Monty Python star John Cleese reveals he ‘killed a man’ while working on the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda
- Fawlty Towers star made the comment in the latest episode of GB News series
John Cleese has made a surprising confession. The Fawlty Towers and Monty Python star says a fan died laughing so hard during one of his performances.
“We killed a man,” Cleese says, referring to the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred opposite Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis.
“Kevin Kline and I killed a man in Denmark. He was a dentist and he had a great laugh. A famous smile. Very popular. It was in Aarhus, not a big city, but everyone knew him.
“And he went to Wanda and after about two minutes he started laughing and never stopped.
The Fawlty Towers and Monty Python star, pictured, says a fan died laughing so hard during one of his performances
John Cleese in the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred opposite Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis, pictured, co-starred with John Cleese in the 1988 comedy film
“They carried him out dead, he had had a heart attack.”
The 84-year-old made the comment in the latest episode of his GB News series, The Dinosaur Hour, which airs tomorrow night.
He says many fans over the years have shared moving stories with him about the comfort humor can provide.
“About 10 years ago I realized that making people laugh is more than just making them laugh,” he says. “When you do a Comicon (fan event) or something like that and people come and say, ‘Thank you for making me laugh all these years,’ it brings a tear to my eye.
“Women say something different, they say, ‘Thank you for helping shape my sense of humor.’
‘It’s beautiful, beautiful. Others say: Thank you for helping me through some of the tough times. And you suddenly realize that when people laugh, it helps, it’s not just entertainment.’
Cleese (left) adds: ‘Tom Stoppard, the great playwright, once said something beautiful: “The shortest distance between two people is laughter.” And he’s right.’