Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his comedic material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", and "The Spanish Inquisition". Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and, most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.
219 acting credits
Acting · 219
The Simpsons
1989
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Saturday Night Live
1975
The One Show
2006
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
Wogan
1982
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
The Jonathan Ross Show
2011
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
2007
Film '72
1971
Going Live!
1987
Parkinson
1998
Monty Python's Flying Circus
1969
The Magic Faraway Tree
2026
Daytime Live
1987
Remembers…
2022
Staged
2020
Legends
2006
Pebble Mill at One
1972
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975
The Frank Skinner Show
1995
Clangers
2015
ZULU Comedy Galla
2010
The Secret Policeman's Ball
1976
Arthur Christmas
2011
Brazil
1985
Life of Brian
1979
The Death of Stalin
2017
Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly)
2014
Vanity Fair
2018
G.B.H.
1991
A Fish Called Wanda
1988
Time Bandits
1981
Small Prophets
2026
Perspectives
2011
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
1983
The Witches
1990
Ripping Yarns
1976
Absolutely Anything
2015
Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
1989
Fantasy World Cup
1998
A Life on Screen
2014
Great Railway Journeys
1980
Do Not Adjust Your Set
1967
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
1979
Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)
2009
Remember Me
2014
Movie Connections
2007
Artsnight
2015
Friday People
1985
Travels with Palin
1980
Worzel Gummidge
2019
Clive Anderson All Talk
1996
And Now for Something Completely Different
1971
Frost on Sunday
1968
David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth
2026
The Secret Policeman's Ball
2012
Omnibus Presents Comic Relief
1986
Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime
2020
Michael Palin's New Europe
2007
Fierce Creatures
1997
Full House
1972
Pole to Pole
1992
Concert for George
2003
David Frost Vs
2025
50 Films to See Before You Die
2006
A Series of Bird's
1967
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl
1982
The Complete and Utter History of Britain
1969
Michael Palin in Nigeria
2024
The Wind in the Willows
1996
Full Circle with Michael Palin
1997
Remember the Secret Policeman's Ball?
2004
Jabberwocky
1977
Hitler: The Comedy Years
2007
The Grand Knockout Tournament
1987
The Missionary
1982
Himalaya with Michael Palin
2004
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
2012
The Roots of Monty Python
2005
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball
1982
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus
1972
The Movie Life of George
1989
The Wind in the Willows
1995
Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure
1999
Marty Feldman: Six Degrees of Separation
2008
Sahara with Michael Palin
2002
Monty Python Live (Mostly)
2014
An Accidental Studio
2019
The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball
1989
Monty Python: Live at Aspen
1998
Monty Python's Personal Best
2006
Michael Palin in North Korea
2018
A Private Function
1984
The Wipers Times
2013
Brazil with Michael Palin
2012
Joke
2026
The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 1
2004
What Is Brazil?
2008
How to Irritate People
1969
Monty Python Conquers America
2008
Robbie the Reindeer in Close Encounters of the Herd Kind
2007
American Friends
1991
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove'
2004
Twice a Fortnight
1967
Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) - Theatrical Release
2010
Spike Milligan I told you I was ill... A live tribute
2002
Monty Python's Best Bits Celebrated
2021
Monty Python & the Holy Grail Location Report
1974
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live
2014
The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979
1979
Life Of Brian Screenplay
2008
Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)
2010
50 Years of BBC Two Comedy
2014
When Bruce Springsteen Came to Britain
2025
The Crimson Permanent Assurance
1983
The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash
1978
Attenborough at 90
2016
Tracey Ullman: A Class Act
1993
Michael Palin: The Art of Travel
1989
The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 2
2004
The Academy of Armando
2025
Michael Palin: Into Iraq
2022
What the Pythons Did Next...
2007
Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule
2014
Peter Sellers: A State of Comic Ecstasy
2020
Pleasure at Her Majesty's
1976
Parrot Sketch Not Included: Twenty Years of Monty Python
1989
The Quest for the Holy Grail Locations
2001
The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volume 3
2004
Golden Gordon
1979
Life of Python
1990
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Graham Chapman's Personal Best
2006
John Cleese's First Farewell Performance
1988
Monty Python: Before the Flying Circus
2008
The Secret Life of Brian
2007
Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World
1966
The Willows in Winter
1996
Comedians Do It On Stage
1986
Close-Up Toothpaste Relaunch
—
The Meaning of Making 'The Meaning of Life'
2003
The Secret Policeman's Ball
1979
The Fringe, Fame and Me
2022
The Unknown Peter Sellers
2000
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
2009
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Eric Idle's Personal Best
2006
Three Men in a Boat
1975
How To Make It In Comedy
2024
Making Qi
2011
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Graham Chapman's Personal Best
2006
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
1977
Monty Python: 30th Anniversary Sketches
1999
The Secret Life of Trees
2025
Sir David Attenborough and Sir Michael Palin in Conversation
2020
The Monty Python Story
1999
Python at 50: Silly Talks and Holy Grails
2019
Produced by George Martin
2012
John Peel's Record Box
2005
Monty Python: And Now for Something Rather Similar
2014
Monty Python In The Netherlands
1973
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Michael Palin's Personal Best
2006
Monty Python: Who's There?
1970
Murder at Moorstones Manor
1977
Palin on Redpath
1997
Across the Andes by Frog
1977
Monty Python: From Spam to Sperm
1999
Spike Milligan: Love, Light and Peace
2014
Jeepers Creepers
2020
Fawlty Towers: 50 Years of Laughs
2023
Life on Air: David Attenborough's 50 Years in Television
2002
The Great Birds Eye Peas Relaunch 1971
1971
Frost on Sketch Shows
2013
Final Ascent: The Legend of Hamish MacInnes
2019
Euroshow '71: May Day Special
1971
Not The Messiah: The Road To Albert Hall
2010
The Broken Bottle
1977
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
2024
The Meaning of Monty Python
2013
Tomkinson's Schooldays
1976
Michael Palin in Venezuela
2025
Whinfrey's Last Case
1979
Roger of the Raj
1979
The Seventh Python
2008
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Terry Jones' Personal Best
2006
The Box
1981
Monty Python in Aberystwyth
2009
Monty Python's Flying Circus—John Cleese's Personal Best
2006
Monty Python's Flying Circus—Terry Gilliam's Personal Best
2006
Generation '66
2016
Timewatch: The Last Day of World War One
2008
Escape from Stalag Luft 112B
1977
Innes Lloyd: The Producer
2025
The Dress
1984
The Curse of the Claw
1977
Michael Palin: A Life on Screen
2018
Michael Palin & the Mystery of Hammershøi
2005
Meridian: The First Ten Minutes
1993
The Art Of Travel With Michael Palin
1989
Michael Palin's Quest for Artemisia
2015
Alexander Armstrong's Real Ripping Yarns
2014
Around the World in 20 Years
2008
The Phoenix: A Century of Cinema
2011
Viz: The Documentary
1990
The New Incomplete And Utter History Of Everything
2014
New Tales from Around the World in 80 Days
2014
Inside Shabby Road: The Music of 'The Rutles'
2008
Henry Cleans Up
1974
Get Up and Go: The Making of 'The Rutles'
2008
Rabbit Ears - Jack and the Beanstalk
1991
Comic Roots: Michael Palin
1983
Is This a Record?
1973
Michael Palin In Wyeth's World
2013
Monty Python: Pythonland
1999
The First Night of Meridian
1993
Ending It All
1970
Anatomy of a Liar
2012
The Philosophers' Football Match
—
Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse
2003