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Director and Monty Python star Terry Jones has been diagnosed with dementia, a statement on the BAFTA Cymru website confirmed.
A representative for Jones, whose most recent film work was as a co-writer on the 2105 picture “Absolutely Anything,” said the actor has primary progressive aphasia, a variant of frontotemporal dementia.
“This illness affects his ability to communicate and he is no longer able to give interviews,” the representative said.
Born in Wales, Jones is one of the five living members of iconic British comedy group Monty Python, whose first big success was the surreal and irreverent TV show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” which ran from 1969 to 1974.
The Pythons went on to make several films including “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” a farcical medieval romp based on the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, and “Monty Python’s The Life of Brian,”a story set in biblical times about a man named Brian who is mistaken for Jesus Christ, both of which Jones directed.
In a release on its site, the Welsh branch of the British film academy BAFTA Cymru also announced Jones is to receive the BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television at its awards ceremony on Oct. 2.
