Miriam Margolyes has revealed why she will "never forgive" Monty Python star John Cleese. 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.
Women barred from Footlights
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."
Sent to Coventry
The actress went on to share the "most hurtful" thing the cast did while she worked on the show, and how she got her own back. 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."
Six decades on
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.
Previously, Miriam said in her memoir that she was the only girl in the production and she thought she was as "good as they were - and they didn't". However, the actress revealed she "admired" Monty Python (created by and including John and Graham) and The Goodies (a comedy group with Bill). Miriam added that the three men were geniuses but "not gentlemen".
She continued: "If you think about it, the Monty Python shows didn't feature funny women, only the occasional dolly bird. And I certainly wasn't that."
