Tony Hancock Rare Interview Part One

Hancock was clearly drunk when he gave this interview on 'Late Night Line Up' in October 1965. He does however provide an interesting analysis of his own career and gives us his views on the nature of comedy.

[@Hogsbelly]

Fascinating stuff. Thanks a lot for posting this. God bless ya Tony.

[@Orla42]

Fascinating. I am a huge fan and this is the first time I've ever seen him interviewed. thanks so much for posting.

[@mashamorgan]

Many of us feel pity for Tony but allegedly that was the one thing he WOULDNT want us to feel about him.

[@mjb4983]

The sadness hurt

[@written12]

Quite an articulate fellow- whether or not he's under the influence.

[@janmcdonald3896]

He left a great legacy of classics. Best work though clearly with Galton & Simpson but it took someone very funny 2 make it work so well. A great partnership. Gone way 2 early.

[@theendofeverything6356]

Once he started to analyse his comedy, he killed the goose that laid the golden egg. And he ended up knowing it. The comedy was in the man himself.

[@sonraysonic3146]

well done for this, a lifelong fan and had never seen this. Of course, it's sad because we know the ultimate outcome. He was never bettered and had no equal. There's a slight parallel with Peter Cook, not the style but the sad end of another truly singular man.

[@bootheven]

What an incredible insight. When asked if he thought it was a mistake to part with Galton & Simpson, Hancock says he had10 good years with them. Unfortunately, he was already typecast as Anthony Aloysius Hancock of 23 Railway Cuttings. Maybe he should have yaken a leaf out of Sid James' book who was also typecast as Sid in everything he did. Hancock would have been great in the carry on films if he'd 'carried on.'

[@nihilist4184]

yes but Tony was too arrogant to admit to sid he was wrong in dumping them and can they please have him back in the carry ons. Funny enough the best one was carry on doctor when sid really did go into hospital for a heart problem and according to the documentary the headlines of hancocks death happened just before the movie was made which is confusing cause Hancock died in 1968 and i thought carry on doctor happened in 1967?

[@nihilist4184]

@bagshitass I know that which is why is said if only h wasn't arrogant he would have been asked by Sid to join the gang. Thanks for replying 3 yrs later.

[@mikekemp9877]

its interesting to see galton and simpsons take on it.they observed as you did that sid james had a character as sid ! yet they noted as well as two series they wrote for him after hancock he was never out of work.alan simpson said in fact sid revelled in it! he had a tv series by vastly different writers every year until he died a kind of record.he also did the carry ons and was on stage as well in fact he died performing! his character was certainly no handicap to his career.ray and i often muse about what tony could of done.we had a similar experience with harry h corbett.we wrote a movie for him and he said hed do it as long as it was a million miles away from his character in steptoe.so we did the bargee .harry played it like steptoe on a barge! tony rejected his own character but as he admitted it was all he could play.thats not to say he couldnt have been great without us! we thought for example he would have been marvellous in dads army as mainwairing.fenner in the rag trade would have worked with him.we even thought though it was john cleeses vehicle that tony could have been a brilliant basil fawlty.

[@spitfireJEJ]

Tony was arguably the best example of the difference between a comedian and a comic actor. He was probably the best comic actor there has ever been - but he needed a good script. Certainly stand-up comedy was not so much his forte.

[@davidwhyberd7612]

He started out as a stand up comic, wrote his own material and was awful. He was a comedy actor and a truly great one. Galton and Simpson were the gifted scriptwriters who wrote for him and he had a wonderful cast in the radio series of HHH. He wanted to move on and become international like Jacques Tati. He did not succeed, despite the marvelous script " The Rebel" from his writers. Morecame and Wise never became international. After " The Punch and Judy Man" he turned down " The Bargee" and "A day off" which was never filmed. Galton and Simpson needed to earn money and wrote "Steptoe and Son". It was so sad that Tony did not accept that he was as British as fish and chips and just enjoy his enormous success. Sid James loved working with him and he was loved by his public. They made a great comedy partnership that could have continued for many years.

[@MarkHarrison733]

@@davidwhyberd7612 The Hancock-James partnership had clearly run its course by 1960.

[@egapnala65]

The "Face to Face" interview has a lot to answer for. It made him too analytical and led him into a dark alleyway.

[@ianrenberger7441]

Maybe but it would have happened soon anyway particularly with the press. Tony Handcock sadly was a depressive and I got the impression that he had interest in things only connected with his job as an entertainer He did analyize or was analysed to much and in the wrong way and it is dangerous. Particularly with people who suffer from depression

[@jokergame]

Clearly on the ale - I suppose if you'd thought about it at the time you could have seen it coming. At his best he had no equal!

[@tinahardman9805]

Hancock was extremely troubled and this is a difficult watch after the brilliance of such as The Blood Donor. As talented as he undoubtedly was dropping Galton and Simpson was catastrophic.

[@jax9574]

He's drunk here, but boy he could hold a drink well, seemed very normal. He reminds me of Bernard Lee both were alcoholics both were drunk almost always but were such functioning alcoholics.

[@ysgol3]

Hi, sorry, hang on! Even here in 1965 he was a wife beater when drunk, and by the end of his life he was falling off the stage! He had a disease of course, and it's terrible, but he couldn't hold a drink well!

[@HHM706]

I think he’s the definition of a non functioning alcoholic!

[@Triplesod]

He was also a man, from the South of England, a comedian, he had brown hair, wasn't very tall and used to live in a building. I'm presuming I am stating something interesting and unknown there.

[@nicklive66]

Triplesod I wouldn't say Birmingham is the South of England although East Cheam is.

[@boychildnew1]

You forgot 'he ate food and drank liquids'...hehe...

[@simonsaxby7425]

He went to the toilet an average amount and did an average amount in it, some suspect an armful was generally dropped

[@Rumpio]

it didn't "make him", he was already like that.

[@MrDavey2010]

I never understood Tony Hancock‘s stage persona. I simply didn’t find him remotely funny even though I’ve tried and tried to watch his material in the hope that I would at least break into a smile but it never happens. Maybe it’s his underlying real melancholia which always seems to be there.

[@Ruda-n4h]

If you haven't seen it try his film the Rebel. It's very good at poking fun at the pretentious art scene of the 1960s and he performs some very funny set pieces.

[@Alpacajon]

thing is every man on british television has a few wiskeys before are show in those does lol

[@davidfelix2594]

By the looks of your incoherent sentence, it is you who is on the whiskey.

[@nihilist4184]

How about saying the truth tony?, repeat after me " i was a selfish arrogant prick who thought all the brilliance was attributed to me and that the magic didn't consist of my writers or the great actors beside me as part of the success formula. I cant ad lib like Kenneth Williams or other comedians i have to rehearse everything because i know deep down i'm not relaxed and confident enough to do a spontaneous comedy show on stage. But instead i will just knock those people like Kenneth because they have a talent that i also pretend to have. My success was really propped up by Galton and Simpson and yet i'm too proud to say i was wrong and can everyone come back and prop me up again before i drink myself into oblivion".

[@websitecontent4984]

Rubbish

[@nihilist4184]

I love your in depth debate, you really attacked the truth here.

[@charliebarker3767]

Nihilist, less is more

[@nihilist4184]

Your answer is non sequitur and out of context here. Anyway if you've read all his biographies compared to Kenneth Williams diaries acid drops and Sid's biographies and seen all the documentaries and movies made about them all ie cor blimey fantabulosa, an evening with Kenneth Williams, Hancock and Joan and the one with Melona you cant but not agree with what i say because its being purely taken down from facts and the analysis of all that. Its pretty obvious that Hancock had Adhd as well but those labels weren't around then. Maybe with Ritalin or dexamphetamine Hancock wouldn't have minded the critics comments saying he was only good with Sid as a double act that he wouldn't not have changed what was working and thus would never have sabotaged the well oiled machine.

[@ysgol3]

Nilihist - I've studied Hancock's life, I think as much as you evidently have, and, with one caveat, I think your point is spot on. This caveat comes from a conversation I had with Hancock's mentor, George Fairweather. George told me that whilst everyone seems to know that booze in the end destroyed Hancock's performing ability, it seems unrecognised that the booze also ruined his ability to make sensible career judgements - which explains his catastrophic decision to drop Galton and Simpson. As George said, Hancock's wish to become 'international' could and should have been fulfilled by sticking with G&S - that character the 3 of them created could have gone anywhere in the world - America - anywhere. So it was the booze which destroyed it all.

[@davidfelix2594]

Fella was a 1st class tool.

[@danknighton3286]

Maybe, but a much loved one

[@thewomble1509]

Met him , did you?

[@scottandrewbrass1931]

How edgy.

[@DanielWebb-jn8ku]

Ur a first class tool