He has a B.A. in political science from Occidental College in Los Angeles, he worked alongside Gloria Steinem in Harvey Kurtzman's humor magazine titled Help and he formerly illustrated for Mad Magazine.
Yet Terry Gilliam, the focus of this term's Thursday Loew series, is perhaps best known for his work in the British comedy troupe Monty Python.
While a member of Monty Python, Gilliam teamed up with Terry Jones to direct "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Monty Python's Meaning of Life."
In between these two films, spurred by a period of depression and soul-searching, Gilliam took his directorial skill out on its own to see what he could do.
The first film on which he embarked without the official backing of Monty Python was the 1977 film "Jabberwocky." Incidentally, Gilliam did not continue the practice of inserting his own animation sequences outside his affiliation with Monty Python.
"Jabberwocky" is based on Lewis Carroll's poem by the same name in "Through the Looking-Glass" -- "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe ..."
But Gilliam, widely known throughout the film world for his absurd visions, said he shot the film because he wished to make "filth beautiful."
Set in a time when heroes exemplified chivalry, fair maidens were always in need of a helping hand and terrible beasts roamed the land bringing destruction, "Jabberwocky" follows the path of Dennis (Michael Palin), the cooper's son.
Carried throughout the film by fate and maintaining his optimistic, polite demeanor, Dennis may bring to mind Forrest Gump. However, there is very little in that comparison.
Rather, Dennis finds himself to be the squire of the knight chosen to defeat the evil Jabberwocky, a monster so hideous as to be described by Vincent Canby '45 of The New York Times as "something out of a medieval Sesame Street."
Dennis becomes the perfect protagonist, as his naivete (which does not suit a man of his age) carries him through his hilarious adventures. But at the heart of the film is Gilliam's desired lighthearted simplicity.
"There's no cruelty as such in my films," Gilliam told Leticia Kent of The New York Times. "The knights are smashing each other to bits because that's what knights do."
Gilliam brings in Monty Python partner Michael Palin, who appears in more than half of this series' films, to play the role of Dennis.
Some of the other films in the series will include "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "Jabberwocky," "Life of Brian," "Time Bandits," "Monty Python's Meaning of Life" and "Brazil." Palin played Sir Galahad and other minor roles in "The Holy Grail," screened last Thursday.
