Terry Gilliam

Terrence Vance Gilliam ( GIL-ee-əm; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, collage animator, and actor. In a career spanning more than five decades, he has received various accolades including the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement in 2009, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a BAFTA Award. Gilliam started his career as an animator and strip cartoonist. He joined Monty Python as the animator of their works, but eventually became a full member and was given acting roles, gaining stardom as a member of the comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Together they collaborated on the sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) and the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, also co-directed), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983). They received the BAFTA Award in 1988 for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. As Python started to take longer breaks between projects following Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Gilliam became a solo filmmaker; after directing The Crimson Permanent Assurance—to which he was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film—Python effectively ceased working together, and Gilliam pursued his career as a filmmaker. He transitioned to directing serious films with themes exploring imagination and oppositions to bureaucracy and authoritarianism. His films are sometimes set in dystopian worlds and involve black comedy and tragicomedic elements. He has directed thirteen feature films, making his directorial debut with Monty Python and the Holy Grail and his solo directorial debut with Jabberwocky (1977). Gilliam gained breakthrough with Time Bandits (1981) and has since directed more ten films, gaining further acclaim with the next two "Trilogy of Imagination" films—Brazil (1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)—and The Fisher King (1991), the first and last of which earned him nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director respectively. He also directed 12 Monkeys (1995) and other directing credits include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018). Gilliam is the only Monty Python member not born in Britain; he became a naturalised British citizen in 1968 and formally renounced his American citizenship in 2006.

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