 Eric Idle was educated at Cambridge with other Monty Python alumni, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and most of his film work has been involved, as actor, co-writer and composer, with the Python gang. He has, for instance, multiple roles in each of And Now for Something Different (d. Ian MacNaughton, 1971), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (co-d. Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, 1974, as, inter alia, 'Sir Lancelot's Trusty Steed'), Life of Brian (d. Jones, 1979) and The Meaning of Life (d. Jones, 1983). He looks less bizarre than some of the Pythons, but the looks are not to be trusted. In the '90s, he appeared chiefly in US films (e.g., Casper, d. Brad Silberling, 1995) and TV, and was composer on As Good As It Gets (US, d. James L.Brooks, 1997). His first wife (of two, from 1969-75) was actress Lyn Ashley who appeared in several films, including Quest for Love (d. Ralph Thomas, 1971). Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film
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FILM & TV CREDITS
