Fawlty Towers reboot: Who is John Cleese’s daughter Camilla Cleese?

Fawlty Towers is set to return to TV screens, with John Cleese and his daughter Camilla writing new episodes for the British sitcom.

London-born Camilla has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a comedian – having performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as venues around her hometown of California – but her life before picking up a mic was decidedly troubled.

The 39-year-old’s youth was punctuated by brushes with the law and ‘five-ish’ rehab stints amid battles against drugs and alcohol.

Former 6ft 1in model Camilla was raised in London before her parents, John, 83, and the late American artist Barbara Trentham, her father’s second wife, divorced and she moved to Chicago with her mother at the age of nine.

Before venturing into the entertainment industry in 2014, she enjoyed a successful career as an equestrian – with her father spending a fortune on a sprawling 16-acre ranch to house her horses – but at the age of 18, she abruptly quit after a bad series of competition results.

Instead, she attended the University of California in Santa Barbara, which she nicknamed ‘the University of Cocaine, Sex and Booze’ in an interview with the Mail on Sunday in 2008. 

She said: ‘I’d be given free booze and free drugs wherever I went, mostly because the guys like having a crazy blonde around and some people liked the idea that I was John Cleese’s daughter. I was never sober.’

In 2006, her father froze her bank accounts and refused to take her calls in an effort to save his daughter from a life of drugs and alcohol.

They were estranged for around a year, with John selling his daughter’s ranch and her horses. She went from being a top student and talented show jumper to being homeless and relying on friends for help.

‘I cried my heart out. The most painful thing in my life was Dad not talking to me. That was what made me realise, eventually, that I needed to sober up,’ she recalled.

In April 2007, Camilla called her father and told him she was ready to get help. She was checked into the world renowned Sierra Tucson rehab clinic in Arizona.

‘Finally, I dealt with my emotions. I don’t blame my dad for my problems, but I learned that I had a lot of suppressed rage towards him. Like many kids involved in divorce, I felt like he’d abandoned me,’ she admitted during the interview, when clean and sober for 20 months.

Camilla spoke out about her struggles to help ‘others in the same situation’ – and in an interview with The Times in 2014 she laid some of the blame on the trappings on having famous parents.

London-born Camilla (pictured in the ’80s with her parents) has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a comedian – having performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as venues around her hometown of California – but her life before picking up a mic was decidedly troubled

The 39-year-old’s youth was punctuated by brushes with the law and ‘five-ish’ rehab stints amid battles against drugs and alcohol

Former 6ft 1in model Camilla was raised in London before her parents, John, 83, and the late American artist Barbara Trentham, her father’s second wife, divorced and she moved to Chicago with her mother at the age of nine

She said: ‘It is hard because one of the downsides of having a parent like that is that they are never around. I didn’t really have any supervision. That’s not their fault. 

‘I didn’t know right or wrong. I just sort of grew up way too fast and I always looked older because I’m tall. When I was 11 I looked 18, so people would treat me that way and people were giving me drugs at 12 years old.’

Looking back, she said she is ‘kind of glad’ she went through this struggle so early after seeing her friends encountering the same problems in their late 20s and early 30s and watching how it ‘really screws up your life.’

After her troubled youth, she turned to comedy. She has worked with her father adapting his 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda for the stage and also collaborated on the 2011 Alimony Tour.

Camilla’s also seemingly not afraid to make jokes at the expense of her father – and his wives. 

She told a sold-out crowd at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014: ‘I’m still single and it’s weird because my parents set an amazing example. 

‘They’ve been married for almost 42 years – to seven different people. Not at the same time, we’re not Mormon or anything like that, not even close.

‘If most people have a family tree, we have a family tumbleweed, it just keeps rolling along picking up dirt and debris, nobody knows how they are related to anyone else, we just know not to f*** each other, because we’re not Mormon.’

Before venturing into the entertainment industry in 2014, she enjoyed a successful career as an equestrian – with her father (pictured together) spending a fortune on a sprawling 16-acre ranch to house her horses – but at the age of 18, she abruptly quit after a bad series of competition results

 Instead, Camilla (pictured in 2018) attended the University of California in Santa Barbara, which she nicknamed ‘the University of Cocaine, Sex and Booze’ in an interview with the Mail on Sunday in 2008

Her father has had four wives – Fawlty Towers actress Connie Booth, then Miss Trentham, then Alyce Faye Eichelberger and now Jennifer Wade.

Camilla’s mother Miss Trentham, who died from complications with leukaemia in 2013, had three husbands. Before John, she married Giles Trentham, a fellow student at Oxford University, and retained his name after their divorce in 1970.

Her marriage to John broke down in 1990, and she later tied the knot again with barrister George Covington. 

Camilla has one biological sibling, her half-sister Cynthia Cleese, 51, from John’s marriage to Miss Booth.

Yesterday it was revealed John is set to return to screens as Basil Fawlty, with a reboot of the star’s famous comedy Fawlty Towers in the works.

The second and final series ended more than 40 years ago but Monty Python actor John is writing new episodes of the former BBC programme with his comedian daughter.

Developed by actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment, the new series will look at how cynical and misanthropic snob Basil fares in the modern world, it was announced.

While plot details are mostly being kept under wraps, the story will look at hotel manager Basil’s relationship with his daughter, who he has only recently discovered he is father to.

Iconic: John played hotel manager Basil who was tortured by `that annoying section of the general public who insist on staying at hotels’ in the two series from 1975 to 1979 (L-R: Prunella Scales as Sybil, John Cleese as Basil, Connie Booth as Polly and Andrew Sachs as Manuel in 1975)

Despite being tortured by ‘that annoying section of the general public who insist on staying at hotels’ in the previous two series which ran from 1975 to 1979 for 12 episodes, Basil and his daughter decide to reenter the industry and open up a boutique property.

The original series followed the unfortunate exploits of highly-strung Torquay hotelier Basil and his wife Sybil, portrayed by Prunella Scales, as they tried to keep their hotel and marriage afloat.

In 2019, the show was named the greatest British sitcom of all time by a panel of television experts for Radio Times magazine. 

Actor Rob Reiner, his wife and actress Michele Reiner, director and producer Matthew George and Derrick Rossi will act as executive producers on the series.

John said: ‘What I like about Matt is that, unlike many producers, he really “gets” the creative process.

‘When we first met, he offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember.

‘By dessert we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner. Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.’

Producer Matthew said that meeting John and Camilla was one of the ‘great thrills’ of his life, adding: ‘I’m obsessed with Fawlty Towers and the legendary characters he created.

‘I’ve watched the first two seasons so many times I have lost count. I dreamed of one day being involved in a continuation of the story. Now it’s come true.’

Rob Reiner said: ‘John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh.’