Funny, Peculiar : The True Story of Benny Hill

by LEWISOHN MARK

• ISBN13: 9780330393409
• ISBN10: 0330393405
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Summary

Benny Hill's saucy smirks at underdressed women are relished the world over. Yet the comedian cut an unlikely figure of global admiration: unmarried and emotionally enfeebled in his few relationships, he was a deeply private individual uninterested in the trappings of success, a frugal man content to live in his humble childhood home flooded, freezing and burgled while his building society account bulged with millions of pounds he didn't use and hadn't wanted to earn. Funny, Peculiar is the first objective and full account of Benny Hill's life and work. Tenaciously researched and yet sensitively reported, it charts the highs, lows and many paradoxes of a man whose professional strengths-observation, impression and mime-bought him unimagined success, and whose weakness, especially an inability to change, fashioned his ultimate downfall. - First in-depth biography since Benny's death in April 1992. - A return to favour with audiences who are jaded with 'alternative comedy'. - Existing biographies are unreliable, lightweight and out of date. - Benny has been screened in 109 countries, and enjoyed for over 50 years

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
Prologue Benny Hill's Eddie in August	1	(4)
1. Before Benny: The Alfie Years
A Remarkable Ancestry	5	(15)
Alfie	20	(19)
`That's for me!'	39	(22)
Milk-O!	61	(24)
The Dogsbody's Dogsbody -- with Small Parts	85	(28)
2. Benny Hill: Comedy Specialist
The Sunshine Personality	113	(30)
Doubled Up	143	(30)
After Sunderland, Anything Goes	173	(23)
And the Bright New Hope of Lime Grove . . . Wins!	196	(21)
3. A Certain Talent
The Same Old Benny	217	(15)
The Harvester	232	(19)
`He's good. Who is he?'	251	(16)
`A sweet-faced man; a most lovely, gentleman-like man'	267	(35)
The Rejected Director	302	(23)
4. Up and Down
As Grateful as Hell	325	(17)
Global TV's Top Banana	342	(14)
The Political Football	356	(31)
The End	387	(17)
The After Life	404	(32)
POSTSCRIPT The Forgotten Man	436	(5)
Notes	441	(45)
Appendices
Benny Hill on Stage	452	(4)
Benny Hill's Appearances on British Radio	456	(15)
Benny Hill's Appearances on British Television	471	(9)
The Movies of Benny Hill	480	(3)
Benny Hill on Record	483	(2)
The Addresses of Benny Hill	485	(1)
Further Reading	486	(2)
Acknowledgements	488	(3)
List of Illustrations	491	(4)
Index	495