Anyone can do magic badly. But you have to be a genius like Tommy Cooper to get away with how he done it. Joe Pasquale
Unattractive young man with indistinct speaking voice and extremely unfortunate appearance. Comedy patter with cod magic. Nonchalant approach, but poor diction and unpleasant manner. BBC initial post-war assessment of Tommy Cooper
Dying on stage is an occupational hazard for every comedian. But Tommy Cooper brought a whole new meaning to the phrase when he had a heart attack during a live TV show at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1984. The man literally died to the sound of laughter. He was a brand with a trademark red fez and the catchphrase [Not like that, like that] ... Whose mere entrance on stage had audiences erupting with uncontrollable laughter. He was an icon. Respected by his peers. And yet despite the plaudits and the trappings of success he was privately plagued by the trappings of success. The Art of Tommy Cooper
The sheer size of the man was in direct contrast to the child-like quality of his gags. ibid.
For almost twenty years he was in love with two women. ibid.
What else you got? Well it’s magic. Magic ... Mary Kay, my assistant. Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This, Tommy’s introduction in store, ITV 2014
Never raise your voice to me again. ibid. Tommy to lover
There is a reason why monogamy works, Tommy. ibid. agent
Tommy, it’s four in the morning. ibid. lover to Tommy in pub
‘Making the world a happier place.’ Tommy Cooper: In His Own Words, Jimmy Tarbuck, Channel 5 2018
‘He walked on and they laughed.’ ibid.
Tommy Cooper was born in Caerphilly Wales, March 1921 … They moved to Exeter … Aged 14, Tommy begins work at a shipbuilder’s … Army Days: 1939: Tommy joins the Horse Guards … 1977: Variety Club Tribute 1977 Cooper to Agnes, wife: ‘I told you to wait in the truck, didn’t I?’ … Your own wife heckles you, that’s good isn’t it?’ … ibid.
‘So I’d like to close now with a little song …’ ibid. Prince Philip’s 60th birthday dinner
1980: Tommy’s last series: Cooper’s Half Hour. ibid.
1980: ‘His health was taking its toll I think, and it wasn’t just the drink.’ ibid.
‘He sank down on his haunches, and he was sat there with the audience laughing their head off.’ ibid. Jimmy Tarbuck
‘As he went down, I knew.’ ibid. daughter
I’m an Englishwoman with all the feelings of an Englishwoman. Joyce Grenfell, St Trinian’s series, cited Heroes of Comedy: Joyce Grenfell
Call me sausage. Joyce Grenfell, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, 1950
Oh I say. How jolly pulse throbbing. Joyce Grenfell
In the late ’50s ... Joyce seemed the incarnation of the British stiff-upper-lip-middle-class virtues that had got Britain through the war ... I think those virtues were real and in many ways have survived and make Britain worth living in still. And she was the incarnation of them. Clive James, author and broadcaster, interview Heroes of Comedy: Joyce Grenfell
She had gravitas ... She would get beyond satire into near tragedy. ibid.
Everybody thinks of Joyce as quintessentially English but of course she was nearly three-quarters America. James Roose-Evans, collator of letters and journals
He [Terry-Thomas] was a class act. Nigel Havers, actor
How do you view? Are you frightfully well? You are? Oh, good show! Terry-Thomas’s opening lines on How Do You View
Everyone was talking about the gap between my teeth, my monocle, the fancy waistcoats I wore and the seven-inch cigarette holders I used. Terry-Thomas
You are a positive shower. Terry-Thomas to Ian Carmichael
Sorry for the delay but I’ve just discovered a technical hitch. Terry Thomas, DJ smashing records routine
There were two areas you didn’t discuss with Frankie [Howerd]: one was his personal life and one was his tonsorial arrangements. Michael Grade
It’s television, you see. If you are not on the thing every week, the public think you are either dead or deported. Frankie Howerd, attributed
I said where is this one-night stand? He said it’s the Oxford Union. Well I meant naturally I thought it was a pub. Frankie Howerd on Campus, 1990
Oxford Union 1999: In no way could you call me an intellectual. Which is why I feel so at home here tonight. Frankie Howerd: Rather You than Me starring David Williams
He said, ‘Excuse me, are you game?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ So he shot her. ibid.
I did do Comedy: you should have seen my Bottom. ibid.
I feel limp. I should be in bed. ibid.
You lose your nerve, and then you don’t do so well, and then you’re not wanted so you lose your nerve more. Frankie Howerd, BBC Arena 1990
Frankie Howerd was one of Britain’s most instantly recognisable comedians. But behind the titters Frankie Howerd struggled with private secrets, things he wanted to keep from the public, things he wanted to hide even from himself. Reputations s9e1: Frankie Howerd, BBC 2002
‘The public want sincerity from an artist. And if you can fake that, you’re made.’ ibid. Frankie
‘He knew early on he was homosexual.’ ibid. historian
Frank was in a state of near complete emotional collapse. ibid.
Next up was a spot on the BBC’s new late-night satire show That Was the Week that Was. ibid.
‘When he’d had a couple of drinks he used to get more verbose.’ ibid. scriptwriter
Frank was invited to join the Carry On team for a couple of outings. ibid.
Oh I’m so bored. Oh sod this for a lark. I’m going on a crusade. Up the Chastity Belt 1972 starring Frankie Howerd & Graham Crowden & Bill Fraser & Roy Hudd & Hugh Paddick & Anna Quayle & Fred Emney & David King & Lance Percival & Nora Swinburne & Godfrey Winn et al, director Bob Kellett, Frankie as King Richard
All alone in the field with the buttercups and daisies sometimes. And I occasionally get an audience, would you believe. Arena: The Frankie Howerd Story, Frankie with cow, BBC 2014
The Globe Theatre ... alas, it was not to be. ibid.
Off stage he wasn’t like that at all. ibid. Max Bygraves
He [Frankie Howerd] fancied himself as an actor. Then he drifted into comedy but he never really enjoyed it. He hated what he did. June Whitfield
Sybil, we’ve got to try and attract a better class of person. FAWLTY TOWERS [crooked S] Fawlty Towers s1e1: A Touch of Class ***** Basil
There is one thing – I was wondering can you cash me a small cheque? ibid. Lord Melbury to Basil
Lord Melbury – he’s not Lord Melbury. He’s a confidence trickster. ibid. Polly to Basil
A gin and orange, a lemon squash and a scotch and water please! ibid. guest to Basil
What’s the point in being alive? FAWLTY TOWER [crooked L] Fawlty Towers s1e2: The Builders, Polly to Basil
You want Room 16 for him? [points to garden gnome] ibid. Manuel to delivery man
We’re all dead. ibid. Basil to Polly
I’m afraid the dining-room door’s disappeared. ibid. Basil to Major
My wife – she will be back here in four hours and she can kill a man at ten paces with one blow of her tongue. ibid. Basil to O’Reilly