“When I read profiles of myself I sometimes think: I have spent my whole life struggling to understand my motivations and impulses, and I’ve never quite sorted them out. To be absolutely frank with you, I’m still not sure I understand them. Then these people wander in, and suddenly they’ve cracked it in half-an-hour. I always assumed that, with age, I would understand myself better. Unfortunately, it’s proving to be quite the opposite. I’m no closer to defining what it is that I really am than I ever was - other than somebody who is intensely curious about life.” ♡ Happy Birthday, Michael Palin! (5 May 1943)

Michael Palin, being pursued by cats, requested by sannao75

• wanted to name monty python after his neighbor because he thought it’d be funny to suddenly find out there’s a whole tv show named after you
• is known as the nicest man in the world and i believe it even though i’ve yet to meet him
• monty python basically exists because john cleese wanted to work with him
• apologized to Carol Cleveland for the fact their roles for her weren’t that well-rounded and went out of his way to include her in sketches during Flying Circus
• improvised “Hey, but I didn’t eat the mousse” in meaning of Life
• he’s the one that wrote the fake Swedish subtitles for Holy Grail (Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?)
• is a fan of trains and wrote a whole sketch about them (The train timetables murder sketch)
• when he goes to different countries for his travel documentaries, he’s the most respectful motherfucker and is always willing to learn about the places he goes
• is going to release a new travel documentary from North Korea soon, Palin is a bamf
• ate mud for Holy Grail only to discover he wasn’t on screen and threw a tantrum that’s valid
• According to Carol Cleveland, as the group were exiting backstage one night, a 20-something girl ran up to Palin, screamed “Oh, Michael!”, and promptly fainted in his arms. Palin had to pass the girl to others to help, as he was literally shocked into speechlessness.
• corpses a LOT and i love him for it (Pontius Pilate, travel agent sketch, my brain hurts, you can see him break a lot)
• he’s so passionate? honestly just watch him and john in the Life of Brian debates he’s ready to throw hands
• after playing someone with a stammer for A Fish Called Wanda he started his own foundation for children with stammers
• published his diaries for public edification
• is so good at playing a wide array of characters from Gumby to sleazy Blackmail host to a crossdressing lumberjack like you believe him in every role he plays
• once drove 60mph (96.5km/h) dressed as a pantomime horse
• referred to writing with Cleese instead of his normal partner Jones as “going away from an afternoon and cheating on your wife”
• has been married for over 50 years, and his wife appears in Around the World in 80 Days and they just seem so cute
• smoked weed with eric at least once during holy grail