Terry Gilliam’s Hilarious Response to His Own Premature Obituary
When Variety mistakenly published his obituary, Terry Gilliam turned the bizarre moment into comedy gold, reflecting on the chaos it caused for his family and poking fun at the surreal experience.
Few directors have risked as much for their art as Terry Gilliam. From his early days animating for Monty Python to his leap into directing with 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Gilliam has always pushed boundaries—sometimes at great personal cost. The making of that first film nearly drove the group to the brink, and things only got wilder from there. Whether it ’s been battling catastrophic weather, losing key actors, or facing accusations about his sets, Gilliam’s career has been a rollercoaster of chaos and resilience. Eric Idle, his Monty Python colleague, once joked that joining a Gilliam project was “fucking madness,” and suggested it was safer to just watch from afar.
Given all the close calls and stress, it’s almost surprising Gilliam has made it into his eighties. In fact, one major entertainment outlet seemed so shocked by his longevity that they jumped the gun. In 2015, Variety ran a headline announcing his death: “Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam dies at XXX.”
Finding Humor in the Absurd
Nearly a decade later, Gilliam was asked about the incident in an interview. True to form, he met the blunder with a sense of humor.
“I couldn’t believe I died in a Vin Diesel movie! ”
he quipped, referencing the 2002 action flick xXx starring Diesel as an extreme sports star turned secret agent. Gilliam found the whole thing hilarious, but the mix-up had real consequences for his loved ones, who were left reeling after seeing the headline and fearing the worst.
For Gilliam, reading his own obituary was a strange experience—made even stranger by how lackluster it was.
“It’s one thing to read your own obituary,”
he reportedly wrote to the magazine,
“But it was as bad as your reviews of my films.”
Turning a Blunder Into a Joke
After the incident, Gilliam reached out to his agent and lawyer to see if there was any way to turn the situation to his advantage. Unfortunately, they handled it with the kind of professionalism Gilliam found a bit too dull for his taste. So, he decided to have some fun with it. He demanded that Variety send him a case of Chateau Margaux, a luxury wine that can fetch $1,000 a bottle. The publication obliged, but as Gilliam later joked,
“It was a bad year.”
While the magazine’s error couldn’t be undone, Gilliam’s quick wit and ability to laugh at life’s absurdities turned a potentially distressing moment into another wild story in a career full of them. Hopefully, by now, they’ve at least updated his obituary—and maybe reconsidered their reviews of his films.