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Eric Idle - Nudge Nudge
Eric Idle is the sixth nicest member of the old Monty Python group. He was born in the North of England what's so great about being nice anyway? Many fine people have lived richly fulfilling lives without having to worry about being nice. Nobody said Mozart was "nice." They didn't say "I loved Shakespeare's Hamlet but what a nice guy he is." In fact many great artists weren't very nice at all. I forget my point.
Oh yes, my point is - so what if I wasn't the nicest? It doesn't mean I didn't have a lovely life with a wonderful wife and a loving son and daughter. It doesn't mean my puppy doesn't love me. It doesn't mean I didn't have any friends. You see. Actually I didn't have many friends. But the friends I did have thought I was nice. Well not "nice" nice. But nice enough to have as a friend. I expect....
"Nudge nudge, know what I mean, say no more"
Complements of PythonOnline.com
Eric Idle at a Glance
Exerpts from Wikipedia
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.
Early life
Idle was born in South Shields, Tyne and Wear (then County Durham) and in Harton Village. His father had served in the Royal Air Force and survived World War II, only to be killed in a hitch-hiking accident shortly afterwards. 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."
How did Idle meet the other members of Monty Python?
Idle attended Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he studied English. At Pembroke, he was invited to join the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club. When Idle joined the Footlights Club, the other members included John Cleese and Graham Chapman, who were also attending the University of Cambridge.
Idle later appeared in the children's television comedy series "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with Terry Jones and Michael Palin (who were both former University of Oxford students). Terry Gilliam provided animations for the show.
Unlike the other Pythons, who wrote in pairs (Cleese/Chapman and Palin/Jones), Idle wrote alone. His work was often closely associated with long, complex speeches [see the intro to this lens] or catchy one-liners. Among the many Python sketches written by Idle is "Nudge Nudge", the title of which has become a catchphrase.
Eric Idle Books!
After Python
After Monty Python ceased to be a regularly active ensemble in the mid-1970s, all six members pursued solo projects.On television, Idle gave the world Rutland Weekend Television (RWT), a sketch show on BBC2, written by Idle, with music by Neil Innes. RWT was 'Britain's smallest television network'. The name was a parody of London Weekend Television, the independent television franchise that provided Londoners with their ITV services at weekends.
A legacy of RWT was the creation, with Innes, of The Rutles, an affectionate parody of The Beatles. The band became a popular phenomenon, especially in the USA where Idle was appearing on Saturday Night Live - fans would send in Beatles LPs with their sleeves altered to show the Rutles. In 1978 the Rutles' mockumentary film All You Need Is Cash, a collaboration between Python members and Saturday Night Live, was aired on NBC television, as written by Idle, with music by Innes. Idle appeared in the film as "Dirk McQuickly" (the Paul McCartney-styled character of the group), as well as the main commentator. Actors appearing in the film included Saturday Night Live's John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner, as well as George Harrison and Mick Jagger.
Idle received good critical notices appearing in projects written and directed by others - such as Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989), alongside Robbie Coltrane in Nuns on the Run (1990) and in Casper (1995). He also played Ratty in Terry Jones' version of the The Wind in the Willows (1996). However, his own creative projects - such as the movie Splitting Heirs (1993), a comedy he wrote, starred in and executive-produced - were mostly unsuccessful with critics and audiences.
Idle has recently provided his voice acting for Shrek the Third as "Merlin". The film reunites Idle with Python alumnus John Cleese.
Idle wrote the book and lyrics and co-wrote the music for Spamalot which opened on Broadway in 2005.
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h@l wrote
I recently translated the Penis Song to German and would like Eric to hear abot it - he might have use for it someday ;-)
Any idea how to reach him oder a representative?
(hal @ havas. at)
Posted April 01, 2009
Dirk McQuickley wrote
Want to find out just what a lovely guy Eric Idle is? Check out this link:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010531153921/http://home.earthlink.net/~wyuen/rutlesstory.htm
Posted March 12, 2009
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