Graham Chapman - Wikipedia. Graham Arthur Chapman (8 January 1. October 1. 98. 9) was an English comedian, writer, actor, author, and one of the six members of the British surreal comedy group Monty Python. He played authority figures such as the Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail and Life of Brian. Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray.

He enjoyed science, acting, and comedy, and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman eventually established a writing partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python in the 1. Chapman subsequently left Britain for Los Angeles, where he attempted to be a success on American television, speaking on the college circuit and producing the pirate film Yellowbeard, before returning to Britain in the early 1.

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In his personal life, Chapman was openly homosexual and a strong supporter of gay rights, and was in a relationship with David Sherlock. He was an alcoholic during his time at Cambridge and the Python years, quitting shortly before working on Life of Brian. Chapman died of tonsil and spinal cancer on 4 October 1.

Monty Python's 2. St Bartholomew's with the other five Pythons. Early life and education[edit]Graham Arthur Chapman was born on 8 January 1. Stoneygate Nursing Home, Stoneygate, Leicester, the son of policeman Walter Chapman and Edith Towers.[1] He had an elder brother, John, who was born in 1.

One of Chapman's earliest memories was seeing the remains of Polish airmen who had suffered an aeroplane accident near Leicester, later saying the horrific sights of this remained in his memory. Chapman was educated at Melton Mowbray Grammar School. He showed a strong affinity for science, sports and amateur dramatics, and was singled out for attention when a local paper reviewed his performance of Mark Antony in Shakespeare's. Julius Caesar. Graham and John Chapman were both avid fans of radio comedy, being especially fond of The Goon Show and Robert Moreton's skill of telling jokes the wrong way round and reversing punchlines.

Biographer Jim Yoakum said "the radio shows didn't necessarily make him laugh."In 1. Chapman began to study medicine at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge Footlights, where he first began writing with John Cleese. Following graduation, Chapman joined the Footlights show "Cambridge Circus" and toured New Zealand, deferring his medical studies for a year.

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After the tour, he continued his studies at St Bartholomew's Medical College,[1. His brother John later said, "He wasn't ever driven to go into medicine .. Pre- Python career[edit]Following their Footlights success, Chapman and Cleese began to write professionally for the BBC, initially for David Frost but also for Marty Feldman. Frost had recruited Cleese, and in turn Cleese decided he needed Chapman as a sounding board.

Chapman also contributed sketches to the radio series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again and wrote material on his own and with Bill Oddie. He wrote for The Illustrated Weekly Hudd (starring Roy Hudd), Cilla Black, This is Petula Clark, and This Is Tom Jones. Chapman, Cleese, and Tim Brooke- Taylor later joined Feldman in the television comedy series At Last the 1. Show. It was Chapman's first significant role as a performer as well as a writer and he displayed a gift for deadpan comedy (such as in the sketch "The Minister Who Falls to Pieces") and imitating various British dialects. The series was the first to feature Chapman's sketch of wrestling with himself. Despite the show's success, Chapman was still unsure about abandoning his medical career. In between the two series of At Last the 1.

Show he completed his studies at St Bartholomew's, and became professionally registered as a doctor. Chapman and Cleese also wrote for the long- running television comedy series Doctor in the House, and both appeared on a one- off television special, How to Irritate People alongside Brooke- Taylor and Michael Palin. One of Cleese and Chapman's sketches, featuring a used car salesman refusing to believe a customer's model had broken down, became the inspiration for the Dead Parrot sketch. Chapman also co- wrote several episodes of Doctor in the House's follow up, Doctor in Charge, with Bernard Mc. Kenna. Monty Python[edit]In 1. Chapman and Cleese joined the other Pythons, Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, for their sketch comedy show Flying Circus. The group's writing was split into well- defined teams, with Chapman collaborating almost exclusively with Cleese.

Chapman was particularly keen to remove stereotypical punchlines in sketches and created The Colonel, who would stop them in mid- flow by saying they were "too silly".[2. Although the pair were officially equal partners, Cleese later thought that Chapman contributed comparatively little in the way of direct writing, saying "he would come in, say something marvellous and then drift off in his own mind." The other Pythons have said that Chapman's biggest contribution in the writing room was an intuition for what was funny. Gilliam later recalled that "Graham would do the nudge that would push it into something extraordinary." The show was an immediate success, and Chapman was delighted to learn that medical students at St Bartholomew's crowded round the television in the bar to watch it. Chapman was frequently late for rehearsing or recording, leading to the other Pythons calling him "the late Graham Chapman". Chapman's main contribution to the "Dead Parrot sketch", derived from the How to Irritate People piece and involving a customer returning a faulty toaster, was "How can we make this madder?" He decided to replace the toaster with a dead Norwegian Blue parrot.

Cleese said that he and Chapman believed that "there was something very funny there, if we could find the right context for it". The group felt that Chapman had the best acting skills in the group. Cleese complimented Chapman by saying that he was "particularly a wonderful actor". Chapman played the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail and Life of Brian.

He was chosen to play the lead in Holy Grail because of the group's respect towards his straight acting skills, and because the other members wanted to play lesser, funnier characters. Chapman did not mind being filmed fully nude in front of a crowd in Life of Brian, but the scene, filmed in Tunisia, caused problems with the female Muslim extras. Other work[edit]Chapman and Douglas Adams wrote a pilot for a TV series in 1. Out of the Trees, but it received poor ratings after being broadcast at the same time as Match of the Day and only the initial episode was produced. In 1. 97. 8, Chapman co- wrote the comedy film The Odd Job with Mc.

Kenna, and starred as one of the main characters. Chapman wanted his friend Keith Moon to play a co- lead role alongside him, but Moon could not pass an acting test, so the part went to David Jason who had previously appeared on Do Not Adjust Your Set with Pythons Idle, Jones, and Palin.

The film was moderately successful. During the 1. 97. Chapman became increasingly concerned about the Python's income and finances. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1. British income tax. He guest- starred on several television series including The Big Show.

In 1. 97. 6, Chapman began writing a pirate film, Yellowbeard (1. Chapman and Moon while in Los Angeles. Moon had always wanted to play Long John Silver, so Chapman began to write a script for him. Moon died in 1. 97. Mc. Kenna, then by Peter Cook.

The film, which starred Chapman as the eponymous pirate, also featured appearances from Cook, Marty Feldman, Cleese, Idle, Spike Milligan, and Cheech & Chong. It marks the last appearance of Feldman, who suffered a fatal heart attack in December 1. The project was fraught with financial difficulties, and at times there was not enough money to pay the crew.

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