ACTOR · BORN 1943
Michael Palin
- Born
- 5 May 1943, Broomhill, Sheffield, England, UK
- Known for
- The Simpsons (1989), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), Brazil (1985)
33 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (33)
- #001
Michael Palin's travels are so well known that he now has his own travel website, "Palin's Travels."
- #002
We have his Python colleague Terry Gilliam to thank for getting Palin to quit smoking. Gilliam was having dinner with Palin and his wife Helen at the Palins' home one evening in April 1969. Michael later discovered he had run out of cigarettes and grew increasingly panicked when he could not find change for the cigarette machine up the road. Half joking, half concerned, Gilliam called Michael an addict, which prompted Michael to refuse himself a cigarette and never buy another pack again.
- #003
Palin's father had a fairly serious stutter. This came in useful when he played Ken, the stuttering thief, in A Fish Called Wanda (1988).
- #004
He graduated from Oxford with a degree in History.
- #005
The Pythons had little idea how fanatical their American audiences had become until they performed their live Monty Python Live shows at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), which were soon immortalised. According to Carol Cleveland, one night as the group came out from backstage, a girl in her twenties ran up to Palin, shouted "Oh, Michael!" and immediately fainted in his arms. Palin was literally speechless, so he had to hand the girl over to others to help.
- #006
The public voted him the best-looking member of the Python group.
- #007
He is an old boy of Shrewsbury School, the highly distinguished and expensive English public school. The section of Monty Python's Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) set in the "Sudbury" school is a nod to his time there.
- #008
He left the Reform Club in London on 25 September 1988 for his Around the World in 80 Days (1989) trip, accompanied by a BBC TV crew.
- #009
He was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honours List for his services to television drama and travel documentaries.
- #010
He was born in the industrial city of Sheffield, the son of an engineer, and is still a supporter of Sheffield United Football Club.
- #011
After Sarah Palin's nomination as John McCain's running mate was announced in the 2008 presidential election, someone made a YouTube video saying the wrong Palin had been chosen. It jokingly proposed Michael Palin as the rightful choice for the nomination, using clips from his films and sketches as evidence.
- #012
He was the one among the Pythons who had the hardest time keeping a straight face during sketches.
- #013
He and Terry Jones contributed to The Frost Report, where they met John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle.
- #014
London, England: publication of his memoir 'Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980-1988'.
- #015
He knew Eric Idle and Terry Jones from university.
- #016
He entered Oxford in 1962 and in '64 was a member of the Oxford Review company, with Terry Jones, when they were spotted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by David Frost.
- #017
While filming Full Circle with Michael Palin (1997), Palin helped a baby crocodile hatch and asked the crew to photograph him holding a crocodile.
- #018
Virgin Super Voyager train number 221 130 was named after him.
- #019
He studied at Brasenose College, Oxford University.
- #020
Palin is the son of Edward and Mary. He has an older sister named Angela.
- #021
While at Birkdale School, he put on improvisational performances.
- #022
His children are Thomas (born 1969), William (born 1971) and Rachel (born 1975).
- #023
In 1965, a friend of a friend asked him to audition as the host of a television pop show, which led to him performing comedy sketches on 'Now'.
- #024
His father was an export manager at a Sheffield steel company.
- #025
He married Helen, whom he met on the Suffolk coast in his youth. They have 3 children: sons Tom and Will and daughter Rachel.
- #026
Although most of his ancestors were English, one of his father's great-grandmothers was Irish.
- #027
He wrote for and acted in the Cambridge Footlights equivalent at Oxford.
- #028
In the 1920s his parents were a society couple, but conditions changed in the '30s; his father became an export manager in Sheffield.
- #029
After leaving Oxford University, he began writing scripts with Terry Jones.
- #030
As well as attending the prestigious Shrewsbury School and later Oxford University, he also attended Birkdale School in Sheffield as a boy.
- #031
He has a sister, Angela.
- #032
Along with John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam, he is a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
- #033
He also wrote two plays with Terry Jones that were staged at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and he shared the lead in the film Jabberwocky, directed by Terry Gilliam.
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