Neil Innes

Neil Innes was a British actor, comedian, writer, and musician.

Innes’s career started in the early 1960s with the formation of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, an avant-garde music/comedy group that had a Top Ten hit in Britain in 1968 with the song "I’m the Urban Spaceman," which was co-produced by Paul McCartney. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band appeared as the house band on the British television children’s series Do Not Adjust Your Set, which featured Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones, future members of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

In the early 1970s, Innes began working with Monty Python, writing songs and comedy material for their record albums, television show, films, and live concerts. Innes also performed with the group, most prominently in their 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as the leader of Robin Hood’s (Idle) minstrels.

Innes’s association with Python led to a partnership with Idle; together, they created the British sketch series Rutland Weekend Television, which introduced the Rutles, a fictitious British rock group that parodied the Beatles. After a sketch from the show featuring the Rutles was shown on an episode of Saturday Night Live, the suggestion was made by SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels to extend the skit into a one-hour mock documentary. This led to the mockumentary The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978), directed by SNL film director Gary Weis, with Idle credited as co-director. Musicians Mick Jagger and Paul Simon appeared as themselves; SNL cast members Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner had acting roles in the film, and former Beatle George Harrison had a small role as a television reporter. Warner Bros. Records released a soundtrack album containing 14 Rutles songs, all written by Innes. The album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Recording.

Innes was also known for two British TV series: The Innes Book of Records (1979-81), and the children’s series Puddle Lane (1985-89).

In 2008, Innes was the subject of the documentary film The Seventh Python, the title of which references Innes's contributions to the six-man comedy troupe.

Innes died December 29, 2019, in Toulouse, France. He was 75.