Graham Chapman

Acting

Graham Chapman

Born 1941-01-08 · Leicester, Leicestershire, England

Graham Arthur Chapman (January 8, 1941 – October 4, 1989) was an English comedian, physician, writer, and actor and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Brian in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He co-authored and starred in the film Yellowbeard. Chapman was born in Leicester but was raised in nearby Melton Mowbray. After graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian.

Acting credits

Monty Python and the Holy Grail poster
7.8

King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

1975

Life of Brian poster
7.8

Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python's signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian's life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.

Life of Brian

1979

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life poster
7.3

Life's questions are 'answered' in a series of outrageous vignettes, beginning with a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. Then there's the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor. The world's most voracious glutton brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise.

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

1983

Yellowbeard poster
5.6

For years Yellowbeard had looted the Spanish Main, making men eat their lips and swallow their hearts. Caught and convicted for tax evasion, he's sentenced to 20 years in St. Victim's Prison for the Extremely Naughty. In a scheme to confiscate his fabulous treasure, the Royal Navy allows him to escape and follows him, where saucy tarts, lisping demigods and some awful puns and punishments await.

Yellowbeard

1983

And Now for Something Completely Different poster
7.2

A collection of Monty Python's Flying Circus skits from the first two seasons of their British TV series.

And Now for Something Completely Different

1971

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman poster
5.9

John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam pay tribute to their late Monty Python colleague Graham Chapman in this hilarious, 3-D animated adaptation of Chapman's brazenly fictionalized life story.

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

2012

The Philosophers' Football Match poster
10.0

The Philosophers' Football Match is a 1972 comedic sketch by the British surreal comedy group Monty Python, depicting a fictional association football match between teams composed of ancient Greek and modern German philosophers, set during the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich's Olympiastadion.

The Philosophers' Football Match

1972

Euroshow '71: May Day Special poster
10.0

German made-for-TV musical extravaganza starring Monty Python.

Euroshow '71: May Day Special

1971

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl poster
7.4

Monty Python perform many of their greatest sketches at the Hollywood Bowl, including several from pre-Python days.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl

1982

The Magic Christian poster
5.8

Sir Guy Grand, the richest man in the world, adopts a homeless man, Youngman. Together, they set out to prove that anyone--and anything--can be bought.

The Magic Christian

1969

Doctor in Trouble poster
5.0

Dr. Burke is in love with Ophelia but doesn't have time to propose to her as she leaves for a cruise to the Mediterranean. Also on board the cruise ship is an old school chum of Burke's who plays 'Dr.Dare' in a very popular TV series and who women flock to. Burke decides to join the cruise, but is first apprehended as a stowaway, and then becomes the captain's steward. For Burke, trying to talk to Ophelia is a hard enough task, but he meets some funny characters on board, such as a pools winner and a very stubborn captain.

Doctor in Trouble

1970

No artwork available
NR

The 1960's counter culture limped into the 1970s dragging with it a legacy of social confusion, dependency on drugs and promiscuity. In STAGE FRIGHT, shot in Baltimore, the era is satirized in a story of a store-front theatre and its company of diverse, rootless characters.

Stage Fright

1989

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute poster
6.5

Wembley Stadium hosts a concert featuring stars from the fields of music, comedy and film, in celebration of the 70th birthday of imprisoned ANC leader Nelson Mandela. Highlight of the evening is the one hour live performance of Dire Straits feat. Eric Clapton.

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

1988

The Secret Life of Brian poster
7.7

A documentary about the making of the controversial Life of Brian and the surrounding accusations of blasphemy.

The Secret Life of Brian

2007

Life of Python poster
6.3

This BBC documentary tells the history of the Python group, allowing a few glimpses at the works of its predecessors (At Last the 1948 Show, Do Not Adjust Your Sets etc.) and various interviews with the group's members and other associated artists.

Life of Python

1990

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball poster
6.3

Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson’s colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof.

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

1982

What the Pythons Did Next... poster
NR

A look at the careers of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam in the years after Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969).

What the Pythons Did Next...

2007

Pleasure at Her Majesty's poster
7.0

The first of the Amnesty International comedy benefit galas. The title is a play on the phrase at Her Majesty's pleasure (the show was performed at Her Majesty's Theatre, London). This show came to be considered part of the Secret Policeman's Ball series of shows that it inspired, although it pre-dated the first show in the series by three years. The event was organized by a team of three: Monty Python member John Cleese, Amnesty's Assistant Director Peter Luff and Transatlantic Records executive Martin Lewis. It featured the cream of Britain's comedic talent of the era, setting a precedent that would inspire many subsequent Amnesty galas...

Pleasure at Her Majesty's

1976

Hitler: The Comedy Years poster
5.0

A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.

Hitler: The Comedy Years

2007

The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979 poster
7.3

Ten years ago exactly, more or less, give or take a day or two, six young men sat down, or maybe stood, or perhaps some of them just lounged, and wrote the first episode of a new series called Owl Stretching Time. They were called Graham Chapman , John Cleese, Terry Gilliam , Eric Idle,Terry Jones and Michael Palin and later both they and the series became known as Monty Python 's Flying Circus . Today they are the best known British comedy group in the world, famous from Cathay to Kathmandu, from Sydney to Sidcup (except in Japan where the programme is called The Gay Boys' Dragon Show ... say no more). To commemorate their tenth anniversary a BBC team tracked them down in the deserts of Tunisia where they were filming their Life of Brian and almost persuaded them to examine the genesis, the genius and the gender of Monty Python.

The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979

1979

Group Madness poster
9.0

A behind-the-scenes documentary of the making of 1983's Yellowbeard

Group Madness

1983

The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 3 poster
NR

All the best sketches from the third and fourth series of the ground-breaking comedy. Memorable moments include: 'The Finals of the All-England Summarise Proust Competition'; 'Stand and Deliver! It's That Highwayman Dennis Moore'; 'Thrust: A Quite Controversial Look at the World Around Us'; 'Whicker's Island'; and 'The Fifteenth Ideal Loon Competition'. Originally broadcast from 19 October 1972 to 18 January 1973, and 31 October to 5 December 1974.

The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 3

2004

The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 2 poster
9.0

All the best sketches from the second series of the ground-breaking comedy. Memorable moments include: 'It's in the Mind'; 'The New Cooker Sketch'; 'Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition'; and 'The Ministry for Silly Walks'. Originally Broadcast from 15 September to 22 December 1970

The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 2

2004

How to Irritate People poster
6.6

A pre-Monty Python mockumentary, written by and presented by John Cleese, that provides tips on learning how to irritate people.

How to Irritate People

1969

Behind the camera

Monty Python and the Holy Grail poster
7.8

King Arthur, accompanied by his squire, recruits his Knights of the Round Table, including Sir Bedevere the Wise, Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-As-Sir-Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure. On the way, Arthur battles the Black Knight who, despite having had all his limbs chopped off, insists he can still fight. They reach Camelot, but Arthur decides not to enter, as "it is a silly place".

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

1975

Life of Brian poster
7.8

Brian Cohen is an average young Jewish man, but through a series of ridiculous events, he gains a reputation as the Messiah. When he's not dodging his followers or being scolded by his shrill mother, the hapless Brian has to contend with the pompous Pontius Pilate and acronym-obsessed members of a separatist movement. Rife with Monty Python's signature absurdity, the tale finds Brian's life paralleling Biblical lore, albeit with many more laughs.

Life of Brian

1979

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life poster
7.3

Life's questions are 'answered' in a series of outrageous vignettes, beginning with a staid London insurance company which transforms before our eyes into a pirate ship. Then there's the National Health doctors who try to claim a healthy liver from a still-living donor. The world's most voracious glutton brings the art of vomiting to new heights before his spectacular demise.

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

1983

Yellowbeard poster
5.6

For years Yellowbeard had looted the Spanish Main, making men eat their lips and swallow their hearts. Caught and convicted for tax evasion, he's sentenced to 20 years in St. Victim's Prison for the Extremely Naughty. In a scheme to confiscate his fabulous treasure, the Royal Navy allows him to escape and follows him, where saucy tarts, lisping demigods and some awful puns and punishments await.

Yellowbeard

1983

And Now for Something Completely Different poster
7.2

A collection of Monty Python's Flying Circus skits from the first two seasons of their British TV series.

And Now for Something Completely Different

1971

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman poster
5.9

John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam pay tribute to their late Monty Python colleague Graham Chapman in this hilarious, 3-D animated adaptation of Chapman's brazenly fictionalized life story.

A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman

2012

Monty Python Live (Mostly) poster
7.1

Celebrate the last night of the Pythons on the big screen! With John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

Monty Python Live (Mostly)

2014

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl poster
7.4

Monty Python perform many of their greatest sketches at the Hollywood Bowl, including several from pre-Python days.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl

1982

Rentadick poster
4.2

Armitage runs a chemical company that is on the verge of producing a gas that causes temporary disability. Clearly the military want it but it is also sought by a group of Japanese. Both Armitage and Madam Greenfly hire different people in the same detective agency to guard the gas and steal it respectively... confusion, double crosses and hilarity ensue...

Rentadick

1972

How to Irritate People poster
6.6

A pre-Monty Python mockumentary, written by and presented by John Cleese, that provides tips on learning how to irritate people.

How to Irritate People

1969

Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years of Monty Python poster
7.2

Steve Martin presents selected sketches from "Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)". It's the well known sketches, though the parrot sketch is not included. Steve Martin has some funny comments on the Pythons.

Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years of Monty Python

1989

Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python

The Odd Job poster
5.9

Arthur Harris is a happily married man who returns from his job to discover that his wife, Fiona, is leaving him. Devastated he gets really drunk and tries to commit suicide. After a few setbacks and while he is trying to electrocute himself with a lamp, the door bell rings. An odd man in a leather coat asks if there are any odd jobs that he can perform. Arthur hires the man to kill him. The next day his wife returns, but the man he hired is still trying to kill him...

The Odd Job

1978

The Odd Job poster
5.9

Arthur Harris is a happily married man who returns from his job to discover that his wife, Fiona, is leaving him. Devastated he gets really drunk and tries to commit suicide. After a few setbacks and while he is trying to electrocute himself with a lamp, the door bell rings. An odd man in a leather coat asks if there are any odd jobs that he can perform. Arthur hires the man to kill him. The next day his wife returns, but the man he hired is still trying to kill him...

The Odd Job

1978

Jake's Journey poster
7.0

A normal teenager is transported to a Monty Pythonesque medieval fantasy land where an odd, adamant knight takes him on a quest.

Jake's Journey

1988

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer poster
6.0

Fresh-faced young Michael Rimmer worms his way into an opinion poll company and is soon running the place. He uses this as a springboard to get into politics and in the mini-skirted flared-trousered world of 1970 Britain starts to rise through the Tory ranks.

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

1970

Out of the Trees poster
NR

Sketch comedy pilot from Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman.

Out of the Trees

1976

The Great Birds Eye Peas Relaunch 1971 poster
NR

One of the least-known Monty Python rarities is “The Great Birds Eye Peas Relaunch of 1971,” a short advertising film that was made for the Birds Eye company’s internal use.

The Great Birds Eye Peas Relaunch 1971

1971

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins poster
5.0

A septet of satirical vignettes based on the Seven Deadly Sins.

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins

1971

No artwork available
NR

An original illustrated 110 minute recording by The Pythons of their early screenplay in progress.

Life Of Brian Screenplay

2008