Illness means Monty Python star has trouble communicating

Terry Jones has been diagnosed with a severe type of dementia.

The 74-year-old is suffering from primary progressive aphasia, which affects his ability to communicate.

It means the former Python is no longer able to give interviews, according to his agent.

Jones will receive a special award from Bafta Cymru for outstanding contribution to film and television on Sunday.

Organisers are hoping he will still be able to attend the ceremony, but he will not be able to speak.

In a statement his agent said: 'Terry is proud and honoured to be recognised in this way and is looking forward to the celebrations.’

The National Aphasia Association says primary progressive aphasia  ‘commonly begins as a subtle disorder of language, progressing to a nearly total inability to speak, in its most severe stage.’

 ‘PPA results from deterioration of brain tissue important for speech and language. Although the first symptoms are problems with speech and language, other problems associated with the underlying disease, such as memory loss, often occur later.

As well as writing and performing with the Pythons, Jones directed Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life and co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Gilliam.

He has also written books and presented television documentaries on medieval and ancient history. And last year he starred in the documentary film Boom Bust Boom, about the economic crash, which he co-directed with his son Bill and his collaborator  Ben Timlett. 

Jones married biochemist Alison Telfer in 1970 and had two children, Sally (born in 1974), and Bill (born in 1976). In 2012, Jones married Anna Soderstrom, now 33, and they have a seven-year-old daughter Siri.

Published: 23 Sep 2016