Eric Idle

In 1963, as a collegiate, he was admitted into the Cambridge Footlights comedy club. He became president of the club the following year and one of his first acts was to open the membership up to include women. Feminist/writer Germaine Greer was one of the first to join.

Producer of hit Broadway musical 'Monty Python's Spamalot' ("lovingly ripped-off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).") [February 2005]

Admired by the other Pythons for his circle of friends, it was he who procured part of the production money for Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) from former Beatle George Harrison.

Defeated Charles Barkley and Martha Stewart on a celebrity episode of Jeopardy! (1984) in 2002.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 225-226. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Appears as the M.C. in the 3-D film Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (1994) at Disneyland.

Although his picture An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) was a commercial and critical disappointment, Idle has been asked for Alan Smithee's "autograph" in real life...and consented (Smithee was the nonexistent, pseudonymous director whom Idle "portrayed" in said movie).

Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, playwright, director, and songwriter. co-creator of Monty Python on TV, stage, and five films, including The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail, which he later adapted for the stage with John Du Prez as Monty Python's Spamalot, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005, a Grammy, a Drama Desk Award, and playing for almost five years on Broadway.

They also wrote the comic oratorio Not The Messiah, He's a Very Naughty Boy, in 2007, which played round the world and at The Hollywood Bowl and was filmed live at The Royal Albert Hall, and a musical play What About Dick? available soon on iTunes. He created and directed the first mockumentary The Rutles for NBC, starred as Ko-Ko in the English National Opera version of The Mikado in London and Houston, and appeared last year in The Pirates of Penzance in Central Park and in Not The Messiah at Carnegie Hall. He is also one of the conceivers of the musical Seussical.

On November 12, 2008 Eric performed Swan Lake with the English National Ballet, and sings "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for the We Are Most Amused Gala event held at the New Wimbledon Theatre in honor of the 60th birthday of HRH Prince Charles.

On October 15, 2009 , Eric and the other surviving members of Monty Python accepted the BAFTA Lifetime Achievement Award on the 40th Anniversary of Monty Python in New York.

He and John Du Prez were awarded the 2010 Musical Score for "Monty Python's Spamalot" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

On August 12, 2012 Eric performed "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" live at the London Olympic Games Closing Ceremony which was broadcast live around the world to approximately 1 Billion people.

John Du Prez and his musical, "Monty Python's Spamalot" at the Nightblue Performing Arts Theatre in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2014 Joseph Jefferson Non-Equity Award for Musical Production.