Eric Idle


Born 29 March 1943 in South Shields, County Durham
Education: Royal School, Wolverhampton and Cambridge
Utterly useless fact: A talented singer, best known for The Rutles movie, which he didn't actually sing in.

By all accounts, Idle had a tough childhood. His father was killed in a car crash, on Christmas Eve, when Eric was only two years old. He was educated behind the harsh walls of the Royal School Wolverhampton, a tough boardinghouse and semi-orphanage. Eric stayed there for twelve years, until he was seventeen, keeping up his spirits with secret night swimming parties with girls from the adjoining school. He then decided to try for Cambridge.

The last Python to attend Cambridge, Eric Idle demonstrated a complete obsession with words. And sex, but but words were more important to his comedy career. Eric was and is a master wordsmith - his talent for verbal humor is remarkable. In 1965, Idle was elected President of the Footlights, where he wrote, directed and performed in numerous productions and was instrumental in changing the no-woman rule. He wrote for the David Frost programs, which gave him ammunition to spoof Frost later in his life. He was an extra on At Last the 1948 Show, starring John Cleese and Graham Chapman. He starred in and wrote for the children's series Do Not Adjust Your Set, with Michael Palin and Terry Jones. He then joined the Python team.

Eric was usually on his own when writing for Python. John Cleese and Graham Chapman were a writing partnership, and so were Michael Palin and Terry Jones. Eric had no partner to laugh at his jokes, so in writing meetings he often had to push harder to get his material into the shows. This may have left him with a lot of sketches he wrote for Python but which were never used ... and may explain why, when the Flying Circus TV series ended, Eric became incredibly prolific as a sketch comedy writer, creating his own series and films. He began by hosting his own radio program on BBC1, entitled Radio Five (there were only four BBC radio stations at the time), presenting sketches inbetween songs.

In 1975 he created the classic sketch comedy series Rutland Weekend Television. Eric wrote and starred in fourteen episodes. On a very low budget and with no laugh track, the sketches he wrote were as good as any he wrote for Python. His wife Lyn Ashley often appeared on the show in the first series (as well as on Python and Radio Five), but they divorced before the second series of Rutland. For the second series of Rutland Weekend Television, he and Neil Innes created an alternate-universe version of the Beatles, The Rutles. After several appearances on "Saturday Night Live", Lorne Michaels asked Eric to create a TV movie, which became "The Rutles: All You Need is Cash." The film stars Idle and Innes. Some consider this the high point of Idle's non-Python career. Idle also wrote "The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book" during this period, and released a comedy album, "The Rutland Weekend Songbook." Neil Innes has recorded two Rutles albums, in 1978 and 1997 - however, Eric doesn't sing on the albums.

Idle was also instrumental in creating the Python record albums, and the Python books. His writing style is unmistakable in the Python books as well as in the Rutland Weekend book and record album. He also contributed much more than the other Pythons to the Python computer games by 7th level (Complete Waste of Time, Holy Grail and The Meaning of Life) - his voice runs through all of them.

Idle has continued to act, appearing in "Nuns on the Run," "Splitting Heirs," "Casper" and Terry Gilliam's classic "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," as well as a shortlived American sitcom, "Nearly Departed." He also appeared in later seasons of the unfortunately long-lived American sitcom "Suddenly Susan." However, he claims to prefer writing to acting, and has several film and television scripts in the works. His second novel, "The Road to Mars" was released in 1999. His first novel, "Hello Sailor," is out of print. He has released his own comedy CDs, such as "The Rutland Isles." He has gone on several American stage tours, including "Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python" and "The Greedy Bastard Tour."

Idle and his second wife, ex-model Tania Kosevich, live in San Fernando Valley, California. They have a daughter, Lily, born in 1990. Idle also has a son, Carey, born in 1973, from his first marriage to Australian actress Lyn Ashley.



Eric Idle scripts:



The following article was written by Mr. Cleese around the time of the Life of Brian shoot.

JOHN CLEESE WRITES:

WHETHER HE'S sitting by his caravan, rehearsing in front of camera, or just getting himself another cup of tea, you can bet everyone on set is keeping one eye on ERIC "ERIC" IDLE. "You never know what he's going to do next," explains ëLife of Brianí colleague John Cleese, "one moment heís reading a newspaper, the next heíll be swatting flies with it." Well, thereís a joker in every pack, and the Python pack, as Kevin Bacall once referred to them, is no exception. The story goes that during the first week in Tunisia Idle was sitting in an Arab restaurant one evening, minding his own business, when a waiter spilled some soup on him. "Before any of us could react," recalls Producer John Goldstone, "he just picked up the soup, called the manager over, and complained." One of the Pythons recalls the time when Idle finished a scene and promptly took a nap. "When he feels like doing something he just goes ahead and does it," laughs Terry Vance Gilliam, shaking his head ruefully.

Word has it that when heís based in London "Eric" Idle likes nothing more than to leave his house early some mornings, buy a newspaper, and read it over breakfast. "He likes to keep people on their toes," explains Director Terry Jones III, "or maybe itís just his way of cocking a snook at the whole crazy world."

Michael "Chunky" Palin, no slouch at clowning himself, remembers the day at Gabez when "Eric", as they all call him, had two glasses of milk at lunch.

Why? "Nobodyís quite worked him out," admits former doctor, ex-medic, previous-physician Graham "Ex-doc" Chapman, "but I think he just needs to kick over the traces now and again." Adds Director Jones III, "Once, after filming, he went off for a walk. The trouble is that if anyone else did something 1ike that, people wouldn't think it odd. But "Eric" has got himself a bit of a reputation for oddball behaviour and so people are sort of looking for it."

And "Eric"? "It's just a name my mother gave me," explains "Eric", "and it just somehow stuck."



TERRY GILLIAM: Eric and I stay very close because we were the ones that worked on our own during the show. The others, Mike and Terry, worked together, and John and Graham worked together, but Eric did his things and I did my things, so there is a bond between Eric and me. Also, Eric is the most American of the group. [laughter]

INTERVIEWER: He's got a pretty thick English accent. How do you mean that?

GILLIAM: [giggles] I think he's the most keen on success. He's drawn to it. He likes the flash and glamour of America.

INTERVIEWER: He even did an American sitcom.

GILLIAM: Well, that's it. That's why he's the most American. [giggles]



Eric Idle: "That's why Python isn't like this huge thing that comes out of nowhere, it's this froth of ongoing shows, a bubble that got bigger, where everything else isn't remembered so well, often for historical reasons like we were in colour, which was a huge leap. I think six weeks earlier and we wouldn't have been in colour. That was an extraordinarily lucky thing, otherwise we'd have looked as dated as I Love Lucy or something."

Eric Idle: "Everybody was mad, but in a slightly different way, each had his own element of madness. But together we made this perfectly mad person."

Eric Idle: "...and I think that what was brave about it is we didn't know what we wanted to do, we just knew what we wanted to avoid. And that's a good way to start, if you just avoid and cut out anything that's familiar and anything that's a bit hackneyed or been done. I think for awhile that was very, very creative. It was a good format and it was an instructive way to be and I think it had about the right length of life to it."

Eric Idle: "I remember being hysterical with laughter because it was so funny. It was just so funny when [the audience] don't laugh. I think that's almost the funniest thing in comedy, when you do something and they don't laugh. It's just hilarious."

Eric Idle: "...[T]here's always something on Python that makes it unpleasant. I think the unpleasantness is part of the comedy. If you're really hurting, it's funny."

Eric Idle: "Grail's very much a series of sketches but, because we'd worked on it and put a through-line, you don't notice that so much. I think it's more obvious in The Meaning of Life because you keep coming back to the captions and it keeps starting another thing that seems like a sketch. I just kick myself and think, 'We were so fucking close.' Nothing's ever wrong; there's no such thing as a bad work, just unfinished work."



ERIC IDLE WRITES:

ERIC IDLE was the nicest of the six members of Monty Python. He was born in the North of England... well, when I say 'the nicest' he wasn't absolutely the nicest. Michael Palin is generally recognised as being the nicest. Actually, Terry Jones is pretty nice too and certainly he's very nice at parties. It's probably fair to say that he is at least as nice as Michael Palin at parties. Come to think of it, Terry Gilliam can be fairly nice as well. Especially abroad. In fact he is super nice abroad. Perhaps almost too nice. That Graham Chapman was a nice man and even John Cleese is a lot nicer than he used to be. In fact, I'd stick my neck out and say that nowadays John Cleese is probably amongst the nicest of them all. So.

ERIC IDLE is the sixth nicest member of the old Monty Python group. He was born in the North of England... what's so great about being nice anyway? Many fine people have lived richly fulfilling lives without having to worry about being nice. Nobody said Mozart was "nice." They didn't say "I loved Shakespeare's Hamlet, but what a nice guy he is!" In fact many great artists weren't very nice at all... I forget my point. Oh yes, my point is - so what if I wasn't the nicest? It doesn't mean I didn't have a lovely life with a wonderful wife and a loving son and daughter. It doesn't mean my puppy doesn't love me. It doesn't mean I didn't have any friends. You see? Actually, I didn't have many friends. But the friends I did have thought I was nice. Well, not "nice" nice. But nice enough to have as a friend. I expect. Let's just agree to leave the nice thing to one side.

ERIC IDLE, while not being necessarily the nicest of the Monty Python group, was born in the North of England during World War Two. He went to a not particularly nice boarding school in Wolverhampton from the age of seven. That's not going to make you very nice, is it? He attended Nice College, Cambridge... oh all right, Pembroke College, Cambridge... and became President of the Footlights (just like Peter Cook, and no one ever accused him of being nice, did they? He'd have laughed in their faces if they had. "Don't you call me nice, you daft old git!" he'd have said, in that funny voice, and he'd have been absolutely right.)

ERIC IDLE was born in the North of England and etc etc Cambridge. During the sixties and early seventies he was occasionally mistaken for Peter Cook. He now lives in California and is occasionally mistaken for Gene Wilder. He is still not particularly nice.



Interview by Kim Howard Johnson

[About Rutland Weekend Television and Radio Five]

"I'd done a radio show somewhere in the middle of Python," says Idle. "There were four radio stations in England, so I did a show called Radio Five. Now there is a Radio Five, but in those days that was a joke. I used to come on to Radio One, which was the pop music station, about as hip as Dick Clark, and do an hour's show a week. I had lots of different voices which I'd prerecord, with rock music playing inbetween. It would take me hours - it would take me ten hours to record one hour's worth of material, because I had to play all of the voices, and in those days the technology was really primitive, and we didn't have anything like dubbing. If you were doing both voices in a sketch, you had to lay all that voice down and time yourself back and forth."

"That was what sort of set me thinking about independent stations. So, Rutland Weekend Television seemed to be a good takeoff on it. Rutland Weekend Television was actually a title suggested by John Cleese. I paid him a pound for it. I'd been doing one or two appearances on what was called Up Sunday, a late-night Sunday satire show on BBC-2, which was put on not by the Light Entertainment Department but by Presentation, which would just make announcements and say 'Here on BBC-2 ...'"

"We did the only comedy show Presentation's ever done, and we did it in a tiny little studio about the size of the weather forecast studio next door on the fourth floor of the BBC. We did a series for about 30,000 quid." Idle laughs. "It shows a bit, but it's really very ingenious if you know how little was spent on it. We'd run on tape, there was never an audience participating. Some really very respectable sketches."

"The second series was slightly difficult - We went back and discovered that they'd put us in a studio in Bristol! Neil Innes would do a song or two a week, and he'd be in the sketches. It was pretending to be a TV station, and we had dramas and documentaries. It seems to have gotten quite a cult following now. I hear about it more and more these days, but because there was no audience laughter, I never quite new how funny it was, I could never tell, and now there's all these pressures to rerelease it."

Unlike Fawlty Towers or Ripping Yarns, Rutland Weekend Television was never shown on American television or available on videocassette.

"It's never run in the states because I always had the American rights," he explains. "They wouldn't pay me any money, so I insisted I had the American rights, and I wouldn't let them use it."

Between the two series, Idle did a Christmas with Rutland Weekend Television special that featured a friend he had made earlier in the year - George Harrison.

"There's a terrific gag in that Christmas speical. We had a wonderful time, we'd never been so legless doing that show. We were pissed through most of it. It's not that funny a show, but there's a wonderful moment where I keep trying to say 'Our special guest, George Harrison,' and he keeps saying no, he wants to sing a pirate song. 'No, no, we want you to be George Harrison, come on,' and so right at the end of the show, 'And now, ladies and gentlemen, George Harrison,' and he comes on with his white things, his Bangladesh robes, and plays [intro to My Sweet Lord] [sings[ 'I want to be a pirate, a pirate's life for me, all my friends are pirates and we sail the BBC. I've got a Jolly Roger, it's black and wide and vast, so get out of your skull and crossbones and I'll run it up your mast,' and we go 'Stop, stop!'"

"I'm glad to say that's an Idle-Harrison composition and it's actually in Songs by George Harrison, the illustrated book. 'The Pirate Song." It's a very funny gag, because you just do not expect him to launch into - he looks so good, you know, he looks the same, with the full band and everything. It's a very good gag ..."

"When I was doing Rutland, I directed virtually everything. I mean, I was in charge of everything. I'd say 'Put the camera over here,' and I used to have to edit it all. There were people helping in the studio and all that thing, but the responsibility of what's on was mine, and I had the pressure of all that."

[About the video for his post-Rutles song "Ging Gang Goolie," recorded with Rikki Fataar as "Dirk and Stig":]

"We shot at Ringo's, which used to be Lennon's old house at Tittenhurst. We had everybody dressed up as Boy Scouts, and all the girls were wearing Brownie costumes with suspender belts - garter belts to you. Nowadays that would be sexism. Then it was just sex. It was great. The guys said it was the best day's filming they'd ever had," Idle recalls with a laugh. "That one was for Ringo Records."






I Like Chinese: A MIDI by Steve Hull (STHMID@aol.com)
The Galaxy Song: A MIDI by Steve Hull (STHMID@aol.com)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A MIDI by U. Thielk

On September 5, 1996, Eric Idle was featured in the Celebrity Circle Live Chat on America Online. Here is the full transcript from the event.



THE PYTHONET POLL #1
Question: Who's your favorite Rutle?
ÝPoll results (43 votes)
ÝVotes Response
40%
| 		Nasty
14%
| 		Stig
19%
| 		Dirk
9%
| 		Barry
19%
| 		Leppo






Rutland Weekend Television Episode 202
"Rutland 5-O"
(95.2 MB, Realplayer)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely seen post-Python sketch comedy series Rutland Weekend Television. Hosted by Fatso, Neil Innes' backing group, who sing their way through the episode. Eric worries sheep, Neil sings "Topless A-Go-Go" and spoofs Elton John with "Godfrey Daniel," and "Expose" looks at sordid car-key-swapping parties. Finally, we enjoy an extended episode of the hard-boiled, tough-as-nails detective drama "Rutland 5-O." And Gwen Taylor swears. Written by Eric Idle, music by Neil Innes. With David Battley, Gwen Taylor, Bunny May, and Fatso (John Halsey, Billy Bremner, Roger Rettig and Brian Hodgson).



Eric Idle hosts A&E's Biography
(Intro to the episode, 501 KB)
(outro to the episode, with a commercial by Eric, 1.07 MB)

When it came time for U.S. cable channel A&E to do a profile on Monty Python for their series Biography, they chose the perfect guest host - Eric Idle, who contributed a brief intro and outro not seen since - here they are. The program was actually not a normal episode of Biography, but simply a bunch of edited highlights from BBC2's wonderful 1999 30th year reunion special. A&E released the uncut special as a "Life of Python" three-tape boxed set (not to be confused with the book of the same name by George Perry, or the hourlong special of the same title done ten years earlier in 1989). A good set, worth picking up. Anyway, here's the intro and outro by Eric, not used on the video release.



The Wind in the Willows
Messing About on the River
(14.4MB)
A clip from Terry Jones' lovely film adaptation of the classic children's book The Wind in the Willows. The film stars the Pythons (Eric Idle, Terry Jones, with Michael Palin and John Cleese), and Steve Coogan. In this clip, Ratty (Idle) sings, and takes Mole (Coogan) for a relaxing boat ride along the river. They then meet up with Mr. Toad (Jones) at Toad Hall. This clip is edited slightly for online viewing. The film was released in America under the title "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."



Life of Brian deleted scene: Otto
(18.2 MB, Quicktime)

My favorite deleted scene from "Life of Brian" is a controversial scene starring Eric Idle as Otto, leader of the Judean People's Front crack suicide squad. A religious madman, he is a daft, Hitleresque fool. The irony of a Jewish Hitler was too good for the Pythons to resist! The scene was deleted from the final film, supposedly because it held up the flow of the film. A pity as it's quite funny, and certainly offensive in some interesting ways. It's available on the Criterion Life of Brian DVD, along with many other deleted scenes and goodies, so buy it ...



Rutland Weekend Television Episode 206
"Rutland Weekend is Innocent"
(93 MB, Divx - visit Divx.com)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely seen post-Python series Rutland Weekend Television. Episode hosted by Henry Woolf. Cower in fear at the terror of The Masked Accountant (Eric Idle)! Thrill to the exciting adventures of The Lone Accountant and Tonto (Eric Idle and Neil Innes)! Shield your ears as Eric Idle sings about wife-swapping, and Neil sings "Drama on a Saturday Night." And be very afraid as the writer of the show suddenly turns on his characters. Written by Eric Idle, music by Neil Innes. With David Battley, Gwen Taylor, Terence Bayler, Henry Woolf, Maggie Henderson and Fatso.



The Rutles: All You Need is Cash Clip
(19 MB, Quicktime)

Hopefully you've all seen this movie. If you haven't, see it. Here's a clip from it. In 1978, Eric Idle and Neil Innes created The Rutles - an alternate-universe version of the Beatles. Neil wrote the dead-on Beatley songs, and Eric wrote a very funny script which honors the Beatles even as it makes jokes as their expense. Certainly a highlight of Eric's career. This is the opening sequence to the film, from the recent (rather good) DVD.



The Rutles 2002
DVD Promo with Deleted Scenes and Rutles 2 Preview
(17 MB, Quicktime)

In 2002, Eric Idle revisited the Rutles. The film was remastered and reedited with new footage for the DVD. And Eric shot a new documentary, entitled "Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch," in which he shows unused footage from the original film, and interviews a whole lot of celebrities (David Bowie, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks) about their own Rutle memories. "Rutles 2" is a very funny film, and would make an ideal second disc in a Rutles box set. Sadly, it is still unreleased. Anyway, I've edited some footage from the Rutles DVD together, as a sort of tribute to the 2002 remastering. Some of this footage appears in Rutles 2. Here's footage of Eric in 2002, on the set of Rutles 2, introducing the DVD. There's a deleted song from the original film - "Blue Suede Schubert", and an extended version of "Number One" that's been edited back into the film. Enjoy.



Rutland Weekend Television Episode 207
"Showtime at Rutland Weekend"
(96 MB, Realplayer)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely seen post-Python sketch comedy series Rutland Weekend Television. This is the final episode of Rutland Weekend ever. After a discussion about what words you can't say on television, Terence Bayler hosts a revue of sketches and music. Neil Innes sings "Slaves of Freedom," Neil and Gwen Taylor sing "Janitor's Kids," Eric sings "Smoke of Autumn Bonfires" and "Rover the Drover," and everyone sings "It's Hard to Make it When You're Straight." Also, The David Frost Show Again, The Return of the Pink Panzer, angels go on strike (and Neil sings "Fallen Arch Angel), and Rutlanders compete in the World's Most Boring Man competition, as Rutland Weekend goes off the air. Written by Eric Idle, music by Neil Innes. With David Battley, Gwen Taylor, Terence Bayler, Bunny May, Carinthia West and Fatso.



Rutland Weekend Television Episode 203
"Collier Rides Again"
(105 MB DivX AVI - visit Divx.com)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely seen post-Python sketch comedy series Rutland Weekend Television. Corporal Collier (David Battley), a character from a minor sketch in show 1.3 ("Army Religions"), returns to host this show. Neil Innes sings "I Give Myself to You" and "Crystal Balls", and sketches include "A Voyage Into James Burke," "Uri Geller Bending," "Husband and Wife," "Another Prison Sketch," and "Another Restaurant Sketch." Starring David Battley, Eric Idle, Neil Innes, Gwen Taylor, Henry Woolf, Terence Bayler, Carinthia West and Fatso.



Little Videos from Rutland Weekend Television (Post-Python Eric Idle series):

[thumb]Children of Rock and Roll, sung by Neil Innes as Ron Lennon. 560k.
[thumb]Lie Down and Be Counted, sung by Neil Innes. 2.6 MB
[thumb]Star of the Sexy Movies. Sung by Neil Innes, written by Eric Idle. 2.4 MB.
[thumb]Communist Cooking. Learn how to cook eggs with Joseph Stalin. 552k.
[thumb]Cramp Bottom. Visit the palatial home of poet Mungo Wright. 2.9MB.
[thumb]I'm a Cretin. A proud David Battley joins the Cretin Club. 1.6MB.
[thumb]Stan Fitch, The First All-Dead Singer. Andy Roberts gives us some music from way beyond the grave. From "Whistle Test." 1 MB.
[thumb]The Little Man From the Off-License. An innocent man gets blamed for everything that ever went wrong in the history of everything ever. 1.5 MB.
[thumb]Religion Today. A Total Bastard and a Bishop hijack the show "Religion Today." Here are their demands. 1.3 MB.



Rutland Weekend Television Episode 2.4 - Sprimpo
(16 MB)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely-seen post-Python series, Rutland Weekend Television. This is probably my favorite episode of RWT, due to bits like "Sprimpo," "24 Hours in Tunbridge Wells" and Eric's rant at the end. With David Battley, Henry Woolf, Gwen Taylor, and musicman Neil Innes. Visit our Rutland Weekend Page. More episodes below.



Rutland Weekend Television - Episode 1.5 - Rain in Hendon
(30.7 MB)
Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely-seen post-Python series, Rutland Weekend Television. Not the best of the first-series episodes, but with the all-time classic "Electric Shop" sketch, Neil's song "Frontloader," and a lot of running gags, you can't go wrong. With musicman Neil Innes, David Battley, Henry Woolf, hostess Wanda Ventham, and Lyn Ashley (the then-Mrs. Idle). Visit our Rutland Weekend Page.



Rutland Weekend Television Episode 205
"Tony Bilbow Theatre"
(96 MB, Realplayer)

Sketches from Eric Idle's classic, rarely seen post-Python sketch comedy series Rutland Weekend Television. BBC2 presenter Tony Bilbow (who had a cameo in series 1 show 3) appears as himself in this episode, becoming Rutland Weekend's first international superstar! We hear the "Song O' the Insurance Men" and an "Accountancy Shanty" (not the same one as in Monty Python's Meaning of Life). Neil Innes, as the singing gynecologist, sings "Another Lonely Man," and takes a dangerous and silly trip to Germany. Meanwhile, unscrupulous insurance men prey on the weak of mind, and Tony Bilbow develops a sex problem. Written by Eric Idle, music by Neil Innes. With Tony Bilbow, David Battley, Gwen Taylor, Henry Woolf, Carinthia West and Fatso.



Rutles Deleted Scene: "Brian Thigh commits suicide"
(4 MB, Realplayer)

A scene deleted from Eric Idle's film "The Rutles: All You Need is Cash." Dan Aykroyd plays the man who turned down The Rutles. In the normal version of the film, Eric asks him "What's it like to be such an asshole?" But when the film originally aired on NBC in 1976, Eric couldn't say that word on television, so a much longer version of the scene was shot, with a new punchline. Eric and Dan Aykroyd both appear to be on the verge of laughing the whole time! This clip aired on TV in 1978. It appears on the DVD release in a nice remastered version, but as an easter egg ... highlight Dan Aykroyd on the chapter selection screen, hit right and down, and hit enter.



Eric Idle on Top of the Tops 1991: "Bright Side of Life"
(9 MB)

"Bright Side of Life" was an unexpected hit years after "Life of Brian's" original release, in 1991. So Eric Idle performed the song on the popular UK music program "Top of the Pops." This performance is as cheesy as it gets - fake smoke, neon lights and all. Oh dear.



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Both essays are taken from the official Python site, Pythonline, and are the property of Monty Python and 7th Level, and used with the greatest of respect for all concerned.