He made the whole world laugh and died alone among dirty dishes: the tragic fate of comedian Benny Hill

He had millions of viewers, but in the most difficult moments around no one.

Benny Hill, whose real name is Alfred Hawthorne Hill, was born on January 21, 1924 in Southampton, England, a port city from where the Titanic left for its first and last voyage 12 years before the birth of the future comedian.

The passion for buffoonery was inherited by Hill. His father and grandfather were circus clowns. But suddenly they settled down – for example, his father became the head of a surgical instrument store, but Alfred, who made his way in ordinary jobs, realized that such a life was not for him at all. He belongs on stage.

But the road to the podium was, as usual, long and winding. After leaving school, Hill managed to work as a milkman. He was drafted into the Army during World War II and served as a mechanic, truck driver and searchlight operator in Normandy. At the end of the war, Hill was transferred to the entertainment division of the British Armed Forces Broadcasting Service and already got a job in peacetime radio.

Hill was inspired by British musical comedians and also decided to make a name for himself in show business. He adopted the nickname “Benny” after his favorite comedian, Jack Benny.

In 1950, he first appeared on television. And in 1955, the first episode of The Benny Hill Show aired, which became a cult comedy and lasted for decades. The last issue was filmed in 1989.

Hill succeeded in devising a spectacular music hall-based format that combined live comedy and film parts, and his humor was based on slapstick, innuendo and parody. The audience loved the show – it always had high ratings.

A distinctive feature of the program was the final scene, in which various funny characters chased the main character – in our time, the music from there has become a real network meme and is still actively used in commercials to achieve a comic effect.

Since the early 1980s, the show has also featured a group of attractive young women called the Hill’s Angels. However, this soon began to attract criticism – many were outraged by the excessive sexualization of girls and obscene jokes. Since Hill himself was no longer young, many of the scenes seemed not so much funny as disgusting.

The show has expired. Benny was fine when he was young, but when you’re over 60 it’s a bit different staring at a beautiful girl,” John Howard Davis, head of Light Entertainment at Thames Television, where the show ran for 21 years, once said. .

These words were soon followed by actions. In the press, it was Davis who was ultimately named as the man who fired Benny Hill, although publicly everything was handled more politely. The comedian said he is taking a year off. However, his contract was never renewed.

After losing his job, Hill stopped appearing in public and lived the life of an ordinary lonely retiree. During his life, he earned millions, but he did not know how to spend them at all – frugality, bordering on stinginess, was transferred to him from his parents.

Benny didn’t own a house, preferring to rent apartments, buy cheap groceries, walk rather than take a taxi. The only luxury he allowed himself was travel, and even then he stayed in modest hotels.

The personal life of the comedian did not work out. He proposed to his beloved women twice, one of them was actress Annette Andre, but was rejected twice. Throughout his life he was never married, he had no children. He met his old age alone, in a small flat in Teddington. In February 1992, Hill suffered a heart attack. Only Michael Jackson came to see him in the hospital, who called Hill the number 1 comedian. Doctors recommended Benny to undergo a bypass, but he refused. This decision turned out to be fatal.

On April 20 of that year, he was found dead in his apartment. The cause of death was a second heart attack. 68-year-old Benny sat in an armchair in front of a working television, his hair disheveled and surrounded by dirty dishes. His body was found by the producer of his show, Denis Kirkland. For several days he tried to reach Hill with the good news. Viewers bombarded Thames Television with letters asking them to put their favorite show back on air. Television bosses gave up and decided to start showing unreleased shows.

On the day of Hill’s death, he also received a new contract in the mail from Independent Central Television, for which he was to make a series of specials.

Hill bequeathed his entire fortune to his parents long before his death, but at that time they were no longer living, as were other close relatives – his brother and sister, Leonard and Diana, with whom he had no contact. As a result, the inheritance was divided among the nephews. And that was a very impressive amount – the comedian’s fortune at the time of his death was £7,548,192, which is equivalent to £16,600,000 today.

However, rumors quickly spread among the people that supposedly untold wealth in the form of gold and jewelry was buried with Hill. Six months later, the attackers opened Hill’s grave in Hollybrook Cemetery, but of course found no treasure. Then the grave was closed with a concrete slab by the decision of the police.

And if the comedian’s money has long been spent by the heirs, his show still belongs to the audience who do not, do not, and even smile when they hear familiar music.

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