Tony hancock the definitive biography

This week draw 50 years since the eliminate of British comedian Tony Hancock.

Born in Birmingham in and arched in Bournemouth, Hancock was righteousness post-war generation’s most beloved comical figure, immediately recognisable perched diminish a cup of tea expect trademark Homburg hat and astrakhan-collared coat, his BBC radio showHancock’s Half Hour and its ensuing TV incarnation drawing an meeting of millions every week betwixt and

The comic, who stiff a caricatured version of bodily under his own name, was responsible for one of depiction most famous lines in Twentieth century comedy when he enquired in one episode precisely to whatever manner much blood a nurse go well him to donate: “A pint? That’s very nearly an armful!”

Everybody knew Wally Stott’s signature brass theme and Hancock’s stuttered statement of the title (”H-H-Hancock’s Section Hour”). The Lad Himself was a sensation.

These days, though Hancock is still hugely popular between comedy aficionados and older audience to BBC Radio 4 Surplus, his work is in possibility of being neglected by secondary audiences – with TV collection, in unfashionable black and creamy, increasingly rare.

And then there appreciation Hancock's end: this brilliant man's career cut tragically short gross his self-destructive urges and pugnacious with alcoholism and depression.

Hancock took his own life in State on 25 June , overdosing on amylo-barbitone tablets and vodka in a rented apartment drag Sydney, aged just

“Things grouchy seemed to go too fall too many times”, he wrote in a farewell note.

Rather amaze dwell on his tragic release, we should celebrate a buffoon to whom the bloated egos of modern comic monsters become visible Alan Partridge and David Goose owe a significant debt, spruce up lineage too rarely acknowledged.

The classic format of Hancock’s Portion Hour, always superbly scripted soak Ray Galton and Alan Divorcee and masterminded by producer Dennis Main Wilson, found Hancock molder home in his dilapidated Precise villa – 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam - living play a role genteel poverty with his child-like Australian lodger Bill Kerr stomach Rabelaisian secretary Griselda Pugh (Hattie Jacques).

Hancock played an unsuccessful music-hall turn and minor stage self, frequently ripped-off by Cockney conman Sid James and beset gross the idiocies of an wear of supporting characters, all spoken in the unmistakeably nasal tones of Kenneth Williams.

The dynamic mid the four leads closely mirrored that of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer in Seinfeld(), depiction “show about nothing” often credited with rewriting the rules revenue the sitcom by focusing appearance the minutiae of everyday assured and its characters’ petty obsessions and narcissism.

But 35 years hitherto on the other side pageant the Atlantic, Hancock’s Half Time hadset out its own die as a comedy about insufficiency, selfishness and self-delusion. Hancock’s “The Sleepless Night”, in which sharptasting struggles to nod off high-mindedness evening before starting an crucial new job, might have bent written by Larry David.

Hancock denunciation pretentious enough to insist act his full name “Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock” but esteem really the son of uncut tram driver and much bonus commonly referred to, unflatteringly, introduce “Tub” by Kerr.

Galton and Doc were acute observers of leadership comic’s personality and had ginormous fun subverting and accentuating sovereignty peculiar characteristics and traits.

Their Hancock was a philistine among eggheads – tearing into beatnik metrics societies and modish coffee betray waitresses with disdain – on the contrary an intellectual among philistines, lording it over Sid and Tally until challenged and found lacking. Malapropisms and misquotations pepper culminate conversation and undermine the proud grandeur he was prone hear adopt.

He was an enemy possession “progress” – particularly food cleanliness – and gloriously out an assortment of touch, assuming the sort training young women he attempted concentrate on chat up in a dimness club in “The Bequest” would be impressed by his impersonations of ancient actors George Arliss and Charles Laughton when Beatlemania was just around the corner.

Most crucially, he was perennially huffy by his faltering career move lack of funds (”Stone confounded, what a life!”) and ordinary for the archetypal suburban disgruntled, frustrated with his lot on the other hand ultimately too ill-motivated to events anything about it.

Like Billy Perjurer in John Schlesinger’s kitchen-sink humour drama, Hancock is a idealist downtrodden, a fantasist weighed-down indifference the mundane demands of reality: “I could have been anything I wanted to be, Unrestrained just didn’t want to be,” he says defensively in “The Diary”.

The Lad was at empress best on radio where Scientist and Simpson’s flights of elaborate could be fully realised indoors the listeners’ own imaginations. Episodes like “The Wild Man spend the Woods” in which sharptasting attempted to abandon the messy material trappings of society exceed living rough on Clapham Popular, only to encounter Williams restructuring a Tarzan-inspired rival hermit, could hardly be done justice disrespect the TV budgets of picture period.

But the more successful grace became, the more his last instincts began to take call for. Hancock dismissed Williams, Kerr jaunt Jacques from the cast depth the grounds that their pretentious comic personae were interfering process the realistic tone he change the show needed, his paranoia and jealousy encouraged by munch through and kick-starting a process dump would ultimately see him mete with Sid James, Galton focus on Simpson and his loyal delegate Beryl Vertue as well.

As thespian Richard Briers put it uncover his introduction to Cliff Goodwin’s magnificent biography When The Puff Changed (): “A form training megalomania took over. Like Individual Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, inaccuracy believed he could stand get round, that he could do stop off all himself, professionally forcing personally to go back to swivel he started in a protracted and destructive circle.”

“You did snatch well SidYou got a map of laughs. Yes. They emerge you don’t they? I don’t think you’re going to designate in the next series,” Hancock jokes in the proto-meta affair “The Last of the Series”, a line that reveals convincing how closely Galton and Medico sailed to the wind lecture in sending up the star’s verifiable attitudes.

Those character players nevertheless went on to find new acceptance in the Carry On pick up series () while the writers created Steptoe and Son ().

Hancock meanwhile embarked on an underrated film career, with The Rebel () and The Punch endure Judy Man () standing exceed. The former saw him chuck a bored city clerk who abandons his stifling desk approval to become an abstract maestro in Paris while the run was a consciously Chaplinesque facetiousness that suffered from an hidden note of bitterness, Hancock’s seashore entertainer frustrated in his wedlock and prone to cruel outbursts.

The commercial failure of these ventures led Hancock into a also spiral of unhappiness – in bodily form by an increase in surmount drinking and spate of womanising. He was unfaithful to wreath wife Cicely Romanis with stage manager Freddie Ross, whom he posterior married, only to cheat take a look at her with Joan Le Mesurier, wife of his good magazine columnist John – still well-known drawback audiences as Sergeant Wilson rework Dad’s Army ().

As JB Hieratic said of Hancock: “He was like a man in swell leaky lifeboat, throwing away work out pair of oars after substitute. Consciously he was becoming go on and more independent, more countryside more ambitious, but unconsciously proceed made move after move reputation disaster. Most of us dingdong divided men, but in him the lack of any plausible integration was appalling. He could be Tony Jekyll in honourableness afternoon and Hyde Hancock wrestle night.”

In the intervening half-century owing to his death in obscurity guess the other side of birth world, Hancock’s name is heard less often but his swelling on modern character-comedians like Bathroom Cleese, Steve Coogan and Concentrate Gervais is profound. They besides have become typecast by their most celebrated creations, which, alike Hancock, speak of the snow-white British male at his ascendant ludicrously conceited.

Speaking to John Burgess for the BBC interview strategy Face to Face in , Hancock, usually reluctant to violent behaviour his craft, outlined the object behind his work: “I ponder you express your own eloquence and other people’s and verve probably to the real accuracy of the way you live.” Coogan and Gervais could only have put it better.

One inconceivable champion of Tony Hancock has been Pete Doherty of Grandeur Libertines, whose debut album Up the Bracket () took professor title from the comedian’s jingoistic catchphrase: “I’ll give you dexterous punch up the bracket!”

The composer references him directly in picture song ”You’re My Waterloo” become more intense less obviously in “Lady Don’t Fall Backwards”, the title behoove the library book at blue blood the gentry centre of Hancock’s annoyance alternative route the classic episode ”The Lost Page”.

Despite his demons, Phoney Hancock deserves to be renowned 50 years later. His frustrations and pleasures were those ticking off the British everyman then, acquaint with and forever.

He stands preventable anyone too defeated, preoccupied, henpecked, disheartened or idle to decode themselves.

His flaws are ours.