Monty Python Sadness: Terence Bayler Dies, Terry Jones Has Dementia

Monty Python fans have been dealt a double blow: Terry Jones, 74, has been diagnosed with dementia and Terence Bayler, 86, has died in recent weeks.

Time reports that Terry Jones, who starred in the “Monty Python's Flying Circus” TV show and directed the movies “The Life of Brian” and “The Meaning of Life,” has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, which impacts his ability to communicate and give interviews. Jones had recently been named a recipient of the BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television.

Jones was a key member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He also wrote numerous screenplays and books, and his poems appeared often in Poetry Review. A spokesman for Jones said on the BAFTA website that Jones was “proud and honoured to be recognized in this way and looking forward to the celebrations.”

Terence Bayler played Gregory in Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” and had many other movie and TV credits including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Time Bandits,” “Doctor Who” and “Law and Order, according to The Hollywood Reporter. ” Bayler became well-known after playing Macduff in the 1971 “Macbeth.” He also had a supporting role in 1993’s “The Remains of the Day.”

Bayler is survived by his wife, Valerie Cutko, and two children. Fellow Monty Python cast member Eric Idle wrote of Bayler on his blog Thursday: “I think the thing I loved most about Terence Bayler was his gentle loving considerate humour. ... I loved his commitment to a role and his high seriousness no matter how apparently silly the part. For a writer there is nothing finer than an actor taking your work and making it better than you imagined it.”

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