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Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Date of birth: 05-05-1943
Born in in Sheffield, Michael Palin read history at Oxford where he met Terry Jones, and they started writing comedy together. Their partnership continued after graduation and they wrote for the likes of Roy Hudd and Ken Dodd before joining The Frost Report and The Late Show, where they met Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Eric Idle. Monty Python’s Flying Circus firmly established Palin's comic reputation, writing and starring in 45 Python episodes and five feature films. Afterward, he worked on the intermittent story series Ripping Yarns, and wrote and starred in the 1982 film The Missionary, a big screen career that also included A Private Function, Brazil and A Fish Called Wanda, which won him a Bafta. His dramatic roles on television have included political drama GBH, for which he was nominated for a Bafta in 1992. He has also written and presented a host of critically-acclaimed travel documentaries, including Around The World In 80 Days, Pole To Pole, Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure, Sahara, Full Circle and Himalaya.
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Half a Python reunion

John Cleese planning live shows with Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin

John Cleese has revealed plans to reunite with his Monty Python co-stars Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam for some live events.

The 86-year-old told the Daily Mail that ‘Sir Mickey Palin, Terry Gilliam and I are discussing doing some entertainment towards the end of this year, if only to prove that we are all alive - if we still are.’

However there was no mention of Eric Idle, who has fallen out with Cleese and Gilliam, after criticising the latter’s daughter, Holly, who now manages the Pythons’ affairs. 

Cleese added: ‘The excellent Holly Gilliam is exploring venues, and finding dates when Sir Mickey may be available. He’s much in demand, unlike the rest of us.

‘The event will be a wonderful opportunity to insult each other, and to discuss at length each other's faults.’

The potential reunion would come 12 years after Monty Python’s run of comeback gigs at The O2 in London.

It comes after  Cleese announced a September tour in which he will host screenings of Monty Python And The Holy Grail for its 50th anniversary, followed by Q&A sessions.

And Palin and Gilliam reunited in April for the unveiling of Terry Jones's nude statue on the promenade in his hometown of Colwyn Bay.

Earlier this year Idle revealed he had not seen Cleese for more than a decade, having previously told Conan O’Brien: ‘We don’t disagree about comedy – this is only about money. This is only about business. I mean, a fool and his money are easily parted – six of us, much more quickly.’

Meanwhile, Idle will be releasing a memoir, Idle in Provence, in September.

Cleese has praised Holly’s management, calling her ‘very efficient, clear-minded, hard-working, and pleasant to have dealings with’.

Of the other Pythons, Terry Jones died in 2020, at the age of 77, having battled dementia for several years, while Graham Chapman died in 1989 of tonsil cancer, aged 48.

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Published: 10 Jun 2026

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Products

Book (2024)
Michael Palin Diaries Vol 4: There And Back

Past Shows

Tour

2018 - Michael Palin Live On Stage: Erebus, Python and Other Stories

2021 - Michael Palin: From North Korea Into Iraq

1979 - Michael Palin: There and Back

2013 - Michael Palin: Travelling To Work


Agent

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