Terry Gilliam

A successful animator who worked for several magazines and British television shows before becoming famous, Terry Gilliam became the quiet sixth member of the famed comedy troupe Monty Python before graduating to the status of acclaimed feature director. Though he spent little time working in front of the camera, save for small roles the other five Pythons refused to play, Gilliam was responsible for the infamous cut-out animation that was used in the opening credits and as a segue between skits on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (BBC, 1969-1974). After co-directing the troupe's first official feature, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), he ventured off on his own to make visually striking and surrealist films like "Jabberwocky" (1976), "Time Bandits" (1981) and the acclaimed comedic dystopia "Brazil" (1985). In 2000, his first stab at "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" (2009) was plagued by disaster and injury from the start, leading to a nine-year hiatus before returning to production, while "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (2010) suffered the unexpected death of star Heath Ledger in early 2008. Regardless of insurmountable odds, Gilliam trudged forward, continuing to make some of the most imaginative films on both sides of the pond.