Michael Palin

British actor, writer and comedian Michael Palin founded Monty Python with John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones in 1969. Their Monty Python's Flying Circus television series ran until 1973, after which Palin starred in a number of Monty Python movies, as well as writing and starring in his own television series, Ripping Yarns. Palin also had roles in several non-Python movies including A Fish Called Wanda.

In 1989 he created his first travel series for the BBC, Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days. Despite insisting that he did not want to do another, Palin has made six more of the well received BBC travel shows, each with a self-penned companion travel book.

Palin is an accomplished writer as well as a performer. He co-wrote many of Monty Python's most celebrated skits including The Lumberjack Song and Spam. He actually began his career as a writer, collaborating with Terry Jones on a number of BBC television shows before performing and writing as a Python.

In addition to his travel writing, Palin has authored several plays and published a novel, five childrens books, and three books written with other Pythons. He wrote and starred in the movie The Missionary in 1982 and in 2006 published his personal journals, Diaries, 1969-1975: The Python Years.

• "Whenever I'm mistaken for Michael Palin, I always say 'Yes, I am him. Now &#$% off, you ugly old bastard!' Because I want to help destroy his reputation for niceness."—Eric Idle

• "Michael Palin is not just one of Britain’s foremost comedy character actors, he also talks a lot. Yap, yap, yap he goes, all day long and through the night…then, some nights, when everyone else has gone to bed, he goes home and writes a diary."—John Cleese

• "I'd far rather see for myself what's going on in the world outside, than rely on newspapers, television, politicians and religious leaders to tell me what I should be thinking."—Michael Palin

• "I always wanted to be an explorer, but - it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person."—Michael Palin

• Note: The IMDb links in this timeline have pop-ups.

• 1943: Born on May 5 in Broomhill, Sheffield, England

• 1967: Do Not Adjust Your Set - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1969: Monty Python's Flying Circus - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1971: And Now For Something Completely Different - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes

• 1975: Monty Python and the Holy Grail - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1975: Three Men in a Boat - IMDb Listing

• 1976: Ripping Yarns - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1977: Jabberwocky - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1978: Hosts Saturday Night Live for the first time

• 1979: Monty Python's Life of Brian - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1981: Time Bandits - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1982: Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 1982: The Missionary - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1983: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

• 1984: A Private Function - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1985: Brazil - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1985: Publishes Limericks

• 1988: A Fish Called Wanda - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1989: Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days - IMDb Listing | Wikipedia

• 1991: American Friends - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1992: Pole to Pole - IMDb Listing | Wikipedia

• 1995: Publishes his first fiction book Hemingway's Chair

• 1996: The Wind in the Willows - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1997: Fierce Creatures - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1997: Full Circle with Michael Palin - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 1999: Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure - Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 2002: Sahara with Michael Palin - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 2004: Himalaya with Michael Palin - IMDb Entry | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia

• 2006: Publishes Diaries, 1969-1979: The Python Years

• 2007: Michael Palin's New Europe - IMDb Listing | Rotten Tomatoes Reviews | Wikipedia