. ", 51. Emma Thompson: Movies, TV, and Bio - amazon.com Her parents first noticed her gifts in Cambridge Footlights. Amazon.com: Alfresco : Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane But any change in her workload would be up to her, especially if she prefers to work in-family. We weren't a theatrical dynasty in the same way as the Redgraves and the Richardsons. Now, for the first time, American audiences can enjoy every episode of this British comedy landmark. "Morning, I'm a bank robber, please don't panic, just hand over all the money.". ", She talks of actors who apologize for their trade, "instead of saying, 'Don't you think it's a wonderful thing to play and to enjoy, and don't you think that's what we're supposed to do?