ERIC IDLE
Eric Idle
Born: 29 March 1943 (age 64)
South Shields, County Durham, England (now Tyne and Wear)
Occupation Actor, writer, comedian, musician
Career milestones
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-1969)
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974)
Rutland Weekend Television (1975-1976)
All You Need Is Cash (1978)
Spamalot (2005)
Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and
composer of comedic songs. He wrote and performed as a member of the
internationally renowned British comedy group Monty Python.
Idle was born in South Shields, County Durham (now Tyne and Wear) and in Harton
Village, the son of Nora Barron (Sanderson) and Ernest Idle. His father had
served in the Royal Air Force and survived World War II, only to be killed in a
hitch-hiking accident on Christmas Eve of the first Christmas after the war.
His mother had difficulty coping with a full-time job and raising a child, so
when he was seven, she enrolled him into the Royal Wolverhampton School as a
boarder.
The school had begun life as a Victorian orphanage, and during Idle's time was a
charitable foundation dedicated to the welfare of children who had lost one or
both parents. Its pupils, who were mainly the children of dead English soldiers,
still referred to it as the 'Ophney'.
Idle is quoted as saying: "It was a physically abusive, bullying, harsh
environment for a kid to grow up in. I got used to dealing with groups of boys
and getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny
and subversive at the expense of authority. Perfect training for Python."
Idle stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to
Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and watching the local football team,
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this, he disliked other sports and would sneak
out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema. He was eventually
caught watching the racy film BUtterfield 8 and stripped of his prefecture, even
though by that time he was head boy. Idle had already refused to be senior boy
in the school cadet force, as he supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
and had participated in the yearly Aldermaston March.
Idle maintains that there was little to do at the school and boredom drove him
to study hard. He consequently won a place at Cambridge.
Eric Idle
Born: 29 March 1943 (age 64)
South Shields, County Durham, England (now Tyne and Wear)
Occupation Actor, writer, comedian, musician
Career milestones
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967-1969)
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974)
Rutland Weekend Television (1975-1976)
All You Need Is Cash (1978)
Spamalot (2005)
Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author and
composer of comedic songs. He wrote and performed as a member of the
internationally renowned British comedy group Monty Python.
Idle was born in South Shields, County Durham (now Tyne and Wear) and in Harton
Village, the son of Nora Barron (Sanderson) and Ernest Idle. His father had
served in the Royal Air Force and survived World War II, only to be killed in a
hitch-hiking accident on Christmas Eve of the first Christmas after the war.
His mother had difficulty coping with a full-time job and raising a child, so
when he was seven, she enrolled him into the Royal Wolverhampton School as a
boarder.
The school had begun life as a Victorian orphanage, and during Idle's time was a
charitable foundation dedicated to the welfare of children who had lost one or
both parents. Its pupils, who were mainly the children of dead English soldiers,
still referred to it as the 'Ophney'.
Idle is quoted as saying: "It was a physically abusive, bullying, harsh
environment for a kid to grow up in. I got used to dealing with groups of boys
and getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny
and subversive at the expense of authority. Perfect training for Python."
Idle stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to
Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and watching the local football team,
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this, he disliked other sports and would sneak
out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema. He was eventually
caught watching the racy film BUtterfield 8 and stripped of his prefecture, even
though by that time he was head boy. Idle had already refused to be senior boy
in the school cadet force, as he supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
and had participated in the yearly Aldermaston March.
Idle maintains that there was little to do at the school and boredom drove him
to study hard. He consequently won a place at Cambridge.