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Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
comedy group A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific comedic genres, genre or ...
. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his comedic material with fellow Python member
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows including the ''
Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A life ...
Show'', ''
The Frost Report ''The Frost Report'' is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March ...
'', and ''
Do Not Adjust Your Set ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (''DNAYS'') is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The ...
''. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "
Argument Clinic "Argument Clinic" is a sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman. The sketch was originally broadcast as part of the television series and has subsequently been performed live by the group. It relies ...
", "
Dead Parrot sketch The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a Sketch comedy, sketch from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' about a non-existent species of parrot, called a "Norwegian Blue". A sati ...
", "
The Lumberjack Song "The Lumberjack Song" is a comedy song by the comedy troupe Monty Python. The song was written and composed by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson. It first appeared in the ninth episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', "The An ...
", "
The Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Cathol ...
", " Bicycle Repair Man" and "
The Fish-Slapping Dance The Fish-Slapping Dance is a comedy sketch written and performed by the '' Monty Python'' team. The sketch was originally recorded in 1971 for a pan-European May Day special titled ''Euroshow 71''. In 1972 it was broadcast as part of episode two ...
". He also regularly played a
Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He im ...
. Palin continued to work with Jones away from Python, co-writing ''
Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...
''. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
and made notable appearances in other films such as '' A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988), for which he won the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...
. He also began a new career as a
travel writer The genre of travel literature encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. One early travel memoirist in Western literature was Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century CE. In the early modern per ...
and travel documentarian in programmes broadcast on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
s, the
Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
, the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
, Eastern Europe, and
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
; in 2018, he visited
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, documenting his visit to the isolated country in a series broadcast on Channel 5. In a 2005 poll to find ''The Comedians' Comedian'', Palin was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. From 2009 to 2012 he was President of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. On 12 May 2013, Palin was made a BAFTA fellow, the highest honour that is conferred by the organisation. Having been appointed a
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
for services to television in the 2000 New Year Honours, Palin received a
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to travel, culture and geography.


Early and personal life

Palin was born in
Ranmoor Ranmoor () is a suburb of the City of Sheffield, England. It is an affluent suburb in the Fulwood ward of the city. It mostly developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it features a number of large houses that were built for th ...
,
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, the second child and only son of Edward Moreton Palin (1900–1977) and Mary Rachel Lockhart (née Ovey; 1903–1990). His father was a
Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
-educated engineer working for a steel firm. His maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lockhart Ovey, DSO, was
High Sheriff of Oxfordshire The High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much olde ...
in 1927. Palin was educated at
Birkdale Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...
and
Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...
. His sister Angela was nine years his senior; despite the age gap the two had a close relationship until her suicide in 1987. Palin is of mixed
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and
Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
heritage; he has ancestral roots in
Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...
,
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
. His great-grandmother fled the
Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...
and was adopted by a wealthy English family. When he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in a school performance of ''
A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
''. At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a comedy monologue and read a
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
play to his mother while playing all the parts. After leaving Shrewsbury in 1962, he went on to read modern history at Brasenose College, Oxford. With fellow student
Robert Hewison Robert Alwyn Petrie Hewison (born 2 June 1943)‘HEWISON, Prof. Robert Alwyn Petrie’, Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200accessed 26 March 2008/ref> is a British cultural historian. He was educated ...
he performed and wrote, for the first time, comedy material at a university Christmas party.
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
, also a student in Oxford, saw that performance and began writing with Hewison and Palin. That year Palin joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Society Players and first gained fame when he won an acting award at a Co-op drama festival. He also performed and wrote in
the Oxford Revue The Oxford Revue is a comedy group primarily featuring students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University, England. Founded in the early 1950s, The Oxford Revue has produced many prominent comedians, actors and satirists. The Revue wr ...
(called the Et ceteras) with Jones. In 1966, Palin married Helen Gibbins, whom he first met in 1959 on holiday in
Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...
in Suffolk. This meeting was later fictionalised in Palin's teleplay for the 1987
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television drama ''
East of Ipswich ''East of Ipswich'' is a BBC television drama from 1987 written by Michael Palin, based on his own memories of dreary holidays in English coastal towns in the 1950s. It is the story of the rite of passage of 17-year-old Richard Burrill; Palin c ...
''. The couple have three children, Thomas (born 1969), William (born 1971), and Rachel (born 1975), and four grandchildren. Rachel is a BBC TV director, whose work includes '' MasterChef: The Professionals''. William is Director of Conservation at the
Old Royal Naval College The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as being of "outstanding ...
, Greenwich, London, and oversaw the 2018–19 restoration of the Painted Hall. A photograph of William as a baby briefly appeared in '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' as "Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film". His nephew is the theatre designer Jeremy Herbert. Palin is an agnostic. He moved to
Gospel Oak Gospel Oak is an inner urban area of north west London in the London Borough of Camden at the very south of Hampstead Heath. The neighbourhood is positioned between Hampstead to the north-west, Dartmouth Park to the north-east, Kentish Town to t ...
, London, in the 1960s.


Early career

After finishing university in 1965, Palin became a presenter on a comedy pop show called ''Now!'' for the television contractor
Television Wales and the West Television Wales and the West (TWW) was the British Independent Television (commercial television) contractor for a franchise area that initially served South Wales and West of England (franchise awarded 26 October 1956, started transmissions o ...
. At the same time, Palin was contacted by Jones, who had left university a year earlier, for assistance in writing a theatrical documentary about sex through the ages. Although this project was eventually abandoned, it brought Palin and Jones together as a writing duo and led them to write comedy for various
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programmes, such as ''The Ken Dodd Show'', ''The Billy Cotton Bandshow'', and ''The Illustrated Weekly Hudd''. They collaborated in writing lyrics for an album by Barry Booth called ''Diversions''. They were also in the team of writers working for ''
The Frost Report ''The Frost Report'' is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March ...
'', whose other members included
Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wro ...
,
Barry Cryer Barry Charles Cryer (23 March 1935 – 25 January 2022) was an English writer, comedian, and actor. As well as performing on stage, radio and television, Cryer wrote for many performers including Dave Allen, Stanley Baxter, Jack Benny, Rory ...
,
Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boot ...
,
Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as '' Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', and ''Open All Hours''. ...
,
Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...
,
Dick Vosburgh Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his ...
and future Monty Python members
Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...
,
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
and Eric Idle. Although the members of Monty Python had already encountered each other over the years, ''The Frost Report'' was the first time all the British members of Monty Python (its sixth member,
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
, was at that time an American citizen) worked together. During the run of ''The Frost Report'' the Palin/Jones team contributed material to two shows starring John Bird: ''The Late Show'' and ''A Series of Birds''. For ''A Series of Birds'' the Palin/Jones team had their first experience of writing narrative instead of the short sketches they were accustomed to conceiving. Following ''The Frost Report'' the Palin/Jones team worked both as actors and writers on the show ''
Twice a Fortnight ''Twice a Fortnight'' is a 1967 British sketch comedy television series with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn and Tony Buffery. Graeme Garden suggested to the director, Tony Palmer, that Michael Palin and Terr ...
'' with
Graeme Garden David Graeme Garden OBE (born 18 February 1943) is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of The Goodies and a regular panellist on ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''. Early life and education ...
,
Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinto ...
and
Jonathan Lynn Jonathan Lynn (born 3 April 1943) is an English stage and film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is known for directing the comedy films such as '' Clue'', '' Nuns on the Run'', ''My Cousin Vinny'', and '' The Whole Nine Yards''. He als ...
, and the successful children's comedy show ''
Do Not Adjust Your Set ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (''DNAYS'') is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The ...
'' with Idle and
David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...
. The show also featured musical numbers by the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde a ...
, including future Monty Python musical collaborator
Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the M ...
. The animations for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' were made by Terry Gilliam. Eager to work with Palin sans Jones, Cleese later asked him to perform in ''
How to Irritate People ''How to Irritate People'' is a US television broadcast filmed in the UK at LWT on 14 November 1968 and written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Cleese, Chapman, and Brooke-Taylor also feature in it, along wit ...
'' together with Chapman and
Tim Brooke-Taylor Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE (17 July 194012 April 2020) was an English actor and comedian best known as a member of The Goodies. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at the University of Cambridge and became president ...
. The Palin/Jones team were reunited for ''
The Complete and Utter History of Britain ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' is a 1969 television comedy sketch show. It was created and written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones between the two series of '' Do Not Adjust Your Set''. It was produced for and broadcast by London ...
''.


''Monty Python''

On the strength of their work on ''The Frost Report'' and other programmes, Cleese and Chapman had been offered a show by the BBC, but Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, among them Chapman's reputedly difficult personality. During this period Cleese contacted Palin about doing the show that ultimately became ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. At the same time the success of ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' had led Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam to be offered their own series and, while it was still in production, Palin agreed to Cleese's proposal and brought along Idle, Jones and Gilliam. Thus the formation of the Monty Python troupe has been referred to as a result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. Palin played various roles in ''Monty Python'', which ranged from manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of "
The Lumberjack Song "The Lumberjack Song" is a comedy song by the comedy troupe Monty Python. The song was written and composed by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson. It first appeared in the ninth episode of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', "The An ...
", or Herbert Anchovy, host of the game show "Blackmail") to unflappable calmness (such as the
Dead parrot The "Dead Parrot Sketch", alternatively and originally known as the "Pet Shop Sketch" or "Parrot Sketch", is a sketch from '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' about a non-existent species of parrot, called a "Norwegian Blue". A satire on poor cu ...
vendor or Cheese Shop proprietor). As a
straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the ...
he was often a foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by Cleese. He also played timid, socially inept characters such as Arthur Putey, the man who sits quietly as a marriage counsellor ( Eric Idle) makes love to his wife (
Carol Cleveland Carol Cleveland (born 13 January 1942) is a British-American actress and comedian, particularly known for her work with Monty Python. Early life Born in East Sheen, London, she moved to the United States with her mother and U.S. Air Force step ...
), and Mr Anchovy, a chartered accountant who wants to become a lion tamer. He appeared as the "It's" man (a
Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...
-type castaway with torn clothes and a long, unkempt beard) at the beginning of most episodes. He also frequently played a
Gumby ''Gumby'' is an American clay animation franchise, centered on the titular green clay humanoid character created and modeled by Art Clokey. Gumby stars in two television series, the feature-length '' Gumby: The Movie'', and other media. He im ...
, a character Palin said "had these moronic views that were expressed with extraordinary force." Palin frequently co-wrote sketches with
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
, including the " Spanish Inquisition sketch", which featured the
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
"Nobody expects the
Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
!". He also composed songs with Jones including "The Lumberjack Song", "
Every Sperm Is Sacred "Every Sperm Is Sacred" is a musical sketch from the film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. A satire of Catholic teachings on reproduction that forbid masturbation and contraception, the song was released on the album '' Monty Python Sings ...
" and "
Spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
". His solo musical compositions included " Decomposing Composers" and "
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
".


Other work

In 1971, he co-wrote, with
Hugh Leonard Hugh Leonard (9 November 1926 – 12 February 2009) was an Irish dramatist, television writer, and essayist. In a career that spanned 50 years, Leonard wrote nearly 30 full-length plays, 10 one-act plays, three volumes of essay, two autobiograph ...
and
Terence Feely Terence John Feely (20 July 1928 – 13 August 2000) was a British screenwriter, playwright and author. Though his work spanned five decades, he is perhaps best remembered as the creator of the ITV drama series ''The Gentle Touch'' (1980– ...
, the film ''
Percy The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...
'', which depicts a
penis transplant Penis transplantation is a surgical transplant procedure in which a penis is transplanted to a patient. The penis may be an allograft from a human donor, or it may be grown artificially, though the latter has not yet been transplanted onto a hu ...
. After the ''Monty Python'' television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on ''
Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...
'', an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over three years from 1976. They had earlier collaborated on the play ''
Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...
'' from the BBC series ''
Black and Blue ''Black and Blue'' is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 April 1976 by Rolling Stones Records. This album was the first recorded after former guitarist Mick Taylor qu ...
'' in 1973. He starred as Dennis the Peasant in Terry Gilliam's 1977 film ''
Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...
''. Palin also appeared in ''
All You Need Is Cash ''All You Need Is Cash'' (also known as ''The Rutles'') is a 1978 television film that traces (in mockumentary style) the career of a fictitious English rock group called the Rutles. As '' TV Guide'' described it, the group's resemblance to ...
'' (1978) as Eric Manchester (based on
Derek Taylor Derek Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was an English journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was one ...
), the press agent for
the Rutles The Rutles () were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series ''Rutland We ...
. In 1980, Palin co-wrote ''
Time Bandits ''Time Bandits'' is a 1981 British fantasy adventure film co-written, produced, and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Sean Connery, John Cleese, Shelley Duvall, Ralph Richardson, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Peter Vaug ...
'' with Terry Gilliam. He also acted in the film. In 1982, Palin wrote and starred in ''
The Missionary ''The Missionary'' is a 1982 British comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine, and starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. It was produced by George Harrison, Denis O'Brien, Palin (who also wrote the screenplay) and Neville C. Thompson. Plot ...
'', co-starring Maggie Smith. In it, he plays the Reverend Charles Fortescue, who is recalled from Africa to aid prostitutes. He co-starred with Maggie Smith again in the 1984 comedy film ''
A Private Function ''A Private Function'' is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley, and Ben Rhydding in West Yorkshire. The film was also screened in the section of Un Certain Regard at the ...
''. In 1984, he reunited with Terry Gilliam to appear in ''
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
''. He appeared in the comedy film '' A Fish Called Wanda'', for which he won the
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...
. Cleese reunited the main cast almost a decade later to make ''
Fierce Creatures ''Fierce Creatures'' is a 1997 British-American farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, ''Fierce Creatures'' is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film '' A Fish Called Wanda''. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin ...
''. After filming for ''Fierce Creatures'' finished, Palin went on a travel journey for a BBC documentary and, returning a year later, found that the end of ''Fierce Creatures'' had failed at test screenings and had to be reshot. After ''Fierce Creatures'' and a small part in ''
The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...
'', a film directed by and starring Terry Jones, it was twenty years until Palin's next film role, as Soviet politician
Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
in the 2017 satirical black comedy ''
The Death of Stalin ''The Death of Stalin'' is a 2017 political satire black comedy film written and directed by Armando Iannucci and co-written by David Schneider and Ian Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novel ''La Mort de Staline'' (201 ...
''. Palin also appeared with John Cleese in his documentary, '' The Human Face''. Palin was cast in a supporting role in the
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and
Meg Ryan Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap oper ...
romantic comedy ''
You've Got Mail ''You've Got Mail'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Inspired by the 1937 Hungarian play '' Parfumerie'' by Miklós László (which had earlier been adapted in 1940 as ''The S ...
'', but his role was eventually cut entirely. Palin has also appeared in serious drama. In 1991 Palin appeared in a film, ''
American Friends ''American Friends'' is a 1991 British film starring Michael Palin. It was written by Palin and its director, Tristram Powell. Plot Palin plays Francis Ashby, a senior Oxford professor on holiday in the Swiss Alps in 1861. There he meets the Am ...
'', he wrote based upon a real event in the life of his great-grandfather, a fellow at St John's College, Oxford. In that same year he also played the part of a headmaster in Alan Bleasdale's
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
drama series '' GBH''. In 1994, Palin narrated the English language
audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
version of ''
Esio Trot ''Esio Trot'' is a children's novel written by British author Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. Published on 3 September 1990, it was the last of Dahl's books to be published in his lifetime; he died just two months later. Unlike o ...
'' by children's author
Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...
. In 1997, Palin had a small cameo role in Australian soap opera '' Home and Away''. He played an English surfer with a fear of
shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s, who interrupts a conversation between two main characters to ask whether there were any sharks in the sea. This was filmed while he was in Australia for the ''Full Circle'' series, with a segment about the filming of the role featuring in the series. In November 2005, he appeared in the ''
John Peel's Record Box ''John Peel's Record Box'' is a documentary film made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award. __TOC__ Contents The box contains a small private collection of the British radio ...
'' documentary. In 2013, Palin appeared in a
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
drama titled ''
The Wipers Times ''The Wipers Times'' was a trench magazine that was published by British soldiers fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. In early 1916, the 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters stationed in the front line at Ypres, Belgium, came ...
'' written by
Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...
and
Nick Newman Nick Newman (born 17 July 1958) is a satirical British cartoonist and comedy scriptwriter. Early life The son of an RAF officer, Newman was born in Kuala Lumpur and schooled at Ardingly College where his satirical career began, working on ...
. At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was announced that Palin was set to star alongside
Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award; making him one of few performers nominated ...
in
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
's ''
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' is a 2018 adventure- comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Tony Grisoni, loosely based on the 1605/1615 novel ''Don Quixote'' by Miguel de Cervantes. Gilliam tried to make the film m ...
''. Palin, however, dropped out of the film after it ran into a financial problem. While speaking at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...
, Palin announced that he was presenting the two-part documentary ''Michael Palin in North Korea'' to be broadcast on the British television network Channel 5. The documentary was broadcast in September 2018, in two one-hour segments on Channel 5 in the UK and in a single two-hour programme on
National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
in the United States. It was broadcast again by Channel 5, in a single two-hour programme in December 2018. In July 2019, Palin performed a one-man stage show at the
Torch Theatre, Milford Haven The Torch Theatre is a not-for-profit theatre in Milford Haven, Wales. Established in 1977, it is one of only three building-based producing theatres in the whole of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kin ...
, Wales, about the loss of HMS ''Erebus'' during the third Franklin expedition, which is recounted in his book ''Erebus: The Story of a Ship''.


Activism

Palin assisted Campaign for Better Transport and others with campaigns on sustainable transport, particularly those relating to urban areas, and has been president of the campaign since 1986. On 2 January 2011, he became the first person to sign the UK-based Campaign for Better Transport's Fair Fares Now campaign. In July 2015, he signed an open letter and gave an interview to support "a strong BBC at the centre of British life" at a time the government was reviewing the corporation's size and activities. In July 2010, Palin sent a message of support for the
Dongria Kondh The Dangaria Kandha people are members of the Kondhs. They are located in the Niyamgiri hills in the state of Odisha (formerly Orissa) in India. They sustain themselves from the resources of the Niyamgiri forests, practising horticulture and shif ...
tribe of
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, who were resisting mining on their land by the company
Vedanta Resources Vedanta Resources Limited is an Indian diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas oper ...
. Palin said, "I've been to the Nyamgiri Hills in
Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
and seen the forces of money and power that Vedanta Resources have arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government. The tribe I visited simply want to carry on living in the villages that they and their ancestors have always lived in."


Television documentaries


Travel

Palin's first travel documentary was episode 4 of the 1980
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...
series '' Great Railway Journeys of the World'', entitled "Confessions of a Trainspotter". Throughout the hour-long show, Palin humorously reminisces about his childhood hobby of
train spotting A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter ( Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rai ...
while he travels throughout the UK by train from London to the
Kyle of Lochalsh Kyle of Lochalsh (from the Gaelic ''Caol Loch Aillse'', "strait of the foaming loch") is a village in the historic county of Ross-shire on the northwest coast of Scotland, located around west-southwest of Inverness. It is located on the Lo ...
, via
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
,
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, Edinburgh and
Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
. He rides vintage railway lines and trains including the '' Flying Scotsman''. At the Kyle of Lochalsh, Palin bought the station's long metal platform sign and is seen lugging it back to London with him. In 1994, Palin travelled through Ireland for the same series, entitled "Derry to Kerry". In a quest for family roots, he attempted to trace his great-grandmother – Brita Gallagher – who set sail from Ireland years ago during the Great Famine (1845–1849), bound for a new life in
Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...
, New Jersey. The series is a trip along the Palin family line. Between 1989 and 2012, Palin appeared as presenter in a series of travel programmes made for the BBC. It was after the veteran TV globetrotter
Alan Whicker Alan Donald Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme '' Whicke ...
and journalist
Miles Kington Miles Beresford Kington (13 May 1941 – 30 January 2008) was a British journalist, musician (a double bass player for Instant Sunshine and other groups) and broadcaster. He is also credited with the invention of Franglais, a fictional language, ...
turned down presenting the first of these, ''
Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin Around may refer to: * "Around" (song), by Julia van Bergen * ''Around'', 2006 album by Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New ...
'', that gave Palin the opportunity to present his first and subsequent travel shows. In 2018, he was hired by ITN Productions to present travel documentaries commissioned by Channel 5, with journeys to North Korea and Iraq completed by 2022. * ''
Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin Around may refer to: * "Around" (song), by Julia van Bergen * ''Around'', 2006 album by Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New ...
'' (travel 1988; programme release 1989): travelling as closely as possible the path described in the famous
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
story without using aircraft. * '' Pole to Pole with Michael Palin'' (travel 1991; programme release 1992): travelling from the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
to the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
, following as closely as possible the 30-degree line of
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...
, over as much land as possible, i.e., through Europe and Africa. * '' Full Circle with Michael Palin'' (travel 1995/96; programme release 1997): in which he circumnavigated the lands around the Pacific Ocean anti-clockwise; a journey of almost starting on
Little Diomede Little Diomede Island or “Yesterday Isle” ( ik, Iŋaliq, formerly known as Krusenstern Island,
Island in the Bering Strait and taking him through Asia, Oceania and the Americas. * ''
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure ''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa ...
'' (1999): retracing the footsteps of
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...
through the United States, Europe, Africa and the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. * ''
Sahara with Michael Palin ''Sahara with Michael Palin'' is a four-part BBC television series presented by British comedian and travel presenter Michael Palin, and first broadcast in 2002. In it, Palin travelled around the Sahara in Northern and Western Africa, meeting ...
'' (travel 2001/02; programme release 2002): in which he trekked around and through the world's largest desert. * ''
Himalaya with Michael Palin ''Himalaya with Michael Palin'' is a 2004 BBC television series presented by comedian and travel presenter Michael Palin. It records his six-month trip around the Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, ...
'' (travel 2003/04; programme release 2004): in which he travels through the Himalaya region. * ''
Michael Palin's New Europe ''Michael Palin's New Europe'' is a travel documentary presented by Michael Palin and first aired in the UK on the BBC on 16 September 2007 and in the US on the Travel Channel on 28 January 2008. Palin visits 20 countries in Central and Easte ...
'' (travel 2006/07; programme release 2007): in which he travels through
Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and Eastern Europe. * '' Brazil with Michael Palin'' (2012) in which he travels through
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. * '' Michael Palin in North Korea'' on Channel 5 (2018, this ITN production was released in the US as ''North Korea from the Inside with Michael Palin'') in which he visits
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
at the time of the
April 2018 inter-Korean summit The April 2018 Inter-Korean summit took place on 27 April 2018 on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of ...
. * '' Michael Palin: Into Iraq'' on Channel 5 (2022). Following each trip, Palin wrote a book about his travels, providing information and insights not included in the TV programme. Each book is illustrated with photographs by
Basil Pao Basil Pao Ho-Yun (鲍皓昕) is a Hong Kong-based photographer. He has been the stills photographer on the BBC filming teams that made Michael Palin's television travel programmes. Early career Pao was born in Hong Kong, but started his career a ...
, the stills photographer who was on the team. (Exception: the first book, ''Around the World in 80 Days'', contains some pictures by Pao but most are by other photographers.) All seven of these books were also made available as audio books, and all of them are read by Palin himself. ''Around the World in 80 Days'' and ''Hemingway Adventure'' are unabridged, while the other four books were made in both abridged and unabridged versions. For four of the trips a photography book was made by Pao, each with an introduction written by Palin. These are large coffee-table style books with pictures printed on glossy paper. The majority of the pictures are of various people encountered on the trip, as informal portraits or showing them engaged in some interesting activity. Some of the landscape photos are displayed as two-page spreads. Palin's travel programmes are responsible for a phenomenon termed the "Palin effect": areas of the world that he has visited suddenly become popular tourist attractions – for example, the significant increase in the number of tourists interested in
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
after Palin visited
Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which ...
. In a 2006 survey of "15 of the world's top travel writers" by ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', Palin named Peru's
Pongo de Mainique The Pongo de Mainique ('gate' in Quechua) is a ''water gap'' (canyon) of the Urubamba River in Peru. Inside the water gap, the river is constricted to a width of . The Pongo de Mainique is long. The elevation of the river is approximately . T ...
(canyon below the Machu Picchu) his "favourite place in the world". Palin notes in his book of ''Around the World in 80 Days'' that the final leg of his journey could originally have taken him and his crew on one of the trains involved in the
Clapham Junction rail crash The Clapham Junction railway crash occurred on the morning of 12 December 1988, when a crowded British Rail passenger train crashed into the rear of another train that had stopped at a signal just south of Clapham Junction railway station in L ...
, but they arrived ahead of schedule and caught an earlier train.


Art and history

In recent years, Palin has written and presented occasional documentary programmes on artists that interest him. The first, on Scottish painter
Anne Redpath Anne Redpath (1895–1965) was a Scottish artist whose vivid domestic still lifes are among her best-known works. Life Redpath's father was a tweed designer in the Scottish Borders. She saw a connection between his use of colour and her own. ...
, was ''Palin on Redpath'' in 1997. In ''The Bright Side of Life'' (2000), Palin continued on a Scottish theme, looking at the work of the
Scottish Colourists The Scottish Colourists were a group of four painters, three from Edinburgh, whose Post-Impressionist work, though not universally recognised initially, came to have a formative influence on contemporary Scottish art and culture. The four artists, ...
. Two further programmes followed on European painters; ''Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse'' (2004) and ''Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi'' (2005), about the French artist
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
and
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
artist
Vilhelm Hammershøi Vilhelm Hammershøi (), often anglicised as Vilhelm Hammershoi (15 May 186413 February 1916), was a Danish painter. He is known for his poetic, subdued portraits and interiors.Souren Melikian,Hammershoi's decade of brilliance, before banality set ...
respectively. The DVD ''Michael Palin on Art'' contains all these documentaries except for the
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...
programme. In November 2008, Palin presented a
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
documentary about
Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...
, 11 November 1918, when thousands of soldiers lost their lives in battle after the war had officially ended. Palin filmed on the battlefields of Northern
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
for the programme, called the '' Last Day of World War One'', produced for the BBC's ''Timewatch'' series.


Awards and honours

Palin was instrumental in setting up the
Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering is a specialist centre for speech and language therapy for stammering in London, England. It officially opened in 1993 as a joint initiative between the charity Association for Research into Stammering in C ...
in 1993. Also in 1993, each member of Monty Python had an
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
named after them. Palin's is Asteroid 9621 Michaelpalin. In 2003, inside the
Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...
a commemorative stone was placed – Palin has his own stone, to mark donors to the theatre, but it is misspelled as "Michael Pallin". The story goes that John Cleese paid for the stone, and mischievously insisted on misspelling his name. In honour of his achievements as a traveller, especially rail travel, Palin has two British trains named after him. In 2002, Virgin Trains' new £5 million high speed Super Voyager train number 221130 was named ''Michael Palin'' it carries his name externally and a plaque is located adjacent to the onboard shop with information on Palin and his many journeys. Also,
National Express East Anglia National Express East Anglia (NXEA) was a train operating company in England owned by National Express that operated the Greater Anglia franchise from April 2004 until February 2012. Originally trading as ''One'', it was rebranded National Exp ...
named a British Rail Class 153 (unit number 153335) after him. (He is a
model railway Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...
enthusiast.) In 2008, he received the
James Joyce Award The James Joyce Award, also known as the Honorary Fellowship of the Society, is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society (L&H) of University College Dublin (UCD) for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field; r ...
of the Literary and Historical Society in Dublin. In recognition of his services to the promotion of geography, Palin was awarded the
Livingstone Medal The Livingstone Medal is awarded by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in recognition of outstanding service of a humanitarian nature with a clear geographical dimension. This was awarded first in 1901. Named after the African explorer David L ...
of the
Royal Scottish Geographical Society The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...
in March 2009, along with a Fellowship of this Society (FRGS). In June 2013, he was similarly honoured in Canada with a gold medal for achievements in geography by the
Royal Canadian Geographical Society The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people a ...
. In June 2009, Palin was elected for a three-year term as President of the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
. Because of his self-described "amenable, conciliatory character" Michael Palin has been referred to as unofficially "Britain's Nicest Man". In a 2018 poll for
Yorkshire Day Yorkshire Day is a yearly celebration on 1 August to promote the historic county of Yorkshire, England. It was celebrated by the Yorkshire Ridings Society in 1975, initially in Beverley, as "a protest movement against the local government re ...
he was named the greatest Yorkshireman ever, ahead of
Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
and
Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...
. In September 2013, Moorlands School, Leeds, named one of their school houses "Palin" after him. The
University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
awarded Palin an honorary
Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
degree during their June 2017 graduation ceremonies, with the degree recognising his contribution to the public's understanding of contemporary geography. He joins his fellow Pythons
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
and
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
in receiving an honorary degree from the Fife institution. In October 2018, the
Royal Canadian Geographical Society The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS; French: ''Société géographique royale du Canada'') is a Canadian nonprofit educational organization dedicated to imparting a broader knowledge and deeper appreciation of Canada—its people a ...
awarded Palin the first Louie Kamookak Medal for advances in geography, for his book on the history of the polar exploration vessel HMS ''Erebus''. He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours. Palin was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2019 New Year Honours for "services to travel, culture and geography". Palin is the only member of the Monty Python team to receive a knighthood. (John Cleese had turned down a CBE in 1996, calling it "too silly", and declined a
life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
in 1999.)


Legacy

In 2017, the British Library acquired Palin's archive consisting of project files relating to his work, notebooks, and his personal diaries. The papers in the archive relate to his work with ''Monty Python'', his later TV work, and his children's and humorous books.


Bibliography


Travel books

* ''
Around the World in 80 Days ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (french: link=no, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours) is an adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in French in 1872. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employe ...
'' (1989) * ''
Pole to Pole ''Pole to Pole with Michael Palin'' is an eight-part television documentary travel series made for the BBC, and first broadcast on BBC1 in 1992. The presenter is Michael Palin, this being the second of Palin's major journeys for the BBC. The f ...
'' (1992) * '' Full Circle'' (1997) * ''
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure ''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa ...
'' (1999) * ''
Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
'' (2002) * ''
Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
'' (2004) * '' New Europe'' (2007) * ''
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
'' (2012) * ''North Korea Journal'' (2019) * ''Into Iraq'' (2022) All his travel books can be read with no charge, complete and unabridged, o
Palin's Travels website


Autobiography (contributor)

* ''The Pythons'' Autobiography by The Pythons (2003)


Diaries

* '' Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years''. 2006. * ''Diaries 1980–1988: Halfway to Hollywood – The Film Years''. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2009. * ''Diaries 1988–1998: Travelling to Work''. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2014. * ''Diaries 1999–2010: TBC''. London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson. announced for 2021.


Fiction

*'' Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls'' w/Terry Jones, illus
Martin Honeysett Martin Honeysett (20 May 1943 – 21 January 2015) was an English cartoonist and illustrator. Early life Honeysett was born in Hereford. When he was two years old, his parents moved to London. He attended Selhurst Grammar School in Croydon ...
,
Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) was a People of the United Kingdom, British comics artist, best known for his work on the ...
et al. (1974) *''Dr Fegg's Encyclopaedia of All World Knowledge'' (1984) (expanded reprint of the above, with Terry Jones and Martin Honeysett) *''Hemingway's Chair'' (1995) *''The Truth'' (2012)


Non-fiction

*''
Erebus In Greek mythology, Erebus (; grc, Ἔρεβος, Érebos, "deep darkness, shadow".), or Erebos, is the personification of darkness and one of the primordial deities. Hesiod's ''Theogony'' identifies him as one of the first five beings in exis ...
: The Story of a Ship'' (2018, UK) *''Erebus: One Ship, Two Epic Voyages, and the Greatest Naval Mystery of All Time'' (2018, US/Canada)


Children's books

*''Small Harry and the Toothache Pills'' (1982) *''Limerics'' or ''The
Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...
Book'' (1985) *''Cyril and the House of Commons'' (1986) *''Cyril and the Dinner Party'' (1986) *''The Mirrorstone'' with Alan Lee and Richard Seymour (1986)


Plays

*''The Weekend'' (1994)


Selected filmography


Television

*''Now!'' (October 1965 – middle 1966) *''The Ken Dodd Show'' *''Billy Cotton Bandshow'' *''The Illustrated Weekly Hudd'' *''
The Frost Report ''The Frost Report'' is a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. It premiered on BBC1 on 10 March ...
'' (10 March 1966 – 29 June 1967) *''The Late Show'' (15 October 1966 – 1 April 1967) *''A Series of Bird's'' (1967) (3 October 1967 – 21 November 1967 screenwriter (guest stars) *''
Twice a Fortnight ''Twice a Fortnight'' is a 1967 British sketch comedy television series with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn and Tony Buffery. Graeme Garden suggested to the director, Tony Palmer, that Michael Palin and Terr ...
'' (21 October 1967 – 23 December 1967) *''
Do Not Adjust Your Set ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (''DNAYS'') is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The ...
'' (26 December 1967 – 14 May 1969) *'' Broaden Your Mind'' (1968) *''
How to Irritate People ''How to Irritate People'' is a US television broadcast filmed in the UK at LWT on 14 November 1968 and written by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Cleese, Chapman, and Brooke-Taylor also feature in it, along wit ...
'' (1968) *'' Marty'' (1968) *''
The Complete and Utter History of Britain ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' is a 1969 television comedy sketch show. It was created and written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones between the two series of '' Do Not Adjust Your Set''. It was produced for and broadcast by London ...
'' (1969) *'' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (5 October 1969 – 5 December 1974) *''
Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...
'' (1975) *''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' (Hosted 8 April 1978 with Musical Guest
Eugene Record Eugene Booker Record (December 23, 1940 – July 22, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the Chicago-based vocal group The Chi-Lites from their formation in 1959 un ...
, 27 January 1979 with
The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...
, 12 May 1979 with
James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
and 21 January 1984 with Mary Palin, his mother) *''
Ripping Yarns ''Ripping Yarns'' is a British television adventure comedy anthology series. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. It was transmitted on BBC 2. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two ser ...
'' (1976–1979) *'' Great Railway Journeys of the World'', episode title "Confessions of a Trainspotter" (1980) *''
East of Ipswich ''East of Ipswich'' is a BBC television drama from 1987 written by Michael Palin, based on his own memories of dreary holidays in English coastal towns in the 1950s. It is the story of the rite of passage of 17-year-old Richard Burrill; Palin c ...
'' (1987) writer *''
Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin Around may refer to: * "Around" (song), by Julia van Bergen * ''Around'', 2006 album by Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New ...
'' (1989) * '' GBH'' (1991) *'' Pole to Pole with Michael Palin'' (1992) *'' Tracey Ullman: A Class Act'' (1993) *''
Great Railway Journeys ''Great Railway Journeys'', originally titled ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known figur ...
'', episode title "Derry to Kerry" (1994) *''
The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...
'' (1995) *'' The Willows in Winter'' (1996) *'' Full Circle with Michael Palin'' (1997) *''Palin on Redpath'' (1997) *''
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure ''Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure'' is a 1999 BBC television documentary presented by Michael Palin. It records Palin's travels as he visited many sites where Ernest Hemingway had been. The sites include Spain, Chicago, Paris, Italy, Africa ...
'' (1999) *''Michael Palin On... The Colourists'' (2000) *''
Sahara with Michael Palin ''Sahara with Michael Palin'' is a four-part BBC television series presented by British comedian and travel presenter Michael Palin, and first broadcast in 2002. In it, Palin travelled around the Sahara in Northern and Western Africa, meeting ...
'' (2002) *'' Life on Air'' (2002) *''
Himalaya with Michael Palin ''Himalaya with Michael Palin'' is a 2004 BBC television series presented by comedian and travel presenter Michael Palin. It records his six-month trip around the Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, ...
'' (2004) *''Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse'' (2004) * ''Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi'' (2005) *''
Michael Palin's New Europe ''Michael Palin's New Europe'' is a travel documentary presented by Michael Palin and first aired in the UK on the BBC on 16 September 2007 and in the US on the Travel Channel on 28 January 2008. Palin visits 20 countries in Central and Easte ...
'' (2007) *''
Robbie the Reindeer ''Robbie the Reindeer'' is a series of three animated comedy television specials co-produced by the BBC and the charity Comic Relief which were broadcast on BBC One between Christmas 1999 and 2007. Although the series is distributed commercially ...
– Close Encounters of the Herd Kind'' (2007 – Gariiiiiii/Gary) *'' Around the World in 20 Years'' (30 December 2008) *'' Brazil with Michael Palin'' (2012) *''
The Wipers Times ''The Wipers Times'' was a trench magazine that was published by British soldiers fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. In early 1916, the 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters stationed in the front line at Ypres, Belgium, came ...
'' (2013) *'' Michael Palin in Wyeth's World'' (2013) *'' Remember Me'' (2014) *''
Clangers ''Clangers'' (usually referred to as ''The Clangers'') is a British stop motion, stop-motion children's television series, consisting of short films about a family of mouse, mouse-like creatures who live on, and inside, a small moon-like planet ...
'' (2015 – narrator) *''Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia'' (2015) *'' Vanity Fair'' William Makepeace Thakery (2018) *'' Michael Palin in North Korea'' (2018) *''
Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.
'': the Green Man (2019) *''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'': Museum Curator (2020) *''Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime'' (2020) *''Into Iraq'' (2022)


Radio

*''The Weekend'' (2017, adapted from his 1994 stage play) *'' John Finnemore's Double Acts'' – "The Wroxton Box" (Series 2, Episode 6; 2017) *
Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...
: Tropical Beach Sounds and Other Relaxing Seascapes #4 (April 2020)


Awards


BAFTA Awards

* 1984 Nominated –
BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for "Best Original Song" (the award was discontinued after the 1985 ceremonies) for
Every Sperm is Sacred "Every Sperm Is Sacred" is a musical sketch from the film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. A satire of Catholic teachings on reproduction that forbid masturbation and contraception, the song was released on the album '' Monty Python Sings ...
from '' The Meaning of Life'' (shared with André Jacquemin, Dave Howman and
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
) * 1989 Won –
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...
for '' A Fish Called Wanda'' (as ''Ken Pile'') * 1992 Nominated –
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor. The Best Actor award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until 1962, when Rupert Davies won for his performance in ''Maig ...
for '' GBH'' * 2005 Won – BAFTA Special Award * 2009 Won – BAFTA Special Award as part of the Monty Python team for outstanding contribution to film and television * 2013 Won –
BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is t ...


Other awards

* 2011 Awarded the
Aardman Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...
Slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...
Visual Comedy Legend award for "significant contributions made to the world of comedy". * 2020 National Television Awards Special Recognition Award


Further reading

* Jones, Mark (2010), ''The Famous Charisma Discography'' The Record Press/Bristol Folk Publications  – discography of Monty Python's record label, includes foreword by Michael Palin * Novick, Jeremy (2001), ''Life of Michael: an Illustrated Biography of Michael Palin'' Headline Publishing (a division of Hodder Headline) * * Wilmut, Roger (1980). ''From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980'' Eyre Methuen Ltd


External links

*
Michael Palin
nbsp;– BBC Guide to Comedy

nbsp;– Comedy Zone * * *
Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children

Michael Palin
interview on BBC Radio 4 ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
'', 23 November 1979
Michael Palin , Culture , The Guardian


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palin, Michael 1943 births Living people 20th-century English comedians 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English male actors Actors awarded knighthoods Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Audiobook narrators BAFTA fellows Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award winners British male comedy actors British male film actors British male television actors British male television writers Comedians from Yorkshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English agnostics English comedy writers English diarists English male comedians English male film actors English male screenwriters English male television actors English people of Irish descent English screenwriters English television presenters English television writers English travel writers Fellows of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Male actors from Sheffield Monty Python members People educated at Birkdale School People educated at Shrewsbury School People from Ranmoor Presidents of the Royal Geographical Society Recipients of the Royal Geographical Society Patron's Medal Television personalities from South Yorkshire Travel broadcasters