Benny Hill
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Benny Hill (born January 21, 1924 in Southampton , † April 20, 1992 in Teddington , London; real name Alfred Hawthorn Hill ) was a British actor , comedian and singer .
Life
Benny Hill was born Alfred Hawthorne Hill in Southampton, Hampshire, England and attended school there. After the Second World War he worked as a milkman, salesman, stage assistant and amateur actor. He made his television debut in 1949. In the early 1950s he became a popular radio host. In 1955 he received his first television show on the BBC . He made his film debut in 1956 in the comedy Who Done It? .
In 1969 he moved from the BBC to Thames Television and started his sketch series The Benny Hill Show , which was produced until 1989 and sold in over 100 countries. The skits in which Hill always appeared in different disguises and roles were often characterized by sexual ambiguity. Hill used techniques such as slapstick , pantomime and parody to become the most popular British comedian internationally. His shows were valued far more in the US than in his homeland. The theme tune for the Benny Hill Show was Yakety Sax by Boots Randolph from 1969 . Hill was also successful as a musician: in 1971, his fun song Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) was number 1 in the British charts for four weeks .
In 1989 his show was canceled by Thames Television. The official reason was the sexual allusions in his skits, which were denounced by some as misogynistic, while others saw in them only harmless allusions to general human weaknesses. The real reason was falling audience ratings, which resulted from repeated repetitions. Hill withdrew and started a new series in the USA in 1991: Benny Hill's World Tour , of which only one episode could be produced in New York before Hill's death .
Private
Hill's health deteriorated from the mid-1980s; he suffered from heart problems. The doctors informed him in 1992 that he absolutely had to go on a diet and recommended a bypass operation , which he refused.
He died on April 20, 1992, presumably of a heart attack, lonely in his apartment in Teddington, London, where he was only found a few days later. It was said that he was buried with all his jewelry. After his grave was broken into several times, the grave was sealed with a concrete slab by order of his relatives. It is located in Hollybrook Cemetery in Shirley , Southampton.
His fortune, estimated at £ 10 million, was shared among his seven nephews and nieces, the next of kin.
Awards
Benny Hill won various prizes, including a. Daily Mail TV Personality of the Year 1954, TV Times Hall of Fame 1978–79, TV Times Funniest Man on TV 1981–82, the special award of the Golden Rose of Montreux Festival 1984 and the Charlie Chaplin International Award for Comedy 1991.
Filmography
watch TV
- 1949: Hi There
- 1952: The Service Show
- 1953: show case
- 1969–1989: The Benny Hill Show; partly broadcast in Germany in 1970 on ZDF , 1975, 1981 and 1988 on Erste , 1992, 1993, 1995 and 2002 on RTL and RTL II
movie theater
- 1956: Who Done It?
- 1960: Light Up the Sky
- 1965: Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines)
- 1968: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
- 1969: Charlie dusts off millions (The Italian Job)
- 1969: The Waiters
Discography
Albums
- 1965: Benny Hill Sings?
- 1965: The World of Benny Hill
- 1965: Benny at the BBC
- 1966: Benny Hill Sings Old Favorites
- 1971: Words and Music
- 1990: The Compact Collection
- 1992: Benny Hill Sings?
- 2009: Benny Hill Sings Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West
Compilations
- 1972: Golden Hour of Benny Hill
- 1992: The Best of Benny Hill
- 1998: The Ultimate Collection
EPs
- 1961: Hit Parade Volume 1
- 1963: The Harvest of Love
Singles
- 1955: I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango
- 1956: Memories Are Made of This
- 1961: Pepys' Diary
- 1961: transistor radio
- 1961: The Piccolo Song
- 1963: The Harvest of Love
- 1965: What a World
- 1966: My Garden of Love
- 1971: Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)
- 1972: Fad Eyed Fal
literature
Oliver Nagel : The man who was Benny Hill . In: Titanic magazine . No. 8 , 2011, p. 54-59 .
Web links
- Benny Hill in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Benny Hill at Allmusic (English)
- Benny Hill at Discogs (English)
- The Benny Hill Songbook (English)
- Benny Hill Tributes with complete episode guide
Individual evidence
- ↑ UK chart discography
- ↑ Benny Hill's grave. In: knerger.de. Klaus Nerger, accessed on September 6, 2018 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hill, Benny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hill, Alfred Hawthorn (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actor, comedian and singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 21, 1924 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Southampton , Hampshire , England |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 20, 1992 |
| Place of death | Teddington , London |