1921 to 1984
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This
is the page that started the whole idea off for this site. I was
listening on the radio and a man was publicizing his new book on
Tommy Cooper. I then had the idea to put a page on this man who
had mad me laugh so often on my other site. From that came the
idea for other British comedians, and the whole thing just
snowballed from there.
There
is absolutely no doubt that Tommy was a comic genius. His sense
of the ridiculous was brilliant, and his silly one liners
click
here, send me into hysterics, and the way that he made his magic
go wrong time after time, took real skill, because he was in
fact a very accomplished magician.
This
biography came from here,
http://justlikethat.homestead.com/Index.html and is
well worth looking at.
In 1947 Tommy came out of the services. At first he struggled to
make a living.
He began touring the theatre and variety club circuit in England.
Then the BBC were looking for new acts, the Beeb's talent
spotter's agreed to audition the young man. They were 'Underwhelmed'
by the experience. 'Performance - Comedy patter with cod magic.
Description - Unattractive young man with an extremely
unfortunate appearance.' Was the spotters opinion. Nevertheless
the 'Head of Light Entertainment' thought Tommy 'A potentially
big star.'
He made his television debut in Leslie Henson's Christmas Eve
Party.
He then performed in variety theatres and at London's' famous
Windmill Theatre, where he once did 52 shows in a week. Billed
as 'Tommy Cooper almost a magician.'
That same year his television career was launched and by the
late 1960’s he recorded his sixth hugely successful television
series and was a well established and favourite entertainer for
British television viewers of all ages.
In 1964 he appeared at the London Palladium in the
Royal Command Performance.
By now Tommy was one of the highest paid, most sought after
television stars of his time but live performances were where he
was happiest and most at home.
Much of his life was spent on the road, often turning down
lucrative television deals in order to continue touring variety
clubs and theatres. Touring offered him the lifestyle he wanted.
In 1969 he was voted ITV's Personality of the Year.
Between 1973 and 1980 he made 28 shows for ITV.
In 1977 Tommy had a heart attack whilst in Rome, and after lung
trouble he had to forgo his affection for cigars.
His last performance in April of 1984 was from Her Majesty’s
Theatre and was a live television show where he died on air
doing what he loved.
He had said many years before, 'that is the way I would like to
go', and so it proved to be.
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