Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, the only child of Reginald Francis Cleese (1893-1972), an insurance salesman, and his wife Muriel Evelyn (née Cross; 1899-2000) [REF].
At the Footlights theatrical club, he spent a lot of time with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie and met his future writing partner Graham Chapman [REF].