--- description: Terry Jones, the Monty Python star and director of The Life Of Brian and The Meaning Of Life, has been diagnosed with dementia title: Monty Python Star Diagnosed with Dementia image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8061ddb9d1639abf/6988a74297cdff4c236ade6f/ap_966721860639.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Monty Python Star Terry Jones Diagnosed with Dementia by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 23, 2016 12:15 PM CUT  File photo dated 9/12/2015 of Monty Python star Terry Jones who has been diagnosed with dementia File photo dated 9/12/2015 of Monty Python star Terry Jones who has been diagnosed with dementiaHannah McKay—PA Wire/Press Association Images by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 23, 2016 12:15 PM CUT Terry Jones, the [Monty Python](http://time.com/4457735/john-cleese-youtube-sketch-video/ "undefined") star and director of [_The Life Of Brian_](http://time.com/48702/monty-python-releases-new-song-and-plans-for-last-show-ever/ "undefined") and _The Meaning Of Life_, has been diagnosed with dementia. The 74-year-old is battling primary progressive aphasia, a variant of Frontotemporal Dementia, which affects his ability to communicate or give interviews. The news of his illness came as the Welsh affiliate of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced that Welsh-born Jones had been named as a recipient for the BAFTA Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television. In a [statement on the BAFTA website](http://www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/sian-grigg-and-terry-jones-to-be-honoured-at-25th-british-academy-cymru "undefined"), a representative of Jones’ revealed the star’s diagnosis, adding that he was “proud and honoured to be recognised in this way and looking forward to the celebrations”. Jones was a key member of the comedy troupe which included John Cleese, Michael Palin and Eric Idle. As well as appearing in and directing much of the group’s output, he also wrote many books and screenplays and his poems have appeared in _Poetry Review_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4505578/monty-python-terry-jones-dementia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4505578/monty-python-terry-jones-dementia/"},"headline":"Monty Python Star Terry Jones Diagnosed with Dementia","datePublished":"2016-09-23T12:15:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:11:59.224Z","description":"The 74-year-old is battling primary progressive aphasia, which affects his ability to communicate","url":"https://time.com/4505578/monty-python-terry-jones-dementia/","keywords":["celebrities","United Kingdom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8061ddb9d1639abf/6988a74297cdff4c236ade6f/ap_966721860639.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8061ddb9d1639abf/6988a74297cdff4c236ade6f/ap_966721860639.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Terry Jones dementia","caption":"Terry Jones dementia","creditText":"Hannah McKay—PA Wire/Press Association Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4505578/monty-python-terry-jones-dementia/","name":"Monty Python Star Terry Jones Diagnosed with Dementia"}}]}] ```