Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam’s baroque, surreal, and sometimes grotesque imagery is instantly recognizable, and many of his imaginative fantasies have become genre classics.  

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Los Angeles, California, Gilliam had an early enthusiasm for cartoons in his youth which would later become the touchstone for his professional career. In fact, it was through his job as a magazine art director where Gilliam met John Cleese.  

In 1969, Gilliam, Cleese and three others started Monty Python, with Gilliam contributing as animator. It was through his animations for Monty Python's Flying Circus that Gilliam first became known in the fantasy genre. It wouldn't be until 1975, however, that Gilliam would step into the role of film director, co-directing Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones.  

In 1977, Gilliam directed his first solo film, Jabberwocky. From there he released a string of science fiction and fantasy classics-to-be, including Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm (2005), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), and The Zero Theorem (2013).