Alfred Hawthorne Hill, better known as Benny Hill, was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer.
FactSnippet No. 939,057 |
Alfred Hawthorne Hill, better known as Benny Hill, was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer.
FactSnippet No. 939,057 |
Benny Hill 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.
FactSnippet No. 939,058 |
Benny Hill was a prominent figure in British television for several decades.
FactSnippet No. 939,059 |
Benny Hill's show was among the most-watched programmes in the UK, with the audience peaking at more than 21 million in 1971.
FactSnippet No. 939,060 |
The Benny Hill Show was exported to many countries around the world.
FactSnippet No. 939,061 |
Benny Hill received a BAFTA Television Award for Best Writer and a Rose d'Or, and was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Entertainment Performance and two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety.
FactSnippet No. 939,062 |
In 2006, Benny Hill was voted by the British public number 17 in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars.
FactSnippet No. 939,063 |
Alfred Hawthorne Benny Hill was born on 21 January 1924 in Southampton, Hampshire.
FactSnippet No. 939,064 |
Benny Hill was called up in 1942 and trained as a mechanic in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, British Army.
FactSnippet No. 939,065 |
Benny Hill served as a mechanic, truck driver and searchlight operator in Normandy after September 1944 and later transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment division before the end of the war.
FactSnippet No. 939,066 |
Benny Hill took on the nickname of "Benny" in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny.
FactSnippet No. 939,067 |
Benny Hill played a number of characters in the series, such as Harry Hill and Fred Scuttle.
FactSnippet No. 939,069 |
Finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames Television shows, called The Best of Benny Hill, was a theatrically released compilation of Benny Hill Show episodes.
FactSnippet No. 939,070 |
Benny Hill received an Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in 1972.
FactSnippet No. 939,071 |
Benny Hill had struggled on stage and had uneven success in radio, but in television he found a medium that played to his strengths.
FactSnippet No. 939,072 |
The Benny Hill Show had a music hall-derived format combining live on-stage comedy and filmed segments, and its humour relied on slapstick, innuendo and parody.
FactSnippet No. 939,073 |
Benny Hill remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV and ATV stations between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967.
FactSnippet No. 939,074 |
In late May 1989, Benny Hill announced that after 21 years with Thames Television he was quitting and taking a year off.
FactSnippet No. 939,075 |
Benny Hill's shows had earned Thames £26 million, with a large percentage due to the success of his shows in the United States.
FactSnippet No. 939,076 |
In February 1992, Thames Television, which received a steady stream of requests from viewers for The Benny Hill Show repeats, finally gave in and put together a number of re-edited shows.
FactSnippet No. 939,078 |
Benny Hill died on the same day that a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television, for which he was to have made a series of specials.
FactSnippet No. 939,079 |
Johnny Carson and sidekick Ed McMahon were both fans of Benny Hill and tried several times to get him to come to Los Angeles and be a guest on Carson's The Tonight Show.
FactSnippet No. 939,081 |
Eugene told Benny Hill that his father was a great fan and used to watch the tapes with great enjoyment in his final years.
FactSnippet No. 939,082 |
Benny Hill never owned his own home in London and instead preferred to rent a flat rather than buy one.
FactSnippet No. 939,083 |
Benny Hill rented a double-room apartment on London's Queen's Gate for 26 years until around 1986 when he moved to Fairwater House in Teddington.
FactSnippet No. 939,084 |
Benny Hill spoke French fluently and knew basic German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian.
FactSnippet No. 939,086 |
Benny Hill's health declined in the late 1980s and after working for Thames Television.
FactSnippet No. 939,087 |
Benny Hill declined, and a week later was found to have kidney failure.
FactSnippet No. 939,088 |
Benny Hill died at his flat in Teddington on 20 April 1992, at the age of 68.
FactSnippet No. 939,089 |
Benny Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery, near his birthplace in Southampton, on 26 April 1992.
FactSnippet No. 939,090 |