John Cleese admits he agreed to Fawlty Towers West End revival for the pay cheque: ‘I want enough money so I don’t fly commercial’
John Cleese has admitted he agreed to the West End production of Fawlty Towers because of the financial security it would give him.
Despite his initial skepticism about revisiting the iconic show after turning down a musical and TV show, the screenwriter ultimately accepted an offer in 2015.
Now, after more than forty years, Fawlty Towers is set to be revived on stage, with John admitting that if it had been a new script, it’s not something he’s excited about, but that it would be a ‘good deal’.
In a candid interview, John, 84, revealed he is doing it for the money so he no longer has to fly economy.
He told The times: ‘But this is about providing something for my thirst, so that I can get a place in the sun. Because I have a problem with the British weather.
John Cleese has admitted he agreed to the West End production of Fawlty Towers because of the financial security it would give him
After more than 40 years, Fawlty Towers is being revived on stage
‘And when there is a crisis, you can throw money at it. That’s the best thing about money.
‘The next phase is to have enough to not have to fly commercially. I’m 6 feet tall and I absolutely hate flying.”
The comments come after it was announced last year that the actor is writing a new television show set in the Caribbean, in which Basil’s daughter, who has worked in hotels all her life, starts a new job and needs the help of her father turns on.
He is also working on a musical and a non-musical version of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, plus another comedy film about cannibalism.
John wrote BBC Two’s Fawlty Towers – which aired for two seasons from 1975 to 1979 – with his ex-wife Connie Booth, 83.
The 12-episode sitcom is based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair, who ran the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and the couple became fascinated by his incredibly rude behaviour.
John was married to Mrs Booth, 83, from 1968 to 1978, after they both met on the comedy circuit while studying drama in New York.
The couple wrote and starred opposite each other in both series of Fawlty Towers, with Mrs Booth playing the chambermaid Polly Sherman – although they divorced before the second series finished and aired.
John Cleese with the cast of the West End show. From right to left: Anna-Jane Casey, John Cleese, Hemi Yeroham, Adam Jackson-Smith and Victoria Fox
John Cleese with the original cast of Fawlty Towers, in the hit BBC sitcom that aired for two seasons from 1975 to 1979
The actor was all smiles as he arrived at the sneak peak of the West End show, wearing blue jeans with dark brown and gray trainers, a plain black t-shirt and a light beige jacket.
John with his ex-wife Connie who played Polly in the original BBC show. The couple divorced in 1978, but there are rumors that Booth will sneak into the West End revival
In 2020, the BBC removed an episode of Fawlty Towers from UKTV due to ‘racial insults’.
Titled The Germans, Cleese’s hotelier upsets a German family with constant references to the Nazis.
Despite the controversy, John confirmed that the new West End production of the classic 1970s sitcom will include the scene in which a delusional Fawlty, suffering from a head injury, continually brings up the Second World War.
It’s been fifty years since the first show was first recorded at the BBC studios in December 1974.