NEW YORK • When Terry Jones went to work, he wore the robes of a Spanish inquisitor, the jacket of a French waiter and the business attire of a man selling crunchy frogs.

Long after he and the other members of British comedy group Monty Python set off on separate paths, he took on new roles - as a director and historian, among others. After he died at 77 on Tuesday, many prominent admirers recalled how he had touched their lives.

"Farewell, Terry Jones. The great foot has come down to stamp on you," wrote actor Stephen Fry on Twitter, alluding to the cartoon foot that crashed through many Monty Python sketches. "What pleasure you gave, what untrammelled joy and delight."

Director Edgar Wright began to list some of Jones' most famous characters, such as one of the Hell's Grannies and Nigel Incubator-Jones.

Comedian John Oliver called him "the absolute best". Actor Mark Gatiss said he was "a cornerstone of my growing up".

Many Python fans know the lines he delivered by heart, from the sales pitch of a crunchy frog salesman to a mother's scorn after her son is mistaken for being divine.

In his post-Python career, Jones worked on documentaries about the Middle Ages, screenwriting, children's books and a Norse saga of his own, but it was the legacy of Monty Python that dominated tributes to him.

The remaining Pythons quickly spoke out after hearing the news of Jones' death, including his close friend and frequent writing partner, Michael Palin.

"He was far more than one of the funniest writer-performers of his generation," Palin told Britain's Press Association. "He was the complete Renaissance comedian: writer, director, presenter, historian, brilliant children's author and the warmest, most wonderful company you could wish to have."

Another former Python, Eric Idle, wrote on Twitter: "I loved him the moment I saw him onstage at the Edinburgh Festival in 1963.

"So many laughs, moments of total hilarity onstage and off we have all shared with him."

NYTIMES