THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, February 14, 2020 Page 7 Now for something completely different By Th e Old Sachem T oday’s person wasn’t much of an athlete, but he did play rugby at Saint Edmund Hall, Oxford University. He is better known for bringing, along with his colleagues, laughter to a generation. Those too young to have missed Monty Python’s Flying Circus missed a great show of all time. Terence Graham Parry Jones, Jr. was born February 1, 1942, in Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, Wales, and died January 21, 2020, in Highgate, London, England. He was born during World War II, and his father served in the Royal Air Force in Scotland. After Terry was born, his father was transferred to India as a Flight Lieutenant, so Terry saw little of his father until four years old. After the war the family moved from Colwyn Bay to Guildford, Surry, England. His education started attending Esher Church of England primary school, followed by Royal Grammar School in Guildford. He became school captain in the 1961-1962 year. He went to Saint Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he studied English, or as the Britons say, Read English. He became very interested in history while at Saint Edmonds, especially the English medieval period, by reading Chaucer as part of his degree. At Oxford he performed with a comedy group and met up with a lad a year younger, Michael Palin, both performing in the “Oxford Review.” Jones and Palin appeared in “Twice a Fortnight” and the television series The Complete and Utter History of Britain in 1969, and Do Not Adjust Your Set during 1967-1969 along with Palin and Eric Idle. He wrote “The Frost Report” and several other Davis Frost programs for British TV that were later shown on PBS. After Monty Python was formed with Jones, Palin, Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Terry Gilliam, Jones became a featured writer for the group. Idle, Cleese and Chapman were graduates of Cambridge University. Jones wrote innovative, surreal structured sketches fl owing one scene into the next without the use of punchlines. His directorial debut was the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and he codirected the fi lm with Gilliam. Jones was also the director of “Life of Brian” and “The Meaning of Life.” I really enjoyed “Life of Brian” as it started with the Three Wise Men going to Jerusalem to worship the newborn Christ and wound up at the wrong stable where Brian was born and then Brian’s life went downhill from there. He also was a respected medieval historian, writing several books on the subject along with several television documentaries about the early English period. Jones received the Lifetime Achievement award at the BAFTA Cymru Awards in 2016 for his outstanding television writing and directing for television and fi lms. He lived several years with a degenerative aphasia, eventually losing the ability to speak. Jones wrote and directed the libretto for the opera “Evil Machines” and another opera, “The Doctors Tale.” Three of the comedy films that he wrote and directed were banned in Ireland: “The Meaning of Life,” “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and “Personal Services.” Jones cofounded the Penrhos Brewery, a microbrewery at Penrhos Court at Penrhos, Herefordshire, which operated from 1977 to 1983. He wrote books for children, including “Fairy Tales and Fantastic Stories,” “The Beast with a Thousand Teeth” and a collection of comic verse titled “The Curse of the Vampire’s Socks.” He wrote many editorials condemning the Iraq War for English newspapers. His biggest attraction was as a member of Monty Python, often playing middleaged women whom the BBC labeled “ratbag old women” but known to most Monty Python followers as “grannies from hell.” ally brought to American television on PBS. Among some of his funniest characters were a naked organist, Karl Marx as a dumb quiz show contestant, and a buff oonish cardinal in the Spanish Inquisition. The New York Times interviewed Jones in 2009 in which he stated that Monty Python was “the one thing we all agreed on, our chief aim, as Bill Stewart The Old Sachem Jones was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2006 and underwent successful surgery, and it was a complete cycle of chemotherapy. In 2015 he was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, which is a form of frontotemporal dementia which restricts the ability to speak and communicate. Monty Python was eventuDISCOUNT FURNITURE COMPLETE LINE OF QUALITY FURNITURE AT LOW PRICES *BEDROOM SETS *DINING ROOM SETS *KITCHEN SETS ASHLEY SOFA *SOFA / LOVE SEATS *TABLES & CHAIRS *COMPUTER DESKS $399.00 ASHLEY BEDROOM SETS 895.95 $ LAYAWAY PLANS AVAILABLE 42 Willow St., Malden, Ma. to be totally unpredictable and never repeat ourselves. We wanted to be quantifi able. That ‘pythonesque’ is now an adjective in the O.E.D. means we failed miserably.” Most fans will not agree with that statement of failure. We think Monty Python and the cast are among the premier casts of television and their style will never be passed. 781-321-7700 www.reverealuminumwindow.com 505 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Tel: 617-387-1120 www.gkdental.com • Family Dentistry • Crowns • Bridges • Veneers/Lumineers • Dental Implants • All on 4 Dental Implants • Emergency Dentist • Kid Friendly Dentist • Root Canals • Dentures • Invisalign Braces • Snap On Smile • Teeth Whitening We are the smile care experts for your entire family In House Dental Plan for $399 (Cleanings, X-Rays, Exams twice a year and 20% OFF Dental work) Schedule your FREE Consultations today STARTING AT
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