International plaudits and a few controversies followed in the second half of the '70s..
Jones co-directed the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with Terry Gilliam in 1975, also starring as pompous knight Sir Bedevere.
A retelling of the story of King Arthur that features an ensemble of offbeat characters like The Knights Who Say Ni, the film was ranked by ABC in 2011 as the second-best comedy movie of all time, after "Airplane!"
Four years later, the group returned for "Life of Brian," with Jones handling directorial duties himself. The film, which follows a man mistakenly identified as the Messiah after being born next door to Jesus Christ, prompted a huge outcry from religious protestors and organizations but has since been acknowledged as a classic.
"I never thought it would be as controversial as it turned out, although I remember saying when we were writing it that some religious nut case may take pot shots at us," Jones told the Radio Times magazine in 2011. "At the time religion seemed to be on the back burner and it felt like kicking a dead donkey. It has come back with a vengeance and we'd think twice about making it now."
In his tribute to Jones, Cleese added on Wednesday: "Of his many achievements, for me the greatest gift he gave us all was his direction of 'Life of Brian.' Perfection."
Jones also directed the group's final film, "The Meaning of Life," in 1983. The Pythons produced a total of 45 TV episodes for the BBC and five films together before going their separate ways that year.
He went on to write historical non-fiction books, presented several documentaries, and wrote the screenplay to the 1986 fantasy film "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie.
Jones then joined the remaining Pythons for a reunion show in 2014, for which tickets sold out in 43 seconds .
"Spamalot," a 2005 stage production written by Eric Idle, introduced Python to a new generation of fans and provided a regular source of royalties.
"That ('Monty Python') income means I can do things that don't make money," Jones told CNN in 2005 . Such projects included books on Geoffrey Chaucer, famed author of "The Canterbury Tales," and another on the Iraq War, which Jones vigorously opposed.
"I find that looking at history that people don't change," Jones mused in the interview. "They're just as bright and just as devious as they are now."
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