Comedy legend Cleese quits acting

JOHN Cleese’s comedy career is no more. It has ceased to be.

Instead, he hopes to inspire a new generation of comics and “teach young talent some rules of the game”.

In an interview published yesterday he admitted that he could “never do better than Fawlty Towers whatever I do”, so had decided to “teach young talent some rules of the game”.

Cleese, 66, will act as a “comedy professor”, holding masterclasses on making people laugh, and is retiring to write a history of comedy for the younger generation.

In an interview with The Times in Britain, he added: “It will cover the greats of silent cinema to Ricky Gervais, who is the height of modern entertainment.

“The thrill I got discovering Buster Keaton when I was growing up was so exciting. He was one of the greats.

“The Marx Brothers and Harold Lloyd will be in there too. But it is very rare today to see someone with that grasp of old-fashioned comedy. The last truly excellent performance I saw was Eddie Izzard. But Ricky Gervais is also a match for the great American sitcoms.”

The Monty Python star said too much television comedy was aimed at American teenagers, with little emphasis on fine acting and writing.

Cleese has been lauded as a comedy genius for his role as hotelier Basil Fawlty in the 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Such is the hold that Basil’s goose-stepping, anti-German attitudes have on the popular psyche that, earlier this year, Cleese joined an appeal to tell England fans heading to the World Cup “Don’t mention the war”.

In a bid to refute stereotypes, he said: “My father fought against the Germans for three-and-a-half years but he held no prejudice afterwards. All the Germans I have ever met have been very nice.”

As well as finding fame with the Monty Python team, Cleese enjoyed Hollywood success playing uptight Englishmen, most notably in A Fish Called Wanda.