Hvem daterede Graham Chapman?

Graham Arthur Chapman (født 8. januar 1941, død 4. oktober 1989) var en britisk komiker, skuespiller, manuskriptforfatter og læge.

Chapman var et af seks Monty Python medlemmer, og havde hovedrollen i to af Monty Pythons film, Kong Arthur i Monty Python og de skøre riddere (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) og Brian i Life of Brian.

Chapman læste medicin på Cambridge Universitet, hvor han begyndte at skrive sketches sammen med sin klassekammerat John Cleese. Deres forfattersamarbejde fortsatte i Monty Python, hvor de to blandt andet var ophavsmænd til "Dead Parrot" (8. episode) og "The Ministry of Silly Walks" (14. episode).

Chapman døde i 1989 af strubekræft, og John Cleese holdt en tale til hans mindegudstjeneste, der var så morsom, at flere af gæsterne var ved at dø af grin. Det var i øvrigt første gang, at ordet "fuck" blev brugt i en mindegudstjeneste sendt live på tv. Cleese har siden sagt, at Chapman ville have sat pris på det.

Chapman var homoseksuel, hvilket blev forsøgt holdt hemmeligt for offentligheden, om end det blev antydet i hans selvbiografi, A Liar's Autobiography (Volume Six), i 1980. En britisk seer skrev til BBC for at klage over, at et medlem af Monty Python var homoseksuel, og modtog et svar fra Eric Idle, i hvilket det blev bekræftet at synderen var blevet fundet og skudt. "The Mouse Problem" fra 2. episode er skrevet af Chapman, og sketchen (der handler om mænd, der vil være mus) kan ses som et humoristisk syn på de problemer, Chapman kæmpede med på grund af sin seksualitet.

Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979).

Chapman was born in Leicester and was raised in Melton Mowbray. He enjoyed science, acting, and comedy and after graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian. Chapman eventually established a writing partnership with John Cleese, which reached its critical peak with Monty Python during the 1970s. He subsequently left Britain for Los Angeles, where he attempted to be a success on American television, speaking on the college circuit and producing the pirate film Yellowbeard (1983), before returning to Britain in the early 1980s.

Chapman was gay and a supporter of gay rights and was in a long-term partnership with David Sherlock. He was an alcoholic from his time at Cambridge until he quit drinking shortly before working on Life of Brian. He became an enthusiast and patron of the Dangerous Sports Club in the later years of his life. In 1989, Chapman died of tonsil cancer which had spread to his spine. His life and legacy were commemorated at a memorial service in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital two months after his death, which was a testament to Chapman's surreal sense of humour that the remaining five Pythons enacted.