£120,000 campaign by Monty Python stars for statue of ‘great friend’ Terry Jones

Sir Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are campaigning for a statue in Wales to honour their fellow Monty Python troupe member Terry Jones.

Jones, who directed the movies Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life was born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, in 1942, moving to Claygate, Surrey, at the age of five.

He died at the age of 77 in 2020 following a dementia diagnosis.

The appeal with the support of Jones’ children, Sally and Bill Jones, and the Conwy Arts Trust, a North Wales charity, has the backing of other surviving members of the comedy group, Eric Idle and John Cleese.

Comedians and actors Steve Coogan, Jo Brand, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Emma Thompson and Alex Horne are also encouraging people to donate so £120,000 can be raised for the life-sized figure of Jones.

Sir Michael, who travelled with Gilliam to Colwyn Bay to launch the fundraiser, told Friday’s BBC Breakfast: “Terry was a real polymath, he could do a lot of things. When I first met him at Oxford, he was a very good actor, he was a very funny man, he played the guitar … he would have a go at absolutely everything.

“He was always very strong-willed and I think his Welshness gave him that feeling of being right. It was rather sad for Terry, aged five, to have to move to Esher in Surrey which is about as un-Welsh as anywhere you could imagine.

“He was a great, great friend.”

In a statement, Idle said: “Finally, Terry gets the recognition he deserves. A statue no less. Ok, so it’s not an airport or a boulevard, but a statue in Colwyn Bay is lovely and a wonderful way to remember this fabulous man.”

Gilliam said it “keeps Python alive in death”, while Cleese added: “I am so delighted that Terry is being immortalised in bronze, although I would have preferred that he be immortalised by not dying.

“Still, bronze is better than nothing.”

Llandudno-based sculptor Nick Elphick will make the artwork for the promenade.

He said: “Terry Jones is such an icon, and the fact he is a big part of the history of Colwyn Bay, I’m just really proud.”

Jones was a patron of Theatr Colwyn, where his family appeared on stage, and he would return to the area to raise money for the arts.

His daughter Sally said: “Colwyn Bay gave us Terry and we are hoping to give something back.”

More than £39,000 has been raised so far for the campaign A Python on the Prom.

Monty Python member Graham Chapman died of cancer in 1989.