|
|
|
|
|
Tony HancockAnthony John Hancock, best known as Tony Hancock (May 12, 1924 - June 26, 1968) was a major figure in British television and radio comedy in the 1950s and 1960s. Early Life and Career He was born in Birmingham, England, but raised in Bournemouth where his mother and step-father ran a small hotel. He was educated at a boarding school in Swanage and Bradfield College, Berkshire. He left school aged 15. In 1942 he joined the RAF Regiment and following a failed audition for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) ended up with The Ralph Reader Gang Show. Following the war he gained regular radio work in shows like Workers' Playtime and Variety Bandbox, and in 1951 he gained a part in Educating Archie, where he played the tutor and foil to the real star, a ventriloquist's dummy. Here he developed a catchphrase - "flippin' kids" - that was to earn him real recognition. In 1954 he was granted his own BBC radio show: Hancock's Half Hour. Hancock's Peak Years Working with scripts from Ray Galton and Alan Simpson the show lasted for five years and over a hundred episodes, featuring Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams and over the years Moira Lister and Hattie Jacques. In the radio series the James character would often be dishonest and exploit Hancock's apparent gullibility, rather than be the friend of the television series. Hancock's television career as star began in 1956, initially on ITV, but it was the BBC-TV version of Hancock's Half Hour (later Hancock) that established him in the medium. The classic Hancock characterisation referred to himself as "Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock" - being a larger-than-life version of Hancock's real self. In the TV series the regular cast was reduced to Hancock and James, allowing the humour to come from the interaction of the two men. James was the realist of the two, but also with an unpretentious personality who would puncture Hancock's pretensions. Hancock was to become anxious that his work with James was turning them in to a double act, and the last BBC series in 1961 was without James. Despite the contemporary criticism of Hancock, many consider this to contain the best of Hancock's BBC work. Two of the episodes of Hancock's last BBC television series are probably his best remembered work. The Blood Donor, in which he goes to a clinic to give blood. This contains famous lines such as, "A pint? Why, that's very nearly an armful!" (The doctor's response: "You won't have an empty arm... or an empty anything!") Another well-known episode is The Radio Ham, in which Hancock plays a ham radio enthusiast who receives a mayday call from a ship in distress, but his incompetence prevents him from taking its position. Both of these episodes were later re-recorded for a commercial 1961 LP in the style of radio episodes, and these versions have been continuously available ever since. The original TV versions have since been released as part of VHS and DVD compilations, and the soundtracks have also (a little confusingly) been released on CD. Shortly before recording the original version of "The Blood Donor" Hancock was involved in a minor car accident. He was not badly hurt, but his confidence was shaken and he was unable to learn his lines, with the result that the recording was made with Hancock using teleprompters (TV monitors displaying the relevant sections of script) so that he could read the lines instead. Viewers of the programme may notice that he is not looking where, logically, he ought to be. Hancock came to rely on teleprompters instead of learning scripts whenever he had career difficulties. International Dreams and Introspection Hancock also starred in the 1960 film The Rebel (aka, Call Me Genius in the USA) where he plays the role of an office worker turned artist who meets international acclaim after moving to Paris, but only as the result of mistaken identity. The film was not well received in the United States; owing to a conflict with a contemporary series the film had to be renamed and this inflamed American critics. Hancock was later to dismiss the film as crude and its failure was a contributory factor in his disastrous break with his writers, Galton and Simpson, after the last television series for the BBC. This was famously the worst decision of his career. Hancock always dreamed of being a major international star, but tradition holds that he failed to realise how uniquely British his style of humour was - too uniquely British, that is, to have universal appeal. This was demonstrated by his second starring vehicle, The Punch and Judy Man (1962), in which he plays a struggling seaside entertainer who dreams of a better life. Sylvia Syms plays his nagging social-climber of a wife, and John Le Mesurier plays a sand sculptor. The film's humour is bitter-sweet and understated and was perfectly tailored to a particular British audience of the time. The vast American entertainment industry, whose moguls were used to a more brash style of humour, dismissed it as slow-moving and dull. His BBC shows were, however, frequently broadcast in Australia. In early 1960 Hancock appeared on the BBC's Face to Face, a half-hour in-depth interview programme conducted by former Labour MP John Freeman. Freeman asked Hancock many searching questions about his life and work. Hancock, who deeply admired his interviewer, often appeared uncomfortable with the questions - but answered them frankly and honestly. Hancock had always been highly self-critical, and it is often argued that this interview heightened this tendency, contributing to his later depression. Later Years He moved to ATV in 1963 with different writers. Godfrey Harrison was the main writer of these series and had found success first on radio then television with A Life Of Bliss (starring George Cole) but had also scripted Hancock's first ever regular television appearances on Fools Rush In (a segment of Kaleidoscope). Harrison had trouble meeting deadlines, so other writers assisted including Terry Nation. 1 Coincidentally, the series clashed in the television schedule with Steptoe and Son written by Hancock's former writers, Galton and Simpson. Comparisons were not flattering. Hancock continued to make regular appearances on British television until 1967, but by now alcoholism had disipated much of his talent. Hancock went to Australia in March 1968 and he committed suicide in Sydney in June. There is a statue in his honour in Birmingham. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Hancock was voted amongst the top 20 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Personal Life In 1950, Hancock married model Cicely Romanis, after a brief courtship. It was a turbulent relationship; Cicely was beaten by her husband, but her knowledge of martial arts meant that Hancock came off worst. Alcohol was the ultimate source of the conflict, as his wife developed her own dependency, and Hancock could not handle a woman being drunk. The situation became more complicated as Freddie Ross (who worked as his publicist from 1954) became more involved in his life, eventually becoming his mistress. This relationship was also to be scarred by Hancock's capacity for violence. He was divorced by his first wife in 1965, and married Freddie in December of that year. This second marriage was to be short-lived. During these years Hancock was also involved with Joan Le Mesurier, the new wife of actor John Le Mesurier, Hancock's best friend and a regular supporting character actor from his television series. Joan was later to describe the relationship in her book "Lady Don't Fall Backwards", including the fact that her husband readily forgave the affair - if it had been anyone else, he said, he wouldn't have understood it; but with Tony Hancock, it made sense 2. This is a powerful reminder of the huge personal appeal of a man whose life story alone often reads as particularly cold and cynical. In July 1966 Freddie took one overdose too many; she had been trying to shock Hancock in to reforming himself. Arriving in Blackpool to record an edition of his variety series, Hancock was met by pressmen asking about his wife's attempted suicide. His wife, he felt had tried to destroy his career. The final dissolution of the marriage took place a few days ahead of Hancock's suicide Hancock's first wife died as a result of her own problems with alcohol in 1969, the year after her former husband. Freddie Hancock has been based in New York City for many years. Recordings In the last few years, the BBC has issued CDs of the surviving 74 radio episodes in six box sets, one per series, with the sixth box containing several out-of series specials. This was followed by the release of one large boxed set containing all the others in a special presentation case - while it includes no extra material, the larger box alone (without any CDs) still fetches high prices on online marketplaces like eBay, where Hancock memorabilia remains a thriving industry. There have also been video releases of the BBC TV series, but only two Region 2 DVDs to date, the first "Hancock: The Best of Hancock" featuring five episodes from the last TV series, the second "Hancock's Half Hour: Volume One" containing the surviving episodes of the second and third TV series (none of the first series are known to exist), plus a Christmas special. Presumably if the latter is successful further volumes of remaining episodes will be released. Episodes of the radio series may be heard on the digital radio station BBC 7 each Tuesday, for instance on-line at 19:30 London time (=GMT during the winter months) at the official BBC7 site. Additional Film Appearances Biographies Tony Hancock: 'Artiste', A Tony Hancock Companion - (1978) by Roger Wilmut - Contains full details of Hancock's stage, radio, TV and film appearances.
When the Wind Changed: The Life and Death of Tony Hancock - (Arrow, 2000) by Cliff Goodwin - An extended, comprehensive biography.
References 1 Kettering Magazine Issue #2 p5 - Hancock At ATV 2 http://home.btconnect.com/howejam/dadsarmy/books/bio_jlm_lady.htm Lady Don't Fall Backwards by Joan Le Mesurier (ISIS, 1990, ISBN 185089406X) External links Hancock, Tony Hancock, Tony Hancock,Tony Hancock,Tony
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|