Terence Bayler, Harry Potter and Monty Python star, dies at 86

Terence Bayler, known for his acting roles with Monty Python and in ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, has died aged 86.

Bayler, who was born in New Zealand, played the Bloody Baron in the first Potter movie, and Mr Gregory in ‘The Life of Brian’.

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The part was most famous for the line ‘I’m Brian, and so is my wife!’, delivered during the crucifixion scene at the end of the movie.

In tribute, Monty Python’s Eric Idle, who starred in the movie with Bayler, said: “I think the thing I loved most about Terence Bayler was his gentle loving considerate humour.

“I loved his commitment to a role and his high seriousness no matter how apparently silly the part. For a writer there is nothing finer than an actor taking your work and making it better than you imagined it.”

Bayler had also been among the cast of Eric Idle and Neil Innes’ BBC sketch show Rutland Weekend Television.

It was through this show, that he went on to play Brian Epstein parody Leggy Mountbatten, the manager of a fictional Beatles-esque band in the all-star mockumentary ‘All You Need Is Cash’, alongside Idle, Michael Palin, George Harrison, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray.

He also often worked with Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam, appearing in the movies ‘Time Bandits’ and ‘Brazil’, and played Macduff in Roman Polanski’s 1971 version of ‘Macbeth’.

His last movie was the British horror film ‘Chemical Wedding’, with Simon Callow, released in 2008 and directed by Julian Doyle,

He is survived by his wife, Valerie Cutko, and two children from his first marriage to Bridget Armstrong.

Image credit: Everett Collection/Warner Bros