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First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Canongate Books Ltd,
14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE
This digital edition first published in 2015 by Canongate Books
Copyright © 2015 Terry Gilliam
The moral right of the author has been asserted
p. 8, Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote © 2000 Francois Duhamel; p. 10, Ernie Kovacs © Fred Hermansky/NBCUniversal/Getty Images; Sid Caesar © NBC/MBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; p. 25, MAD magazine covers © DC Comics; p. 60, Algonquin Hotel lobby © Barry Winiker via Getty Images; p. 72, sketchbook report © Robert Crumb; p. 102, El Cordobes © Hulton Archive via Getty Images; p. 173, Nude on a Sofa by Francois Boucher, photo © bpk/Bayerische Staatsgemaldesämmlungen; p. 184, Time Bandits © Criterion Collection; p. 196, Terry Gilliam as Little Bo Peep in The Meaning of Life © 1983 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of Universal Studios; p. 218, John Neville and Sarah Polley, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen © 1989 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures; p. 223, three The Adventures of Baron Munchausen images © Sergio Strizzi, courtesy of Contrasto Agency; p. 228, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen cast © 1989 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of Columbia Pictures; p. 248, Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas © Peter Mountain; p. 248, Benicio Del Toro © Peter Mountain; p. 251, Johnny Depp, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote © 2000 Francois Duhamel; pp. 257–9, six The Man Who Killed Don Quixote images © 2000 Francois Duhamel; pp. 260–1, Terry Gilliam, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote © 2005 HanWay Films/Photos by Francois Duhamel; pp. 265–7, five The Brothers Grimm images © 2005 Dimension Films/Photos by Francois Duhamel; pp. 268–9, three Tideland images © 2005 RPC/Photos by Francois Duhamel; p. 272, two Faust images © Tristram Kenton; p. 273, two Cellini images © ENO/Richard Hubert Smith; p. 273, Cellini poster © ENO, illustration by James Straffon; p. 274, Terry Gilliam, The Brothers Grimm © 2005 Dimension Films/Photos by Francois Duhamel; p. 276, Christopher Plummer and Lily Cole, The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus © 2008 Liam Daniels; p. 277, Terry Gilliam and Amy Gilliam © Dave Hogan via Getty Images; pp. 280–1, three Zero Theorem images courtesy of Voltage Pictures; p. 282, Monty Python Live (Mostly) entrance © Ralph Larmann; p. 283, Monty Python Live (Mostly) ‘Spanish Inquisition’ © Dave J. Hogan via Getty Images; p. 284, Monty Python stamp © Royal Mail Group Ltd, 2015; p. 288, Gilliam family © David M. Bennett via Getty Images.
Except where explicitly stated, all images of the members of Monty Python are courtesy of Python (Monty) Pictures Ltd.
The photographs in this book are produced from a variety of sources. As well as images by some of the world’s finest photographers there is artwork recovered from such ephemera as long-lost prints, record covers, magazines and posters. We have done our best to restore them and include them here for historic interest.
All reasonable effort has been made to identify and contact the copyright holders of the images and artwork printed in this publication. Any omissions are inadvertent and any party who believes their copyright has been infringed is invited to contact the publisher, who will be pleased to make any necessary arrangements at the earliest opportunity.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available on
request from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 78211 106 1
eISBN 978 1 78211 107 8
Curation & Project Management: HDG Projects Ltd
Design: gray318
Art direction: Rafaela Romaya
This is not the book that my daughter, Holly, and I intended. The plan was to produce a large, expensive, high-class coffee-table book of my artwork for the Cognoscenti of Fine Art. It would include a choice selection of historical tidbits for those who could read. Unfortunately, once the tape recorder started rolling I couldn’t stop babbling, and we have ended up with something closer to a Grand Theft Auto-biography: a high-speed car chase through my life with lots of skids and crashes, many of the best moments whizzing by in a blur. As a result, I have had to insert handwritten or typed notes to adjust the story, apologise for the egocentric nature of the reminiscences, name the ignored, fill in the glaring gaps, or just try to get control of my story-telling self. The Cognoscenti will have to buy something else for their coffee tables.
Unlike my good friend Michael Palin – who knew where the real pot of gold was buried from the very beginning – I have never bothered to keep a diary and, as my wife Maggie never tires of reminding me, such memory as I do have left is dangerously – if not actionably – selective. On top of this, as the years have passed, more and more of those I’ve relied upon to be custodians of our shared but forgotten experiences – wonderful warm slabs of my life – have been sadly laid out on cold slabs of their own.
It’s in looking back on the lavish gifts of love and creative collaboration which other people – in harness with providence – have continued to recklessly foist on me that I come as close as I am ever likely to get to true humility. And since I haven’t tested the accuracy or otherwise of my alleged memories by cross-checking them with any of my small – and ever-dwindling – number of living friends and relatives, you’ll just have to take my word for it that the account that follows is 100% undisputed objective fact.
ANOTHER WARNING! If you are the type of reader who is looking for cuddly tales of domestic and family bliss, be prepared for disappointment. Those are mine to keep.
CONTENTS
8 Interstellar Overdrive (Take 6)
10 Always Look on the Bright Side of Life