Celebrities, fans, friends and co-stars are paying tribute to Monty Python star Terry Jones, who died at the age of 77 on Tuesday.
Fellow Pythons John Cleese and Michael Palin led the way in honoring the Welsh comedian, director and actor who was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia in 2015.
Cleese tweeted that it felt “strange that a man of so many talents and such endless enthusiasm, should have faded so gently away...” His “greatest gift” was his direction of the hit Python movie “Life Of Brian,” said Cleese.
“Two down, four to go,” he added, referencing the death of Python Graham Chapman in 1989.
Just heard about Terry J
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) January 22, 2020
It feels strange that a man of so many talents and such endless enthusiasm, should have faded so gently away...
Of his many achievements, for me the greatest gift he gave us all was his direction of 'Life of Brian'. Perfection
Two down, four to go
Palin, meanwhile, described Jones as “far more than one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation.”
“He was the complete Renaissance comedian – writer, director, presenter, historian, brilliant children’s author, and the warmest, most wonderful company you could wish to have,” Palin told the Press Association news agency.
Other fans, including acclaimed author Neil Gaiman, “Black Mirror” creator Charlie Brooker and actor Stephen Fry, remembered Jones by sharing heartfelt messages and their favorite Python clips:
36 years ago I met Terry Jones. I was meant to interview him. I asked for tea, so he opened a bottle of Chablis & got me drunk. He was funny, brilliant and honest. He was irrepressible and is seen here repressing the very young me. Rest in Peace, Terry. You were an inspiration. pic.twitter.com/fNBJZwOFcX
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 22, 2020
Farewell, Terry Jones. The great foot has come down to stamp on you. My god what pleasure you gave, what untrammelled joy and delight. What a wonderful talent, heart and mind
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) January 22, 2020
RIP the actual genius Terry Jones. Far too many brilliant moments to choose from. Here’s one random wafer-thin mint. https://t.co/qMrR9aOV9s
— Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) January 22, 2020
— Pegg News (@simonpegg) January 22, 2020
Aww, poor old Terry Jones. Grew up on Monty Python and it was a thrill to interview him in 2013 - his first words to me when I phoned him up were: ”Can you ring me back? I really have to pee.” pic.twitter.com/baX7zHlJGG
— nathan bevan (@nathbevan) January 22, 2020
RIP Terry Jones, 77, Monty Python's booster of Spam and maker of the finest chocolate frogs. A beloved maker of mirth, dearly missed. #MontyPython pic.twitter.com/tpOkksKdZu
— Peter Howell (@peterhowellfilm) January 22, 2020
Terry Jones was the only Python who agreed to appear in The Young Ones. It was like affirmation from God himself. This was the man who’d directed what was, and still is, the funniest feature film ever made. We loved him for it, and always will. Sadly, he’s eaten his last mint...
— Adrian Edmondson (@AdrianEdmondson) January 22, 2020
RIP lovely #TerryJones. I was lucky enough to know Terry for a few years and watched him both act and direct. Honest, witty and kind. The world will be a little less funny without him now he had run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. #MontyPython #LifeOfBrian pic.twitter.com/Wgl1yXBLnY
— Andy Gotts (@DrGotts) January 22, 2020
Terry Jones: star of one of the funniest and most often-quoted scenes in movie history pic.twitter.com/IUtrNL1QYZ
— Julian Druker (@Julian5News) January 22, 2020
You may not have the kind of affection for The Pythons that comedy fans of my vintage have, but know that if you've ever enjoyed any flavour of surreal, silly anti-comedy, you owe them.
— Rufus Hound 🌨 (@RufusHound) January 22, 2020
And Terry Jones was the beating heart of it all.
What a man.
Farewell to the only man who could make the Spanish Inquisition funny, Terry Jones. R.I.P.
— Frank E. Lee (@djfrankelee) January 22, 2020
Godspeed, brave kniggit. #TerryJones @montypython pic.twitter.com/dZ0BPY5agQ
— Spencer Garrett (@1SpencerGarrett) January 22, 2020
“Excuse me not shaking hands, but I’ve just been putting a bit of lard on the cat’s boil.” Farewell #TerryJones, you were a father (and mother) of absurdist British comedy.https://t.co/PyamBibpHW
— David Kamp (@MrKamp) January 22, 2020
It's a throwaway gag, but just the perfect line delivery from Terry Jones. Maybe my favourite joke in Holy Grail. pic.twitter.com/qxY2dITKdS
— John Nugent (@mr_nugent) January 22, 2020
Goodbye to Terry Jones, with love and Spam. pic.twitter.com/E3hclyuKEb
— Benjamin Dreyer (@BCDreyer) January 22, 2020
We're saddened to hear of the passing of Terry Jones. Here he is receiving the Special Award For Outstanding Contribution to Film & Television from friend and fellow Python Michael Palin, at the 2016 @BAFTACymru Awards. pic.twitter.com/iQGLTWIQyL
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) January 22, 2020
Terry Jones was a comic genius, a vocal opponent of the Iraq war, and a brave public face of dementia. What a loss.
— Sam Adams (@SamuelAAdams) January 22, 2020
Farewell to the great Terry Jones. His influence was more than wafer thin. pic.twitter.com/sUAMVfvg2P
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) January 22, 2020
Terry Jones. What a talent: writer, director, actor, historian.
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) January 22, 2020
A very fond farewell to Terry Jones: Not only 1/6 of the Pythons, Mr Creosote, Arthur Two Sheds Jackson, Dino Vercotti, Mandy Cohen, Prince Herbert, Cardinal Biggles & the Nude Organist, but also esteemed director of all time comedy classic; 'Life Of Brian'. He will be missed. pic.twitter.com/PeBDlvGfsD
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) January 22, 2020
RIP Terry Jones. I'll never forget him turning up at the launch party for the Letters of Note book in 2013 & then reading aloud this letter about Monty Python & the Holy Grail. I could barely process it. He was the loveliest man. pic.twitter.com/lPF74uPHwQ
— Letters of Note (@LettersOfNote) January 22, 2020
Lovely Terry Jones, the heart of Python. Ripping Yarns remains so gloriously funny, and Bert Fegg's Nasty Book For Boys & Girls made me laugh like a small fool when I was eight. Very sad to see him go.
— Simon Blackwell (@simonblackwell) January 22, 2020
RIP Terry Jones - my grandmother’s favourite Python, director of Life Of Brian, contributor to Labyrinth and reputedly a delightful sexy beast. There is no-one left to sell Spam, or receive the nudge, nudge, wink-winks. Say no more. :-(
— Mr John Robertson #thedarkroom (@Robbotron) January 22, 2020
Terry Jones perhaps got less recognition than the other Pythons, who were stronger as performers - but he was the one who pulled the show together conceptually. All that distinctive Python stuff, linking the sketches, the meta gags - that was him. He had the vision, the ambition.
— Eddie Robson (@EddieRobson) January 22, 2020
There's a reason he directed the Python films. He was the one who saw it all on a bigger scale. You could argue he was the only truly indispensible member of the group: there were other talented writer/performers around at the time, but without Jones it wouldn't have been Python.
— Eddie Robson (@EddieRobson) January 22, 2020
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