Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian. He is remembered for his television programme, The Benny Hill Show, an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double entendre in a format that included live comedy and filmed segments, with Hill at the focus of almost every segment.
Benny Hill
Alfred Hawthorne Hill
21 January 1924
Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
20 April 1992 (aged 68)
Teddington, London, England, UK
Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK
- Film
- recording
- television
1947–1991
Hill was a prominent figure in British television for several decades. His show was among the most-watched programmes in the UK, and his audience was more than 21 million in 1971.[1] The Benny Hill Show was also exported to many countries around the world.[2] He received a BAFTA Television Award for Best Writer and a Rose d'Or, and was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance and for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety. In 2006, Hill was voted by the British public number 17 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars.[3]
Outside television, Hill starred in films including the Ealing comedy Who Done It? (1956), Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) and The Italian Job (1969). His comedy song, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)", was 1971's number one Christmas song on the UK Singles Chart, and earned Hill an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1972.
Early life[edit]
Alfred Hawthorne Hill was born 21 January 1924 (although some sources give his birth year as 1925) in Southampton, Hampshire.[4] His father, Alfred Hill (1893–1972), manager of a surgical appliance shop,[5] and grandfather, Henry Hill (born 1871), had been circus clowns. His mother was Helen (née Cave; 1894–1976).[4]
After leaving Taunton's School in Southampton, Hill worked at Woolworths[6] and as a milkman, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before becoming assistant stage manager with a touring revue. He was called up in 1942 and trained as a mechanic in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, British Army. He served as a mechanic, truck driver and searchlight operator in Normandy after September 1944,[7] and transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment[8] division before the end of the war.
Inspired by the "star comedians" of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. He took the nickname of "Benny" in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny.[6]