ACTOR

John Cleese

1939 - Today

Photo of John Cleese

Icon of person John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese ( KLEEZ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of John Cleese has received more than 14,792,087 page views. His biography is available in 66 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 65 in 2019). John Cleese is the 369th most popular actor (down from 349th in 2019), the 487th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 477th in 2019) and the 61st most popular British Actor.

John Cleese is most famous for his role as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers.

Memorability Metrics

  • 15M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.90

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 66

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.50

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.78

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among ACTORS

Among actors, John Cleese ranks 369 out of 13,578. Before him are Kate Winslet, George Peppard, Diana Rigg, Bill Bixby, Juliette Gréco, and Fanny Ardant. After him are Mylène Demongeot, Trevor Howard, Margot Robbie, Frances Farmer, Patrick Stewart, and F. Murray Abraham.

Most Popular Actors in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1939, John Cleese ranks 30. Before him are Sonny Chiba, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, Jackie Stewart, Michèle Mercier, Richard Kiel, and Marie Laforêt. After him are Aníbal Cavaco Silva, F. Murray Abraham, Clay Regazzoni, Ali MacGraw, Tzvetan Todorov, and Jorge Sampaio.

Others Born in 1939

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, John Cleese ranks 487 out of 8,785. Before him are Diana Rigg (1938), Nick Mason (1944), Margot Fonteyn (1919), Joseph Lister (1827), John Smith (1580), and John Dowland (1563). After him are Martin Amis (1949), George Everest (1790), Ernest Thompson Seton (1860), James Callaghan (1912), Thomas Carlyle (1795), and J. Bruce Ismay (1862).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ACTORS In United Kingdom

Among actors born in United Kingdom, John Cleese ranks 61. Before him are David Niven (1910), John Rhys-Davies (1944), Tim Curry (1946), Helena Bonham Carter (1966), Kate Winslet (1975), and Diana Rigg (1938). After him are Trevor Howard (1913), Patrick Stewart (1940), Richard Griffiths (1947), Gerard Butler (1969), Albert Finney (1936), and Tom Wilkinson (1948).

British born Actors

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Television and Movie Roles

Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Second Swallow-Savvy Guard / The Black Knight / Peasant 3 / Sir Launcelot the Brave / Taunting French Guard / Tim the Enchanter
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".
Mar 14o 19757.802 / 10
Life of Brian
Wise Man #1 / Reg / Jewish Official / First Centurion / Deadly Dirk / Arthur
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.
Aug 17o 19797.8 / 10
Shrek 2
King Harold (voice)
Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's mother and father, the Queen and King. But not everyone is happily ever after. Shrek and the King find it difficult to get along, and there's tension in the marriage. The Fairy Godmother discovers that Fiona has married Shrek instead of her son Prince Charming and plots to destroy their marriage.
May 19o 20047.3 / 10