Terry Jones, one of the founding members of the Monty Python comedy troupe, has died at 77.
His death after a years-long battle with dementia was confirmed by his agent, the Associated Press reports.
His family released the following statement Wednesday: “We are deeply saddened to have to announce the passing of beloved husband and father, Terry Jones. Terry passed away on the evening of 21 January 2020 at the age of 77 with his wife Anna Soderstrom by his side after a long, extremely brave but always good humored battle with a rare form of dementia, FTD.”
The statement revealed that Jones last days were spent surrounded by “his wife, children, extended family and many close friends have been constantly with Terry as he gently slipped away at his home in North London. We have all lost a kind, funny, warm, creative and truly loving man whose uncompromising individuality, relentless intellect and extraordinary humor has given pleasure to countless millions across six decades.”
Famed for his portrayals of middle-aged housewives with high-pitched voices, it was Jones who screamed, “He’s not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!” in the 1979 comedy “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” which he also directed. That iconic line was twice voted the funniest in film history in UK polls, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Jones in 1979’s “Monty Python’s Life of Brian.”Getty Images
In a 2016 statement to Britain’s film academy, it was announced that Jones suffered from primary progressive aphasia, which erodes the ability to use language, leaving him unable to give interviews.
Jones’ loved ones said they were announcing his death out of a “hope that this disease will one day be eradicated entirely. We ask that our privacy be respected at this sensitive time and give thanks that we lived in the presence of an extraordinarily talented, playful and happy man living a truly authentic life, in his words “Lovingly frosted with glucose.’ ”
The veteran comic, actor and author is survived survived by his wife of seven years, Anna, their daughter Siri, and his children Bill and Sally from a previous marriage to Alison Telfer.
Monty Python star Terry Jones has died at the age of 77, after having lived with dementia, his agent has said.
A statement from his family said: "We have all lost a kind, funny, warm, creative and truly loving man."
Fellow Python Sir Michael Palin described Jones as "one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation".
The Welsh comic actor, writer and director died on Monday, four years after contracting a rare form of dementia known as FTD.
Palin added: "Terry was one of my closest, most valued friends. He was kind, generous, supportive and passionate about living life to the full.
"He was far more than one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation, he was the complete Renaissance comedian - writer, director, presenter, historian, brilliant children's author, and the warmest, most wonderful company you could wish to have."
Farewell, Terry Jones. The great foot has come down to stamp on you. My god what pleasure you gave, what untrammelled joy and delight. What a wonderful talent, heart and mind
Screenwriter Charlie Brooker posted: "RIP the actual genius Terry Jones. Far too many brilliant moments to choose from. Here's one random wafer-thin mint."
Jones appeared in the TV series Monty Python's Flying Circus and their films as a range of characters including "Two Sheds" Jackson, Cardinal Biggles of the Spanish Inquisition and Mr Creosote.
He directed the comedy collective's movie The Holy Grail in 1975 with fellow Python Terry Gilliam, as well as The Meaning Of Life in 1983.
His family's statement added: "Over the past few days his wife, children, extended family and many close friends have been constantly with Terry as he gently slipped away at his home in north London.
"His work with Monty Python, his books, films, television programmes, poems and other work will live on forever, a fitting legacy to a true polymath."
The family thanked Jones' "wonderful medical professionals and carers for making the past few years not only bearable but often joyful".
They said: "We hope that this disease will one day be eradicated entirely. We ask that our privacy be respected at this sensitive time and give thanks that we lived in the presence of an extraordinarily talented, playful and happy man living a truly authentic life, in his words 'Lovingly frosted with glucose.'"
Monty Python star Terry Jones has died at the age of 77, his agent has said.
A statement from his family said: "We are deeply saddened to have to announce the passing of beloved husband and father, Terry Jones.
"Terry passed away on the evening of 21 January 2020 at the age of 77 with his wife Anna Soderstrom by his side after a long, extremely brave but always good humoured battle with a rare form of dementia, FTD.
"Over the past few days his wife, children, extended family and many close friends have been constantly with Terry as he gently slipped away at his home in north London. We have all lost a kind, funny, warm, creative and truly loving man whose uncompromising individuality, relentless intellect and extraordinary humour has given pleasure to countless millions across six decades.
"His work with Monty Python, his books, films, television programmes, poems and other work will live on forever, a fitting legacy to a true polymath.
"We, his wife Anna, children Bill, Sally, Siri and extended family would like to thank Terry's wonderful medical professionals and carers for making the past few years not only bearable but often joyful.
"We hope that this disease will one day be eradicated entirely. We ask that our privacy be respected at this sensitive time and give thanks that we lived in the presence of an extraordinarily talented, playful and happy man living a truly authentic life, in his words 'Lovingly frosted with glucose.'"
Joey Kramer is suing his Aerosmith bandmates, claiming he’s being frozen out of the group.
The drummer says he’s being excluded from playing with Aerosmith at Sunday’s Grammy Awards and at the Recording Academy's Aerosmith tribute show, which will take place on Friday night and see Aerosmith receive the 2020 MusiCares Person Of The Year award.
However, Kramer claims that when he was fully fit and ready to rejoin Aerosmith towards the end of 2019, he was essentially asked to re-audition and demonstrate that he could play at "an appropriate level.”
In a statement, Kramer stresses the legal move “is not about money” with his goal simply to get back behind the kit.
Kramer's statement reads: “Ever since I was 14 years old, I had a set of drumsticks in my hand and a passion to create music. Being prohibited from playing with a band that I have given 50 years of my life to supporting is beyond devastating.
“This is not about money. I am being deprived of the opportunity to be recognised along with my peers for our collective, lifetime contributions to the music industry. Neither the MusiCares’ Person Of The Year Award nor the Grammys’ Lifetime Achievement honours can ever be repeated.
In Aerosmith’s 50-year history, no other band member has ever been subjected to this scrutiny let alone be asked to audition for his own job!
Joey Kramer
“The fact that I would be asked to audition for my own job, demonstrates that I can play at ‘an appropriate level’ and play better than my temporary fill-in with a moving target of made-up standards is both insulting and upsetting.
“Other band members and their lawyers will likely attempt to disparage my playing and claim that I am unable to play the drums right now. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“I did everything they asked – jumped through hoops and made both a recording of playing along solo to a recent live recording of the band – one I had never heard before, and that process was videotaped. But I did it, and I did it well.
“In Aerosmith’s 50-year history, no other band member has ever been subjected to this scrutiny let alone be asked to audition for his own job!”
Kramer adds: “I hope our fans can understand that all I’m trying to do is get back to playing with the band that they love – and that’s Aerosmith with all five original members. The greatest magic and success of Aerosmith happens when all the band’s founding members are together in the house.
“To be removed from my rightful place on stage to celebrate our success – a success that acknowledges my own life’s work – is just plain wrong.”
Steven Tyler and co. have now responded to Kramer’s lawsuit in a statement to People, saying the drummer “has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last six months.”
He has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last six months.
Aerosmith
Aerosmith say: “Joey Kramer is our brother; his wellbeing is of paramount importance to us. However he has not been emotionally and physically able to perform with the band, by his own admission, for the last six months. We have missed him and have encouraged him to rejoin us to play many times but apparently he has not felt ready to do so.
“Joey has now waited until the last moment to accept our invitation, when we unfortunately have no time for necessary rehearsals during Grammys week.
“We would be doing a disservice to him, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse.
“Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events.
“Given his decisions he is unfortunately unable to perform, but of course we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honour.
“We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage.”
Aerosmith are being recognised at the MusiCares ceremony for their “considerable philanthropic efforts over five decades and undeniable impact on American music history.”
Artists including Foo Fighters, Alice Cooper and Gary Clarke Jr, will take to the stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center to perform a selection of Aerosmith’s best-loved songs, led by musical director Greg Phillinganes.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s announcement about taking a “step back” from their royal duties was a shock to many, but Queen Elizabeth signed off on the move, sharing in a statement that she was supportive of their decision. Taking a closer look at the queen’s statements about the matter, one royal expert noticed that she offered subtle clues that she’s in control.
Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth called a special meeting
After Prince Harry and Markle’s bombshell announcement that they’d be leaving the royal family, Queen Elizabeth met with Prince Harry, Prince William, and Prince Charles to discuss Harry and Markle’s future, after which she issued a statement in support of their exit plan.
In the statement, she noted: “My family and I are entirely supportive of Harry and Meghan’s desire to create a new life as a young family.”
She added: “Although we would have preferred them to remain full-time working Members of the Royal Family, we respect and understand their wish to live a more independent life as a family while remaining a valued part of my family.”
Once things were finalized with the Sussexes’ exit, Queen Elizabeth revealed the details of their plan, with some brief remarks about the outcomes of their discussions, including a note that she’s “proud” of Meghan.
In her statement, the queen noted: “Following many months of conversations and more recent discussions, I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved members of my family. I recognise the challenges they have experienced as a result of intense scrutiny over the last two years and support their wish for a more independent life.”
The statement continued: “I want to thank them for all their dedicated work across this country, the Commonwealth and beyond, and am particularly proud of how Meghan has so quickly become one of the family. It is my whole family’s hope that today’s agreement allows them to start building a happy and peaceful new life.”
Her statement “shows who is in control”
The queen’s statement was brief and supportive but certainly shows who’s in charge,” according to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams. Fitzwilliams told Express: “In this statement, the queen shows who is in control. It also underlines the fact that there is no half-way house when you are a working royal.”
Fitzwilliams added: “Harry and Meghan won’t use their titles or perform royal duties but over and above the line drawn here, the queen is showing her displeasure at the way they have behaved despite her emollient words which are so supportive.”
The expert further noted how taking Harry’s military appointments away from someone “who has served in Afghanistan twice emphasizes that the queen feels he has let down the monarchy. The royal family was already reeling from the crisis with Andrew, when Harry released a statement without telling senior royals who had, apparently, been involved in discussions on this for months.”
“The Queen has shown dedication to duty her whole life and
clearly feels let down,” he added.
Kramer (center) with AerosmithPhoto: Tommaso Boddi (Getty Images for Janie’s Fund)
At the Grammys on Sunday, Aerosmith is being presented with the MusiCares Person Of The Year Award, with the band getting to do the usual career-spanning medley performance during the show. Apparently, though, one member of the band won’t be joining the rest of the group, with TMZ reporting that drummer Joey Kramer is actually suing Aerosmith for not letting him play at the Grammys. Kramer has apparently been on leave from the band since early last year after suffering some kind of injury that impacted his drumming, and while he says he was ready to get back to playing in the fall, the other Aerosmith members supposedly forced him to “audition” to get back in by playing along to a “click track” that they would listen to later—in other words, they wouldn’t even play with him in person.
Kramer eventually gave in and recorded his audition, but the band rejected him for not having enough “energy.” He says the other members are unfairly and purposefully keeping him out of major milestone events (like this Grammys performance) for some reason. Things have gone back and forth between the two sides since Kramer filed his lawsuit, with TMZ’s sources saying the timing of all of this is just about Kramer being mad that he won’t get money from being on TV, Kramer responding by saying that he cares more about being forced out of the band he’s been with for 50 years than he does about money, and then Aerosmith saying that it tried to find a way to get Kramer back in time but it ultimately didn’t have a choice but to move ahead without him.
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Aerosmith also released a statement saying as much:
We would be doing a disservice to Joey, to ourselves and to our fans to have him play without adequate time to prepare and rehearse. Compounding this, he chose to file a lawsuit on the Friday night of the holiday weekend preceding the Grammys with total disregard for what is our limited window to prepare to perform these important events… Given his decisions he is unfortunately unable to perform but of course we have invited him to be with us for both the Grammys and our MusiCares honor. We are bonded together by much more than our time on stage.
Photos in UK media showed Harry walking off a plane early Tuesday on Vancouver Island, where the family spent time over Christmas.
The Duke of Sussex attended the UK-Africa Investment Summit in London on Monday, where he met with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before flying across the Atlantic.
A royal spokesperson told CNN they would not comment on the family's private schedule.
Strong Canada connection
The Duke and Duchess spent the Christmas holidays in Canada with the Duchess' mother, Doria Ragland.
The Sussexes are set to embark on a proposed new life in the country, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last week that discussions are ongoing in over who will pay the costs of their security detail.
The couple made the shock announcement that they were stepping back from senior royal duties on Instagram on January 8, and the Queen announced a transition period had been agreed Saturday.
Conversations with the pair had been going on for months, said the monarch in a statement.
"I am pleased that together we have found a constructive and supportive way forward for my grandson and his family," read the statement.
Under the terms of the deal, Harry and Meghan will no longer represent the Queen as working royals, splitting their time between the UK and North America as they work toward becoming financially independent.
Wrangling over titles
The pair will no longer use their royal titles -- His and Her Royal Highness -- beginning this spring, and Buckingham Palace announced Saturday they would instead be addressed as "Harry, Duke of Sussex" and "Meghan, Duchess of Sussex."
It's a move the Queen hadn't been expected to make and it's entirely unprecedented for a monarch to ask her own grandchild to drop their title, but given the prospect of the Sussexes signing commercial deals in the future, the need to separate their ventures from the royal household was pressing.
However, in one of the first hiccups in the process of decoupling Harry and Meghan from the royal family, the palace later said it would revise its guidance after reports Meghan's new title made it sound as though she were divorced.
The problem is that the same formatting was adopted by Sarah Ferguson -- now addressed as "Sarah, Duchess of York" -- after she divorced Prince Andrew in 1996. And Harry's mother was known as Diana, Princess of Wales after her divorce from Prince Charles.
One of the ways the couple hope to generate income is through their brand "Sussex Royal."
However an aide to the Queen warned the Duke and Duchess of Sussex against using that title, reported British newspaper The Times.
"I don't think its satisfactory. One cannot be two things at once. You either are [royal] or you're not," said Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, in the paper. Woodcock said he was speaking in a personal capacity.
"It is such unusual times that it is a matter of waiting and seeing how things develop," he added.
The Garter King of Arms, also known simply as Garter, is the principal adviser to the sovereign on ceremony and heraldry, and is a member of the royal household.
CNN has reached out to his office for comment.
Sadness from Harry
On Sunday, Harry expressed "great sadness" about the developments at a charity event in London.
"Our hope was to continue serving the Queen, the commonwealth, and my military associations, but without public funding," he said in a speech. "Unfortunately, that wasn't possible."
Harry emphasized that the decision "is not one I made lightly" during his speech.
"The UK is my home and a place that I love," Harry said. "That will never change."
"It was so many months of talks after so many years of challenges. And I know I haven't always gotten it right, but as far as this goes, there really was no other option."
CNN's Max Foster and Rob Picheta contributed to this report.
