Has anyone heard.......

[Aquarius]

I'm just checking to see if this is actually true or not....

Has anyone else heard something about the director (I think it's the director least ways) from Monty Python dying today from injuries he sustained in a car accident? :confused:

[Prelude]

Only from you.....but I think it would be really sad if that is true :(

[DaveJ]

Theres nothing about it on the Beeb's website.

[LARAMANIAC]

:eek: - gawd I hope not!!!!!!!! Hope you're wrong Aquarius - which isn't like you at all now is it!!!!!!!!! ROFLMAO!

[staticon]

I can find nothing of this nature about Ian McNaughton either.

You aren't mixing him up with John McMahon who died on Christmas day in a car crash? He was tour manager for new Pop Stars girl band 'Girls Aloud'

[Aquarius]

I remember the name Ian now, from the news. Did he direct all but the first 4 Monty Python's? And is/was he in his 70s?

I just remember hearing distinctly that it was someone from Monty Python.....because there was a clip on the news even of one of the episodes (John Cleese was in it, and I know John Cleese isn't dead!)

[Old_Mate]

Monty Python director dies aged 76
Ian MacNaughton, who directed the TV comedy sketch show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' from 1969 to 1972 has died. He was 76.

MacNaughton took charge of the groundbreaking series following his work directing Spike Milligan's 'Q5' shows.

After his work with the Monty Python team he teamed up with comic actor Leonard Rossiter on 1970s ITV sitcom 'Rising Damp'.

Born in Glasgow, MacNaughton was also a producer and actor.

[Aquarius]

Thanks Old_Mate for confirming it. :( Although it's sad now.

Where did you find that at?

[staticon]

I have just checked the Internet Movie Database and found an entry for Ian MacNaughton. It says he died on 10 December 2002 in Munich, Germany.
But that is all I can find there. :(
The IMDB page I found is HERE (http://uk.imdb.com/Name?MacNaughton,+Ian)
Just found another bit HERE (http://www.roguesandvagabonds.co.uk/cgi-bin/newslist.pl?farch=1) which says he died on 27 December 2002. It will not let me see any more of the story as I am not a registered user. :mad:
And THIS (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2609803.stm) is all I can find on the BBC pages.

[Aquarius]

I found this today. And if came out of the obituaries on AOL.

LONDON (Jan. 4) - Ian MacNaughton, a television director who helped bring the anarchic ``Monty Python's Flying Circus'' to the screen, has died at the age of 76.

MacNaughton died Dec. 10 in Munich, Germany as a result of injuries sustained in a 2001 car accident, Monty Python member Terry Jones said.

MacNaughton directed all but the first four episodes of ``Monty Python,'' which ran on BBC television between 1969 and 1974. In an obituary published in The Guardian newspaper, Jones said the series began with ``a certain amount of friction'' between the director and the strong-willed comedians. But MacNaughton soon became a valued member of the Monty Python team, credited with helping give shape to the troupe's unruly talents - and defending the show to skeptical BBC executives.

``He appreciated the spirit of Python: the subversiveness and a touch of anarchy struck a chord with him, and being a bit of a wild Scotsman, he loved the fact that we were trying something new,'' troupe member Michael Palin told The Times newspaper.

MacNaughton also directed the first Python feature film, ``And Now For Something Completely Different,'' in 1971, and a German version of the series, ``Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus,'' in 1971-72.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, MacNaughton spent spells in medical school and the Royal Marines before becoming an actor, appearing on television and in minor roles in films including ``Lawrence of Arabia.''

In the 1960s he moved into directing and carved out a niche in comedy. MacNaughton was highly regarded by comedians; he also worked with volatile comic genius Spike Milligan on the television series ``Q5'' through ``Q9'' and collaborated on the classic 1970s sitcom ``Rising Damp.''

MacNaughton spent his final years in Germany, homeland of his second wife, Ike Ott. He directed the popular English-language series ``Follow Me!'' for German television and mounted theater and opera productions around the world.

He is survived by his wife and ex-wife and by two children.