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JOHN CLEESE (actor; United Kingdom)

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John Cleese is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and author. Born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, he was educated at Clifton College before studying law at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated in 1963 and first began developing his talent for comedy and performance.

In the late 1960s, Cleese co-founded the legendary comedy troupe Monty Python alongside Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Together, they created the groundbreaking sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus and starred in the classic films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983), all of which remain landmarks of British comedy.

Cleese also co-wrote and starred in the acclaimed sitcom Fawlty Towers (1975–1979) with his then-wife Connie Booth. His portrayal of the eccentric hotel owner Basil Fawlty earned him the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. The series is widely regarded as one of the greatest British television comedies ever produced.

Among his many film credits, Cleese wrote and starred in the hit comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), earning Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe nominations for his work. He later reprised his collaboration with much of the same cast in Fierce Creatures (1997). His extensive filmography also includes Time Bandits (1981), Silverado (1985), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Rat Race (2001), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), and The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008).

Cleese is also well known for his roles in several major film franchises. He portrayed Q in the James Bond films The World Is Not Enough (1999) and Die Another Day (2002), Nearly Headless Nick in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and King Harold in the Shrek film series.

Beyond film and television, Cleese has maintained a strong interest in literature and comics. In 2004, he was credited as co-writer of the DC Comics graphic novel Superman: True Brit, an Elseworlds story imagining what might have happened if Superman's spacecraft had landed in Britain rather than the United States.