Michael Palin personality. During this period Cleese contacted Palin about doing the show that would ultimately become "Monty Python's Flying Circus". At the same time the success of "Do Not Adjust Your Set" had led Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam to be offered their own series and, while it was still in production, Palin agreed to Cleese's proposal and brought along Idle, Jones and Gilliam. Thus the formation of the Monty Python troupe has been referred to as a result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. In "Monty
Michael Palin University-educated engineer working for a steel firm. His maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lockhart Ovey, DSO, was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1927. He was educated at Birkdale and Shrewsbury School. His sister Angela was nine years older than he was. Despite the age gap the two had a close relationship until her suicide in 1987. He has ancestral roots in Letterkenny, County Donegal. When he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in a school performance of "A Christmas Carol". At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a