Tony Hancock

1924 -- 1968

Anthony John Hancock was educated at boarding school before joining the RAF in 1942. He failed an audition for ENSA but joined The Ralph Reader Gang Show. After the war he began his radio career on Educating Archie (Archie was a ventriloquist's dummy) before finding success with Hancock's Half Hour on radio and television.

Written by Galton and Simpson, Hancock's Half Hour was acknowledged as a classic even in its time. Hancock became a huge star with a show that also featured Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Bill Kerr and Hattie Jacques. Deep personal insecurity lead to his sacking most of the supporting actors that had contributed to his success as they too found fame.

Despite his domestic success (or perhaps because of it), Hancock craved international stardom. His humour was very British, though, and his films were poorly received in the US, though his work played well in Australia and Canada. This failure lead to a break with his writing team and Hancock worked with a number of other writers later in his career but never with the same level of success that he had found with Hancock's Half Hour.

An alcoholic and depressive, Hancock's talents waned. He moved to Australia in 1968 and committed suicide the following year.