Monty Python star Eric Idle says he continues to work aged 80 for ‘financial reasons’
Monty Python star Eric Idle has revealed he continues to work at 80 years old due to financial difficulties.
The comedian and actor, known as Sir Robin in Monty Python And The Holy Grail said he sold his home last year, and described the TV show as a “disaster”.
In a series of posts on X/Twitter, he said: “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster.
“Spamalot made money 20 years ago. I have to work for my living. Not easy at this age.”
Idle created the medieval musical Spamalot, which earnt a best musical at the Tony Awards in 2005 after being on Broadway.
He also appeared in Shrek the Third and Monty Python Live (Mostly) alongside some of the troupe in 2014.
The actor, who now lives in Los Angeles also thanked his followers for the “kind words and encouragement”.
“It means a great deal to me,” Idle added.
He also seemed surprised by the downturn in their fortunes following the success of Monty Python.
“We own everything we ever made in Python and I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously,” Idle wrote.
When asked if a Netflix documentary could help, he said “f**k documentaries” and the streaming giant.
Idle also said: “I’m fine. I’m engaged and writing. It’s the thing I do and like the most. Creating a new show. Something that feels so completely normal. Been doing it since 1963. I have learned a lot. But then I had some great mentors.”
He concluded: “I don’t mind not being wealthy. I prefer being funny.”
In September 2022 he said he said he survived pancreatic cancer after receiving a rare early diagnosis, and appeared on celebrity singing show The Masked Singer in the US.
Alongside Graham Chapman, Fawlty Towers star John Cleese, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas director Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and travel writer Sir Michael Palin, Idle founded the comedy troupe in 1969.
The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974.
Chapman died in 1989 of tonsil cancer aged 48 and Jones died in 2020 aged 77 from a rare form of dementia.
In 2013, a producer of the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail won a High Court royalty fight with the comedy team to get some of the Spamalot profits.
