People
Michael Palin
Acting · follow into films and chains
Biography
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his comedic material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", and "The Spanish Inquisition". Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and, most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
Notable films
Where to start
Highlights from credits and KinoChain journeys.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Brazil
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Magic Faraway Tree
Appears in a KinoChain journey
The Death of Stalin
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Time Bandits
Appears in a KinoChain journey
Life of Brian
As Wise Man #3 / Mr. Big Nose / Francis / Mrs. A / Ex-Leper / Announcer / Ben / Pontius Pilate / Boring Prophet / Eddie / Shoe Follower / Nisus Wettus
Arthur Christmas
As Ernie Clicker (voice)
Vanity Fair
As William Makepeace Thackeray
Chains
KinoChain journeys
Public chains that pass through their films — or name them as a bridge.
Breaking the Frame: A Journey Through the Fourth Wall
It began with a gun, a bullet, and an audience leaping out of their seats. When Justus D. Barnes leveled his revolver at the camera in The Great Train Robbery (...
8 films
Anarchy in the UK
From Ealing's sly subversions to Python's surreal dismantling of authority, a journey through the films that taught Britain to laugh at itself.
7 films
Into the Woods We Go
From Enid Blyton's enchanted tree to the haunted forests of world cinema, a journey through the woods where magic, memory, and transformation await.
8 films
20 Home Video Releases Every Film Obsessive Should Own
There was a brief, glorious period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when buying a film on home video felt less like acquiring a product and more like being han...
20 films
Topics
Explore by topic
Related people
Collaborators & neighbours
Acted
The Magic Faraway Tree
2026 · Know All
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
2024 · Self
An Accidental Studio
2019 · Self
Vanity Fair
2018 · William Makepeace Thackeray
The Death of Stalin
2017 · Vyacheslav Molotov
Arthur Christmas
2011 · Ernie Clicker (voice)
Fierce Creatures
1997 · Adrian "Bugsy" Malone
The Wind in the Willows
1996 · The Sun
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
1989 · Self
A Fish Called Wanda
1988 · Ken Pile
Brazil
1985 · Jack Lint
A Private Function
1984 · Gilbert Chilvers
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
1983 · Various Roles
The Missionary
1982 · The Reverend Charles Fortescue
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
1982 · Various Roles
Time Bandits
1981 · Vincent
Life of Brian
1979 · Wise Man #3 / Mr. Big Nose / Francis / Mrs. A / Ex-Leper / Announcer / Ben / Pontius Pilate / Boring Prophet / Eddie / Shoe Follower / Nisus Wettus
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash
1978 · Eric Manchester
Jabberwocky
1977 · Dennis Cooper
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975 · First Swallow-Savvy Guard / Dennis / Peasant 2 / Right Head / Sir Galahad the Pure / Narrator / King of Swamp Castle / Brother Maynard's Brother / Leader of The Knights Who Say NI!
And Now for Something Completely Different
1971 · Gumby / Man with tape recorder / Phrasebook Author / Arthur Pewtey / Second self - defence student / Second Tenant / Lost His Wallet / Shrill Petrol Announcer / Milkman / Ernest Scribbler / Pet shop employee / Lumberjack / Headwaiter Gilberto / Herbert An