Looking behind the story of a tragic comic

Comedian and actor Tony Hancock, who died in 1968, was a troubled character despite being one of the UK’s most successful and best known comedians of the twentieth century.

More than four decades after his death, Hancock remains a firm favourite with many people. Teesside University academic Vin Arthey will put the spotlight on the comic with his lecture Comedy and Tragedy: Some Thoughts on the Life and Death of Tony Hancock.

Hancock’s battles with alcoholism and depression are well known, but a number of myths and riddles still surround his death. Vin’s talk will examine the enduring appeal of Hancock’s comedy, while also considering whether the final self-destruction happened in quite the way the history books tell.

Never wavering from an admiration of Hancock’s comic genius and paying tribute to Hancock’s contribution to Britain’s comedy heritage, the lecture will also explores some of the myths and suggests some solutions to the riddles.

Vin, formerly Principal Lecturer in Television Production at Teesside University, is currently a Visiting Fellow in the University’s School of Arts & Media. His Teesside University doctorate in biographical studies was awarded in 2010.

He said: 'I hope to show how important Hancock was in so many people’s lives, as well as in post-war history. I want to focus perspectives on his comedy, but also to take a very new slant on the nature of his death and the meaning of his suicide note.'

Born in Birmingham and brought up in Bournemouth, Hancock’s first comedy performances were at seaside concert parties and in church halls before he volunteered for the RAF in 1942, aged 18. He honed his comic talents in RAF entertainment and later at London’s Windmill Theatre and provincial variety stages until his radio career began in 1952.

Within two years he had his own radio show which transferred to television in 1956. If his rise was meteoric, so was his fall. Always obsessed with improving his comedy, he jettisoned his co-performers, his writers, his broadcaster and finally his country, committing suicide in Australia in 1968.

An Audience with Vin Arthey can be heard on Thursday 12 February from 5.30pm to 7.30pm in the University's Centuria Building, Room H0.01.

Places can be booked by contacting Jane Hutchinson on 01642 738233 or by emailing events@tees.ac.uk.

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