Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin (born May 5, 1943) is a British comedian who was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He is famous for being a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus in which he generally played roles that called for manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of the Lumberjack Song), or unflappable calmness (such as the Dead Parrot vendor or Cheese Shop proprietor). As the latter, he was often the perfect foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by John Cleese.
 
Michael Palin was educated at Birkdale prep school and Shrewsbury public school. He went on to read History at Brasenose College, Oxford.
 
After Monty Python, Palin subsequently collaborated with Python writing partner Terry Jones on the television comedy series Ripping Yarns.
 
In later years, Palin rejoined Cleese for the movies A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures and played an information retrieval specialist in fellow Python Terry Gilliam's Brazil. He has assisted Transport 2000 and others with campaigns on transport policy issues, particularly those relating to urban areas.
 
More recently, he has presented several series of travel programmes on television;* (1989), travelling as closely as possible the path described in the famous Jules Verne story of the same name without using aircraft.* Pole to Pole (1992), travelling from the North Pole to the South Pole, in a line as straight as possible, over as much land as possible - i.e., through Europe and Africa* Full Circle with Michael Palin (1997), in which he circumnavigated the lands around the Pacific Ocean counter-clockwise, starting on Little Diomede Island in the Bering Strait* Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure (1999), retracing the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway through the United States, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean* Sahara (2002), in which he trekked through the world's largest desert.*Himalaya (2004), in which he travels through the Himalaya region
 
Palin's travel programmes are responsible for a phenomenon termed the "Palin effect", in which areas of the world visited by Michael Palin suddenly become popular tourist attractions - for example, the significant increase in the number of British tourists interested in holidaying in the Sahara region in 2003.
 
Palin has also appeared as a 'straight' actor in serious drama, most notably in the 1991 serial G.B.H., broadcast on the Channel 4 network in the UK.
 
In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted amongst the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
 
- External links >>

Table of Content

External links Selective Filmography Michael Palin fan mail

Latest news on Michael Palin Web sites about Michael Palin  French |  German |  Italian

Latest Film News

Latest news on Michael Palin

People

almost new movie for Dan, kinda sorta

SourceRussell Brand has revealed that he wanted Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe to play him in the movie version of his autobiography.The comedian initially thought Radcliffe would by the ideal person to bring My Booky Wook to the big screen.However, he said he changed his mind when he realised what the part entailed, telling The Mirror: "I thought he wouldn't be able to take all the drink. Or the drugs or fraternising with women. So I thought I should do it."He added that Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher was in talks to appear as a "seedy homosexual" in the film, which is scheduled to begin shooting this summer.He said: "[Noel] will be a sexually androgynous, amorphous character - it'll be mad. I was speaking to him about it yesterday, and hopefully it'll be great."David Walliams is also being lined up to play himself, while Brand is determined to persuade Michael Palin to star as a vindictive headmaster.Talking about the rest of the cast, he said: "I'm going to hand-pick the ladies. It is difficult doing those sex scenes though - it's very awkward. I feel like I really ought to put on a gold medal display of sexual moves."I don't know whether to laugh hysterically or be very concerned.
Published: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:12:44 GMT - Source: Community.Livejournal.Com - Read the article

• Webmasters: Add these headlines to your site

See Also:

John Cleese	Terry Jones	Terry Gilliam