Tony Hancock

A British comedy actor, who appeared on radio, TV, and film.

Hancock was popular from 1954, initially through his radio series, Hancock's Half Hour, and then on television when the series was transferred to that medium. He also made several forays into the world of film, including two films in which he played the star role, The Rebel (1961), and The Punch And Judy Man (1963). However, as his career began to wane in the early to mid-1960s, he increasingly turned to alcohol. In 1968, he committed suicide at his Bellevue Hill flat, in Sydney, through an overdose of pills and alcohol.

His melancholic frustration with the world around him remains popular, and his work is often re-issued.

Born: 12th May 1924, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England.
Died: 25th June 1968, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. [suicide, aged 44]