Early Life and Education
Brooke-Taylor was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, the grandson of Francis Pawson, a parson who played centre forward for England's football team in the 1880s. His mother was an international lacrosse player and his father a solicitor. He was expelled from primary school at the early age of five and a half. Brooke-Taylor was then schooled at Thorn Leigh Pre-Preparatory School, Holm Leigh Preparatory School (where he won a cup for his prowess as a bowler in the school cricket team) and Winchester College which he left with seven O-levels and two A-levels in English and History. After teaching for a year at a preparatory school in Berkhamsted and a term back at Holm Leigh School as a teacher, he studied at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge. There he read Economics and Politics before changing to read Law, and mixed with other budding comedians, including John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn in the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club (of which Brooke-Taylor became President in 1963).
The Footlights Club revue, A Clump of Plinths was so successful during its Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, that the show was renamed as Cambridge Circus and the revue transferred to the West End in London, and then later taken to both New Zealand and to Broadway in the United States in September 1964. He was also active in the Pembroke College drama society, the Pembroke Players.
Read more about this topic: Tim Brooke-Taylor
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