人物生平
約翰克立斯1969年與老搭檔卡拉漢·查普曼等人合組喜劇團體“Monty Pythons Flying Circus”，以其幽默生動的風格迅速走紅。1986年他編劇和主演的《一條名叫旺達的魚》獲得商業上的極大成功，但10年後的《偷雞摸狗》便反應平平；他曾主演過《哈里·波特：神秘的魔法石》、《倫敦的房子》、《克里斯琴的魔術》、《塑像》、《高爾夫球》、《布萊恩的生活》等九十餘部影視劇。
1989年，因主演影片《一條名叫旺達的魚》，獲奧斯卡最佳編劇提名；並因該片獲得金球最佳表演獎提名；曾在多項大獎中獲得10項獎項提名，並贏得其中4項獎項。
Cleese最為人熟知的角色是為Shrek中的King of Far Far Away。
出演電影
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | Interlude | TV Publicist | |
| 1969 | The Magic Christian | Mr. Dougdale (director in Sotheby's) | |
| 1969 | The Best House in London | Jones | Uncredited |
| 1970 | The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer | Pummer | Writer |
| 1971 | And Now for Something Completely Different | Various Roles | Writer |
| 1974 | Romance with a Double Bass | Musician Smychkov | Writer |
| 1975 | Monty Python and the Holy Grail | Various Roles | Writer |
| 1976 | Meetings, Bloody Meetings | Tim | Writer/Executive Producer |
| 1977 | The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It | Arthur Sherlock Holmes | |
| 1979 | Monty Python's Life of Brian | Various Roles | Writer |
| 1980 | The Secret Policeman's Ball | Himself-Various Roles | |
| 1981 | The Great Muppet Caper | Neville | |
| 1981 | Time Bandits | Gormless Robin Hood | |
| 1982 | Privates on Parade | Major Giles Flack | |
| 1983 | Yellowbeard | Blind Pew | |
| 1983 | Monty Python's The Meaning of Life | Various Roles | Writer |
| 1985 | Silverado | Langston | 第一部電影，第一句台詞是， "What's all this, then?") |
| 1986 | Clockwise | Mr. Stimpson | Evening Standard British Film Awards Peter Sellers Award for Comedy |
| 1988 | A Fish Called Wanda | lawyer Archie Leach | 編劇/紙片人/演員 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role 題名：奧斯卡最佳編劇，BADTA最佳編劇，金球獎最佳喜劇表演 |
| 1989 | Erik the Viking | Halfdan the Black | |
| 1990 | Bullseye! | 客串自己 | |
| 1991 | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | Cat R. Waul | Voice Only |
| 1992 | Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? | Narrator | |
| 1993 | Splitting Heirs | Raoul P. Shadgrind | |
| 1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Professor Waldman | |
| 1994 | Disney's Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book | Dr. Julius Plumford | |
| 1994 | The Swan Princess | Jean-Bob | |
| 1996 | The Wind in the Willows | Mr. Toad's Lawyer | |
| 1996 | Fierce Creatures | Rollo Lee | Writer/Producer |
| 1997 | George of the Jungle | An Ape Named 'Ape' | Voice Only |
| 1998 | In the Wild: Operation Lemur with John Cleese | Host | Narrator |
| 1999 | The Out-of-Towners | Mr. Mersault | |
| 1999 | The World Is Not Enough | R | |
| 2000 | Isn't She Great | Henry Marcus | |
| 2000 | The Magic Pudding | Albert, The Magic Pudding | Voice Only |
| 2001 | Quantum Project | Alexander Pentcho | |
| 2001 | Here's Looking at You: The Evolution of the Human Face | Narrator | |
| 2001 | Rat Race | Donald P. Sinclair | |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | "Nearly Headless Nick" | |
| 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | "Nearly Headless Nick" | Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble Acting |
| 2002 | Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio | The Talking Crickett | Voice Only: English Version |
| 2002 | Die Another Day | Q | Second appearance in a James Bond film, replaces Desmond Llewelyn as Q in the series |
| 2002 | The Adventures of Pluto Nash | James | |
| 2003 | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle | Mr. Munday | |
| 2003 | Scorched | Charles Merchant | |
| 2003 | George of the Jungle 2 | An Ape Named 'Ape' | Voice Only |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | King Harold | Voice Only |
| 2004 | Around the World in 80 Days | Grizzled Sergeant | |
| 2005 | Valiant | Mercury | Voice Only |
| 2006 | Charlotte's Web | Samuel the Sheep | Voice Only |
| 2006 | Man About Town | Dr. Primkin | |
| 2007 | Shrek the Third | King Harold | Voice Only |
| 2008 | Igor | Dr. Glickenstein | Voice Only |
| 2008 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | Dr. Barnhardt | |
| 2009 | The Pink Panther 2 | Inspector Charles Dreyfus | |
| 2009 | Planet 51 | Professor Kipple | Voice Only |
| 2010 | Spud | The Guv | Awaiting international release |
| 2010 | Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole | Ghost | Voice Only |
| 2010 | Shrek Forever After | King Harold | Voice Only |
| 2011 | Happy Feet 2 | Himself | Voice Only post-production |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | Narrator | Voice Only |
