‘Monty Python’ star Michael Palin announces death of wife Helen

By Issy Ronald, CNN

“Monty Python” star Michael Palin announced the death of his “dearest” wife, Helen, on Tuesday, writing on his official website that she “was the bedrock of my life.”

She “died peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday morning,” Palin wrote. “She had been suffering with chronic pain for several years, which was compounded a few years ago by a diagnosis of kidney failure.”

Palin met Helen Gibbins during a summer vacation when they were both teenagers — a meeting that Palin drew from when writing the 1987 film “East of Ipswich” — and the couple married in their early 20s.

“Two and a half weeks ago we celebrated our 57th wedding anniversary,” Palin wrote. “Her death is an indescribable loss for myself, our three children and four grandchildren.

“Helen was the bedrock of my life. Her quietly wise judgment informed all my decisions and her humour and practical good sense was at the heart of our life together.”

Palin rose to fame as one sixth of the legendary comedy troupe “Monty Python,” alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman. Together they produced 45 TV episodes for the BBC and five films between 1969 and 1983 in their trademark irreverent style.

Since then, Palin has found success hosting a series of travel documentaries for the BBC, visiting places such as Iraq and North Korea, and received a knighthood in 2019 for his services to travel, culture and geography.

In September, he disclosed in an interview with The Telegraph that Helen had moved to respite care.

‘It’s such a bore. She was so active and still is mentally,” he said at the time. “But we’re both getting on a bit. The body is declining. She’s going to be 80 in October, I’m going to be 80 at the beginning of next year. We live life with our fingers crossed.”

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