By Erin Nyren
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – A home belonging to Monty Python comedian Eric Idle was evacuated Monday evening after reports that a powdery substance was found in a piece of mail. But authorities said later that it appeared to be a false alarm.
According to NBC4, a resident called police to Floye Drive — a short cul-de-sac off Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills — at 6:23 p.m. after opening a certified mail item from Thailand that released a white powder.
Police and fire officials mounted a hazmat response, and two women were taken to a hospital as precaution, Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Holland told reporters.
However, the investigation found that “there was no hazard. There was no chemical found,” Holland said. “There was no powder to be found.”
The suspicious letter was a notice from a shipping company that a package had arrived. What was reported as a powder was probably “just a little bit of dust that may have come from off the envelope,” Holland said.
The home is a 5,200-square-foot Spanish villa on almost three-quarters of an acre. It is owned by Idle and his wife, Tania Kosevich.
Idle, 76, is an English comedian and actor best known for his participation in the comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which created the eponymous sketch comedy TV show as well as the films “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Life of Brian,” and “The Meaning of Life.”
Idle wrote the Broadway musical “Spamalot,” which was adapted from the “Holy Grail” film. He has also had voice acting roles for films such as “Ella Enchanted” and “Shrek the Third” and on “The Simpsons.”
Kosevich is a former Playboy model. She and Idle have been married since 1981 and have one daughter.
