The Death of Tony Hancock

Interesting documentary sequence which traces the decline and eventual suicide of the comedy legend. Ends with a short tribute.

[@BritishAlienCompany]

I became a fan of Tony Hancock at the age of 8 in 2002. I happened to catch the last five minutes of 'The Radio Ham.' Tony's character was just spellbinding. And now 9 years later, Hancock's Half an Hour is still a regular part of my radio listening. When i discovered the manner of Tony's death, it really hit me. A man who i'd taken solace in and listened to since i was young, to go out in such a scared way was so poignant. When we lost Hancock, we lost an icon. A beaten soul. x

[@pix046]

His suicide was inevitable. He was a perfectionist. He thought his performance was no good. No one else thought he was anything other than excellent, but it was what he thought that really counted.

[@MrChassmash]

I apologise if this sounds patronising, it is not meant to, but it is great to find this genius is still being discovered by younger generations. Have you listened to the 'Great Lives' edition on Tony Hancock? If not you can find it on BBC iPlayer Audio. Worth a listen.

[@FontedaPipaPortugueseFarmLife]

My dad bought an Aston Martin DB5 when i was a kid, he found out the Tony Hancock was the first owner.

[@Tridhos]

A great comedian I used to listen to him when he was on the radio, every show was a winner. Thanks for all the laughs.

[@CollyBrown1]

I've loved his sense of humour for over 60 years; and it still makes me smile 😃

[@daisychain4503]

stigma of mental health in that decade would not have helped. He clearly tried to self medicate with alcohol. Very sad that he didn't get the help he needed.

[@peterm1826]

most of these so called mental health experts are as bad as the patients today isn't much different

[@marywilliams9858]

Guess what? It still exists.

[@twistoffate4791]

Sometimes there is no help. There is no help and there is no hope and the darkness never goes away.

[@davidbarton5974]

Wow, Damaris Hayman was such a talented actress, very funny too, and appeared in many films with the likes of Sid James, Tony Hancock and Peter Sellers. She is still with us, at 90 years of age. It's good that Tony Hancock had a friend like her who would visit whenever he was lonely.

[@garybrockwell2031]

Damaris Hayman, great name is it not, remember her great talent 👑🇬🇧😘

[@baobo67]

I grew up with Tony Hancock and recall so many happy hours with my parents listening to him, Just so sad that someone who brought so much pleasure to so many people was himself so terribly unhappy.

[@richardcochrane1966]

"Too many things have gone wrong too many times" I believe these were his last words...tragic

[@squarebobsspongepants4618]

you can hear the love in sids voice and he respected the man so much

[@paulakavanaugh7632]

Such a sad ending. He was true comic genius. I hope he is now at peace :(

[@neilforbes416]

No, he wasn't true comic genius, of himself, he merely had the good fortune to be among the likes of Bill Kerr, Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams who were much funnier than him, and effortlessly so.

[@degsbabe]

Bollocks. He bestrode them like a colossus.Think the BBC would pay him thousands to perform if he wasn't worth it ?!

[@neilforbes416]

Hancock struggled to be even slightly funny, while the others in his show, Kerr, Jacques, James and Williams could have you rolling on the floor in fits of laughter and barely raise a sweat. If anything, Hancock dragged the others down to his level. And if the BBC were paying him all that money, more fool them!

[@fredwhite9513]

stupid comments

[@ukrpgfan4029]

He should be, he's dead...

[@ysgol3]

Such a beautifully spoken and sensitive contribution from Sid James. A big clue I think that Sid was a much deeper soul than the happy go lucky straightforward rascal so many people assumed he was in real life.

[@iangoldsworthy5307]

I agree. Sid seemed very caring

[@leightonsteven7059]

Sid may have had his softer moments but first and foremost he was the womaniser and a gambler,there’s no getting away from it

[@ysgol3]

@@leightonsteven7059 He told a friend soon after his final split from Barbara Windsor that he didn't care now if he died. The reply was 'Sid are you really that unhappy'. Sid's reply - 'Yes I am, I'm that unhappy'. Very soon afterwards, Sid died.

[@swf4841]

I doubt it.

[@nickycotton6137]

@@ysgol3 = Yeah! No need :-( but he's got many who appreciated his work! 'The Carry On's' would never have been as great without and he was the perfect sidekick in Hancock's Half Hour... Bloody brilliant.👍

[@mrscravatte1]

Love him, love him, love him. Met Alan Simpson a couple of months back, what a charming, humble gentleman. Rest in peace, Tony x

[@Chipchase780]

I love that retort he made in “The blood donor”. When informed that a pint was the required amount to give .. “A pint !!? A pint !!? That’s an armful !!”

[@rentaghostokish5628]

Wish that Sid James had been able to talk to him that time he saw Hancock looking awful and desperate in Picaddilly.

[@ppuh6tfrz646]

To be honest, it probably wouldn't have made any difference in the long run.

[@degsbabe]

Bit like sid later on.

[@jbcollins1389]

We still enjoy his work these 45 years hence. That is our best tribute. We radio hams saw our funny traits through him.

[@mashamorgan]

The Australian show eeerily eclipsed his demise. A sad, lonely man going to a new frontier to resurrect a once wonderful career. That last hour and a quarter, I watched it once it was so sad, it brought me to tears. Miss you Tone, especially at xmas for some reason !!

[@ysplse]

I've seen his last stuff done in Australia and its so tragic to see the end of one of the best comics who ever lived, that DVD should never have been recorded.

[@Steve20127]

It's difficult, all these years on, to realise the impact that AH had on the public. He emptied pubs, for example, and affected the pub trade that much that landlords complained to the BBC about it. It's sad that he never realised how loved he was. As Harry Seacombe once said, " May the Lad lie sweetly at rest"

[@FatLeonard84]

It's so true that you don't even enjoy drinking anymore, it just becomes a necessity of survival

[@mashamorgan]

Its so sad that someone who brought so much laughter to the world had to endure so much sadness. Luv ya Tone !

[@astapler]

"It may be just a smear to you, mate, but it's life and death to some poor wretch."

[@racheldemain1940]

Loved The Blood Donor!

[@mashamorgan]

I always felt going to Australia was the final nail in his coffin. He was lonely enough without being over there without those who cared for him. At one point in the airport when he was leaving he apparently grabbed hold of a rail and said "I cant go". I wish he hadnt. My fave comic of all time RIP Tone !!

[@trevortagliabue5650]

When l was a small child, my family used to watch Hancock's Half Hour on a fuzzy, black and white TV. Never fully got all the dialogue and much later on l remember reading in the newspaper where he'd taken his life. Looking back, it's so sad that we never had Lifeline or similar institutions set up to help those poor, lonely souls who needed hope and someone to talk to....

[@Smartychase]

He looked very old for 44 I thought he was in his 70's

[@HighTen_Melanie]

Dear Tony Hancock. So loved, so missed. 💕

[@paulathomas7341]

So sad, hope he has peace now, so sad.

[@rgadave]

Like so many talented very funny people their lives are plagued with demons. R.I.P.

[@johnwilliams2479]

Same thing with Sellers,

[@sametoyoutoo8509]

Introverts are the worst

[@virusinsideus]

my dad grew up listening and watching tony hancock and thru that i did too in a way, along with The Goons, Monty Python ect and Tony was a pioneer of comedy, and changed how comedy is seen today, i hope up there he realises how his legacy has endured

[@whouster]

A prime example of a tortured genius - a truly brilliant comic performer.

[@harryvernon6446]

50 years ago he took his life. The question often arises, if you could meet one person in history who would it be? For me, Tony Hancock. RIP. There will never be another.

[@peterm1826]

my mother met him few days before his death she worked in a bakery and delivered bread across certain suburbs of sydney one of her suburbs was bellevue hill she thought he looked terrible troubled miserable she said i know you tony hancock he smiled and said nice to meet you baker lady

[@JAY-lo3sx]

53 years ago today. Still very much missed & still very much enjoyed.

[@petercurry6222]

A friend of mine of 40:years and now deceased, would always say I reminded him of Tony Hancock. We struggle with the lonely, empty and meaningless of life and some of us lose that struggle with our own hand and before our time. TH couldn't go on with the human experience in a dreadful world and I defy anyone not to understand why. Good to see Sid wearing his mask. RIP guys. 🌷

[@peterturley1331]

Indeed. For inherently kind and sensitive souls, this World is a dastardly place, and I believe dear Tony was one of those souls, as I and you are dear friend. The outcome in most cases is self sacrifice. I will leave it there. Regards.

[@petercurry6222]

@@peterturley1331 Thanks. Much appreciated.

[@gordonpritchard]

Thank you very much for posting this video.

[@freck2614]

Do you remember this?

[@louwoods9278]

He was a genius. His timing and facial expressions superb. I was 1 year old when he died but dad saw to it I knew of him. He still makes people smile, all these years on.

[@fordprefect80]

He looked much older than 44. It had to be the drinking, as he looked like a man in his late 50's. Very sad.

[@mattowen9958]

He does look a lot older than 44 , but people aged very quickly in those days, once you were 30 you were very old, people didn't live as long in those days, every one smoked and drank, not to his level granted.

[@adamrobson619]

Amen. Im 22 and him and peter cook are my heroes they are the template for all modern comedy

[@robinsonandy1]

the one and only hancock!! will always be remembererd as one of the greatest british comedy icons along side sid james R.I.P!

[@John-wz7yu]

He seemed so sad and out of place in the Australian television show it was almost like he knew it wasn't going to work out , It was a sad ending for a very talented but troubled man,

[@markrobinson6129]

By 1968, there was a new wave of comedy - Beyond The Fringe, That Was The Week That Was, Do Not Adjust Your Set - that was pushing the boundaries. Meanwhile, Tony Hancock was playing The Talk Of The Town with a set of old gags from the 1950s. Had he not died in 1968, the likes of Spike Milligan and Monty Python would have finished him off.

[@irvingmicheaux2761]

And the Goodies plus Morecambe & Wise, Benny Hill, and even the Muppets

[@jrgboy]

To me in these shows Tony looks a lot older than his 44 years

[@racheldemain1940]

I agree, he looks older. Howled with laughter when Dad played the Blood Donor for me on a record. Much funnier than watching as you imagined what was happening.

[@Yetaxa]

That's what years of heavy drinking does to you

[@Renfair333]

Thank you so much for posting this. Is this an excerpt from a longer documentary?

[@wearehanky]

How can you say 'it's always very sad' when someone tops themselves. Depends on what kind of life they had...

[@fegstachops6746]

44 years old , wow . In every scene I’ve ever seen him in he looks older than 44 . He must of looked in his late forties in his twenties.

[@MarkHarrison733]

He looked 45 in "The Alpine Holiday", yet he was only 32.

[@raydodge4121]

this series could almost be seen as reality TV, it mirrored much of what TH was going through !

[@soutiesellers2698]

By an odd chance, I was in Sidney when H took his life. I was pumping ballast on board the ship when the news came. Beats me how I didn't turn the ship turtle ,I was so upset

[@billcobbett9259]

Hancock could convey so much just with his face. What a great clown he was.

[@Hickey66]

This is a nice tribute to Tony Hancock. So was it 1966 when he died? Time flies. Every Tuesday at 8am on BBC7 I listen to him, Sid, the ozzy bloke, Ken Williams and Hatti. 'You have left your car outside the police station with no lights on Sir. That is an offence. But is is ten o' clock in the morning! Oh, yes sorry sir, just come off nights.'

[@antonyhobbs1144]

Bill Kerr is the Aussie bloke you're talking about.

[@grai]

I always loved the rhythm in the line "it may be just a smear to you mate but its life and death to some poor wretch" And also Hancock's suicide note:"things go wrong too often"

[@districtline]

A sad end to a great talent....thx for posting.

[@EuphemiaGrubb]

Hancock never accepted that it was Galton & Simpson who put him on the map. He hated anyone to get a laugh and so got rid of all his fellow comedians like Sid James. He ended up alone because of his jealousy, nastiness and generally being a right sh*t. I miss him.

[@balfnet]

Although I think Tony Hancock was excellent, I feel that he wouldnt have received the same plaudits without Galton & Simpson. The same goes for Wilfred Brambell and Harry H Corbett.

[@irvingmicheaux2761]

Not just them but also Eric Sykes who co-wrote his two season ITV sitcom during Half Hour's radio and TV runs

[@diverguy3556]

@@irvingmicheaux2761 Eric Sykes was a genius in his own right who doesn't get the praise he deserves.

[@brianpendergest5159]

Love to see the rest of this documentary watched it years ago

[@paulbroderick8438]

Always remember one of his HHH sketch's: Riding in a train carriage a soldier, doctor, a priest entered. His remark: On kills them, one cures them and one buries them!

[@blackpoolbarmpot]

Tony was a comic genius, but sadly also a manic depressive and alcoholic which eventually ruined his career. I don't think Tony ever realised just how good he really was. He quite literally pressed his own self distruct button. I love hearing the re-runs of 'Hancocks Half Hour' on BBC Radio 7, they are as funny today as they were all those years ago.

[@filbertthedilbert1]

I read a book called Murder to Work With that has an interesting theory about what tipped Tony over the edge whilst he was staying at the doctors house

[@eteline_music]

@LSGaravard Yes, also Ritchie Edwards said that Hancock's suicide note about "things went wrong too many times" was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever read.

[@mjwchapman]

Heartbreaking. Especially the Sid James clip.

[@cinemaipswich4636]

Hancock's Halfhour was my favorite show when I was a boy. They showed it on the ABC (Australia, B&W) in the 1960's, and he was much loved in Australia. I remember he and Sid James did a 2 part near the end of the show.

[@Gruntol5]

I don't think this extract does justice to Tony Hancock's comedy genius at all. It presents him just as an alcoholic, manic depressive. He was much more than that. Hancock's Half Hour is still very funny 40 odd years later. I can completely understand the way he felt going from gloomy, but familiar England to sunny but alien Sydney, and being stuck in a hotel 11,000 miles from home. The culture shock when arriving in Australia, particularly then, must have been overwhelming.

[@itkapatanka]

thanks. brilliant comic brilliant documentary...perhaps you can include their names?

[@user-tl3hu2lh6u]

44 is no age. Thank God times have moved on concerning mental health. 😞.

[@Marvin-dg8vj]

There are no cures for people in such a terrible state..The saddest thing was the comments of Simpson and Galton who felt he stabbed them in the back

[@brianallsopp69]

It's funny I was at home on Sunday night eating cheese on toast and listening to Hancock ( The Fête) on BBC sounds it was like my dad told me when he was in the army in Malaya in the 50s and they listened to Tony on Sunday afternoons on the BBC World service 60 years later and we're still listening, laughing , enjoying , god bless you Tony you're not forgotten,,,, and you will always be loved 🌧🌦🌥🌤⛈⛅☁️☀️

[@ianwalker3950]

Can anybody tell me who the music is by?

[@AndrewWilliams-zc1hf]

Hancock's half hour was great comedy with observations on life & standing up to authority. He was a comedy actor more than a stand up comedian & it was a shame he decided to not work with syd james anymore as they gelled in the scripts. As the old saying goes ' if it's not broke don't fix it'.

[@niktwik]

A true comic genius. Nice Video.

[@stevehughes1510]

God bless 'em, a tormented soul who bought mirth and laughter to others, lightened up our lives. Rest in peace Tony.

[@mashamorgan]

Just watched it, very sad to watch for true Hancock fans !!

[@charlescalthorp5375]

It’s strange listening to him recount where he last saw Tony Hancock, on a traffic island in central London looking terrible because Barbera Windsor last saw Keneth Williams in the same circumstances, crossing the road in central London looking terrible.

[@NYJALB]

As an aside I was reading When the Wind Changed and my, then 11 year old, daughter said..."Dad, why is there a picture of you on the back of that book?".......it was Hancock sitting on a flight of stairs looking decidedly glum.......but I tried to take it as complement!!!

[@LeBartman]

He taught me to eat eggs, and now they are my favorite food. "Hapiness" is truly "egg-shaped."

[@spangle69]

V good indeed. Just finishing John Fisher's TH biography. Probably the saddest book I have ever read. BTW...the Bees' soundtrack to this film works really well.

[@xoffender74]

Rip Damaris Hayman

[@carlharris2808]

When you look at him he looked older than 44 the drinking must have had a real hold on him.They say comics are the worse people to get depression because they think they are not funny anymore and sink much lower than normal people.

[@cassylow9418]

What documentary is this from!? :(

[@howlinghuntley1688]

I would have known what to do. Breaks my heart that line

[@demon27dan]

'Hancock and Joan', a BBC Film, premieres on TV in April 2008. It looks at the last few years of Tony's life and his relationship with Joan Le Mesurier. Hancock is played by Rebus and Messiah star Ken Stott.

[@Krzyszczynski]

Hearing about Tony's death came as no surprise at all, even though I was a very young 18 at the time, with next to no experience of the world and its darker by-ways. Hard to know which was the more horrifying - the news itself, or the realisation that I'd more or less been expecting it. Incidentally, he'd had a severe emotional blow a few days earlier, on learning that his second wife, Freddie (that's her picture on the wall behind him in the opening shot), had been granted a divorce.

[@CarlB_1962]

It’s a tragedy when so much talent is bound up in such a tortured soul.

[@Iberotimuka]

He needed love, we all adored him but he hated the way we loved him or why, ie the radio character with all its shortcomings and vulnerabilities. He wanted to be respected, he aspired to be taken seriously.

[@stephenmitchell8324]

sad loss to comedy

[@billyshepard5514]

Interesting story, being in the US I never heard of this comedian. I do know that many in the UK never heard of George carlin until after his death and watching his youtube

[@Mr3sheds]

Hancock made an attempt to crack America in the early 60s, but NBC decided that the American public would never be able to understand what he was all about. There was talk of remaking the series in the US with Tony Randall, but this came to nothing. The fact that Hancock's first film was retitled "Call me Genius" in the states caused a severe panning from the critics from which he never recovered.

[@jasonburns4071]

***** Interesting that you mention Tony Randell.Now I think about it he would have been ideal to play Tony's downtrodden role.Very similar facial expression.I used to enjoy Randell in the movies featuring Rock and Doris?

[@antoniod]

And THE ODD COUPLE was a LOT like Tony and Sid! I think Sidney James actually played Oscar on stage in England, but I'm not sure.

[@jasonburns4071]

Steve Burstein Hi Steve. I grew up listening to Hancock and it was a revelation. People in England actually believed he lived in East Cheam and at Railway Cuttings such was the way he portrayed himself. The worst and silliest thing he did was to split from his writers...Simpson and Galton...both of whom are still very much with us. If you have 'catch-up' facility and can get on to BBC iplayer then you can go to Radio4extra and listen again to a programme from a few weeks ago where both writers discuss their careers at the BBC and you can listen again to a classic Hancock episode.

[@antoniod]

Jason Burns Thank You. Yes, last time I went to London in '04 I thought of going to Cheam as a kind of pilgrimage, and whenever a friend moves to an area near a train tunnel I make a "Cuttings" joke.

[@galahadthreepwood9394]

Eager and hopeful creatures, lost in a hostile world.

[@arcadefire123]

Is that the voice of Sid james at 7:14?

[@racheldemain1940]

Yes.

[@tubular167]

a pint.. why thats nearly an armfull..a sad tragic end to britains greatest comic talent

[@LaPerulera]

What a tragic man - so sad

[@zigzogoid4591]

Worked at The Rex Hotel, Darlinghurst Road, Sydney during my World travels. Manager told me that it had been one of Hancock's last drinking holes. Never found him funny. Guess I could see the tragedy in him even when he was at his height. R.I.P. Tony.

[@rogerkomula8057]

I lived in a town called Hancock for 10 years and yet never heard of this man until this moment. So legend is a bit much. However it is sad that a drunk is remembered.

[@CarolFremel-my4hs]

Lived under a rock in a town called Hancock

[@rogerkomula8057]

@@CarolFremel-my4hs - gfy, you dumb c.

[@mikedowns8293]

Am watching the '91 Screen 1: Hancock.... Alfred Molina covers those last 8 yrs of his life, Clive Russell in it too.

[@aydiemouulugun5595]

R. I. P💔

[@NYJALB]

Have to agree wholeheartedly with that....you may well already have done so, but if not, check out When the Wind Changed, a biography of Hancock by Cliff Goodwin....a really telling insight to the trouble man Hancock was.....like you I am a huge fan even though I was only 8 or 9 when he passed away, but I now have a huge collection on tape dvd etc and to me the comedy genuis of Galton and Simpsons writing and Hancocks timing stands the test of time

[@xiWackoo]

Thank you for the insight on this. Hancock was a genius and had to leave us some time, i'm just so sad it had to be this early.

[@samsum3738]

The lad himself . R . I. P.

[@mollyfilms]

I suspect not one of those interviewed are still around today.

[@lord.onk99]

Pure genius.

[@paulclay8547]

A very talented performer. R. I. P

[@raycope2086]

Bummer.

[@Perter43]

It should serve as an important lesson that celebrities need the protection their fans can offer. Fans can create a space for those they worship. It is this lack of space that creates the demons which plague celebrities.

[@scottmoyle879]

Such a sad loss. He could have done so much.

[@mrgazpacho3316]

What is the significance of November 25th 1970?

[@dcasey77]

@wearehanky Well I don't think there are too many cases of people topping themselves because they're really happy with life, do you? Therefore I think it's fair to say that their personal circumstances must be either very difficult or very unhappy. I would say that it is very sad to hear about anyone who views their life so negatively that they would prefer to end it.

[@jimcrawford5039]

A lot of famous people started their careers in Australia too!

[@autophyte]

Like Dave Allen.