Terry Jones

February 1, 1942 -

Early Life: Terry was born February 1, 1942, in Colwyn Bay, North Wales.  He is the second son of a bank clerk, the first child being his older brother, Nigel who was born two years earlier. From a very early age he showed interest in writing and originally wanted to pursue an academic career.

Education: He attended the Church of England Primary School, Royal Grammer School at Guildford, St. Edmund Hall Colleg, and Oxford University, where he was an English major.  It was here at Oxford where Terry became involved in the Experimental Theatre Club and met future Python, Michael Palin.

Marriages and etc: In 1970 Terry married Alison Telfer, a biochemist specialising in photosnthesis.  They had two children: a daughter, Sally, and a son, Bill.

Pre-Python Career: As did all the British Pythons, Terry originally did work for The Frost Report.  He did not perform for the show, except occasionally as an extra; he and Palin wrote some sketches and jokes for the show.  After that Jones, Palin, Idle and Gilliam worked on a children's show called Do Not Adjust Your Set.  This show aired in the early evening, and so many adults turned it on as they got home from work and it subsiquently got quite the cult adult following.  The show lasted for two seasons and even got to do a Christmas special: Do Not Adjust Your Stocking.  Jones and Palin, who were both very interested in history, next did a show for London Weekend Television called The Complete and Utter History of Britain, which only lasted six episodes.

Notable Sketches and Characters:  Jones's Python fame spouts from two main characters: the excitable Welshman (just being himself) and the Pepperpot.  "Terry made those Pepperpots his own; he was superb at those," says Michael Palin.  And he was right.   

Other very memorable characters included Mr. Hilton, the Whizzo Chocolate man: "We use only the finest baby frogs, dew-picked and flown from Iraq, clensed in the finest quality spring water, lightly killed, and sealed in a succulent, Swiss, quintuple-smooth, treble-milk chocolate envelope and lovingly frosted with glucose." 

Terry also played the victim of the Nudge Nudge man, Sir Bedivere, Arthur "Two-Sheds" Jackson, Sgt. Duckie, the man purchasing an Albatross, lots and lots of pepperpots including the Spam Sketch waitress, and who can forget his role as Karl Gambolputy von Ausfern Schlenden Schlepended Schlitter Crasscrenbon Fried Digger DIngle Dangle Dongle Dungle Burstein von Knackerthrasher Applebanger Horowitz Ticolensic Grander Knotty Spelltinkle [etc etc.........] of Ulm.