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Born to British parents, Cleveland moved to the United States when she was 11.
Her best friend was Lynda La Plante, the future creator ofPrime Suspect.
So by the timeFlying Circusproducer John Howard Davies called her to audition, Cleveland was a seasoned professional.
Were there any women in comedy you admired growing up?I was a great Lucille Ball fan.
I did actually want to be Lucille Ball.
I didnt care which.
Id been working with all these different comedians.
Every top comedian on television, there I was.
They were looking for a pretty girl to play the pretty girl.
I dont think they were looking for a funny actress, but they discovered they had one.
The characters name is Vanilla Whore, and I thought,Vanilla Whore, thats very nice.
Thank you so much, but I said, Oh.
He started to tell me about it and I said, Michael, Im not in episode seven.
This is my last episode.
Then he went over and got John, and John went, Whats this?
And basically they all put their big Python foot down and said, No, we want Carol.
Why do you think you fit in?I was prepared to throw myself into it.
I mean, some of the things I did …
There was one time where we had to stand on each others shoulders.
Luckily I was very fit.
I was game for anything.
It was all very organized the script had been written.
But the Pythons wrote most of their own material.
Well dress her up as a man; she could do it.
And it was very funny.
Another time they were looking for a sparring partner for Graham, who was playing a boxer.
So I was his sparring partner; Im actually in the ring.
But unfortunately, I think the fans who write to me, they dont really remember those sketches.
I didnt say a word.
I just flirted with Eric and giggled.
But I never felt brave enough to be quite honest.
Were you ever aware of intergroup tension?Sometimes in rehearsals, you could see there was some tension.
The first series, there was no sign of any tension.
It was a learning curve they were all enjoying.
I think he did quite enjoy goading Terry Jones, who was very excitable.
And John was very calm.
In a way,Pythonhas been a bit of a ball and chain.
