John Cleese has hit back at Miriam Margolyes after she reignited a 60-year feud following Bill Oddie's death. On Wednesday (August 26), the 85-year-old comedian appeared on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, where she discussed her time on Footlights and confessed the real reason she never forgave John and Graham Chapman.
Margolyes Recalls 'Venomous' Treatment
She told the presenter: "It was not joyous. It was a long time ago, and I think it shows me in a very bad light that I bear so much rage and irritation when I recall it, but women weren't allowed to join Footlights in the days when I was there."
"And the very brilliant young men who were the Footlights were also mean-spirited and jealous of anybody who took their light. They were immensely competitive with each other, and I had a real run-in with the boys in the Footlights review that I was in, which was in 1962, called Double Take. Trevor Nunn directed it, who was a sweetie actually, and John Cleese and Graham Chapman were particularly venomous towards me."
The actress went on to share the "most hurtful" thing the cast did while she worked on the show. Ms Margolyse explained: "They stopped speaking to me off stage. It's called being sent to Coventry, and that's what they did, and it wounded me terribly. I wasn't invited to the cast party, so I complained, and I went to the cast party. But I've never really forgiven them."
Cleese Offers His Version of Events
Reflecting on the incident six decades on, the Harry Potter star mused: "I think John and Graham were really brilliant young men, but they lacked that thing which is the human part of the gene, and their comedy was soulless ultimately. And I'm glad he's old and unfunny," she chuckled.
Now, the Monty Python star has hit back at her strong comments online with his own version of events. He penned: "Several of us, rather repressed and socially unskilled lower middle class boys, had literally never met someone so brash and vulgar, and I'm afraid we shrank away from her. No abuse or anything. We just kept out of her way. Recently, Miriam also blamed Bill Oddie for our bad behaviour. Not fair. He wasn't in the show that year. 1962, I think it was, so 64 years ago. How time flies..."
Express.co.uk has reached out to Miriam Margolyse's representatives for a comment.
Bill Oddie's Funeral
It comes after Bill Oddie was laid to rest at Hampstead Heath on Monday morning (August 24). On July 27, the comedian-turned-ornithologist passed away at the age of 85, his close friend Eric Idle revealed. Although no cause of death was announced, Mr Idle revealed the Springwatch star passed away after being "sick for some time".
One month later, his family threw a celebration of life for the national treasure in a non-religious service in a popular London park, where he would spend hours listening to birdsong. This week, images from the service have emerged showing the star's ashes being carried out on a wooden structure by men wearing elaborate badger masks as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The song Cocktails For Two can be heard in the background, with strings of plastic birds hanging from nearby trees.
