biography
| name: |
Hancock, Tony
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| |
popular name of Anthony John Hancock
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1924–68)
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| biography:
| Comedian, born in Birmingham, West Midlands, C England, UK. After a brief period as a civil servant, he enlisted in the RAF (1942). Overcoming extreme stage-fright he tried his hand as a stand-up comic with touring shows before making his professional stage debut in Wings (1946). Pantomimes, cabaret, and radio appearances in Educating Archie (1951) contributed to his growing popularity, and he made his film debut in Orders is Orders (1954). He achieved national fame and popularity with the radio, and later TV, series Hancock's Half Hour (1954–61). A chronic alcoholic beset by self-doubt and unable to reconcile his ambition with his talent, he spent his final years in a self-destructive round of aborted projects and unsatisfactory performances, and committed suicide while attempting a comeback on Australian television. |
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