Who is Graham Chapman?

Graham Chapman

Graham Arthur Chapman was an English comedian, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He played authority figures such as the Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail and Life of Brian.

Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray. He enjoyed science, acting and comedy, and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman established a writing partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python during the 1970s. Chapman left Britain for Los Angeles in the late 1970s, attempting to be a success on American television, speaking on the college circuit and producing the pirate film Yellowbeard, before returning to Britain in the early 1980s.

Chapman was openly homosexual and a strong supporter of gay rights, and was in a relationship with David Sherlock for most of his adult life. He suffered from alcoholism during his time at Cambridge and the early Python years, quitting shortly before working on Life of Brian. Chapman died of tonsil and spinal cancer on 4 October 1989, on the eve of Monty Python's 20th anniversary, and his life and legacy were commemorated at a private memorial service at St Bartholomew's with the other Pythons.

In 1969, Chapman and Cleese joined the other Pythons including Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Palin for their sketch comedy show Flying Circus. The group's writing was split into well-defined teams, with Chapman collaborating almost exclusively with Cleese. Chapman was particularly keen to remove stereotypical punchlines in sketches and created The Colonel, who would stop them in mid-flow by saying they were "too silly".

Although the pair were officially equal partners, Cleese later thought that Chapman contributed comparatively little in the way of direct writing, saying "he would come in, say something marvellous and then drift off in his own mind." The other Pythons have said that Chapman's biggest contribution in the writing room was an intuition for what was funny. Gilliam later recalled that "Graham would do the nudge that would push it into something extraordinary." The show was an immediate success, and Chapman was delighted to learn that medical students at St Bartholomew's crowded round the television in the bar to watch it. Chapman was frequently late for rehearsing or recording, leading to the other Pythons calling him "the late Graham Chapman".

Chapman's main contribution to the Dead Parrot sketch, derived from the How to Irritate People piece and involving a customer returning a faulty toaster, was "How can we make this madder?" He decided to replace the toaster with a dead Norwegian Blue parrot. Cleese said that he and Chapman believed that "there was something very funny there, if we could find the right context for it". The group felt that Chapman had the best acting skills in the group. Cleese complimented Chapman by saying that he was "particularly a wonderful actor".

Chapman played the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail and Life of Brian. He was chosen to play the lead in Holy Grail because of the group's respect towards his straight acting skills, and because the other members wanted to play lesser, funnier, characters themselves. Chapman did not mind being filmed fully nude in front of a crowd in Life of Brian, but the scene, filmed in Tunisia, caused problems with the female Muslim extras.

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