Michael Edward Palin (born May 5, 1943) is a British comedian who was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He is famous for being a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus in which he generally played roles that called for manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of the Lumberjack Song), or unflappable calmness (such as the Dead Parrot vendor or Cheese Shop proprietor). As the latter, he was often the perfect foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by John Cleese.
Michael Palin was educated at Birkdale prep school and Shrewsbury public school. He went on to read History at Brasenose College, Oxford.
After Monty Python, Palin subsequently collaborated with fellow Python Terry Jones on the television comedy series Ripping Yarns.
In later years, Palin rejoined Cleese for the movies A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures and played an information retrieval specialist in fellow Python Terry Gilliam's Brazil. He has assisted Transport 2000 and others with campaigns for more rational transport policies, particularly in urban areas.
More recently, he has presented several series of travel programmes on television, the first being Around the World in 80 Days, travelling as closely as possible the path told in the famous Jules Verne story of the same name. Subsequent series include Pole to Pole (North Pole to South Pole, in a line as straight as possible, over as much land as possible - i.e., through Europe and Africa), Full Circle with Michael Palin, in which he circumnavigated the lands around the Pacific Ocean, and Michael Palin's Hemingway Journey, retracing the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway. His subsequent series was Sahara in which he treks through the world's largest desert.
