The Life of Graham: The Authorised Biography of Graham Chapman

Description

Graham Chapman was the quiet, pipe-smoking Python who qualified as a doctor. He was the policeman's son whose tweed-jacketed demeanour belied his true anarchic nature. More than any other Python he lived the complete lunacy of the show. Chapman was a founding member of an infamous drinking club with The Who's drummer, Keith Moon and at the height of his drinking - which started out as a nerve-calmer for performances - he would consume eight pints of gin a day. He fearlessly flaunted his homosexuality at a time when it was certainly not the done thing. Graham Chapman died in 1989 with brilliant comic timing on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the first recording of Python. A huge celebratory Python party was cancelled as a result and Terry Jones harrumphed Chapman's death as 'the greatest act of party-pooping in history'. Bob McCabe has had the full co-operation of Sherlock and the Pythons in writing this fascinating and revealing account of the life of one of British comedy's best-loved figures.

Bob McCabe broadcasts on film for Radio 1 and is associate editor of Film Guide. He has contributed to Empire and Q magazines, the Evening Standard, Daily Mirror and Daily Express, and was film editor of Vox.

'Python fans will be pleased with the new insights into the work while even those unable to recite every word of the sketches will engage with a troubled, complex man whose story is simply and sympathetically told' THE OBSERVER