Who Is Benny Hill?

Who Is Benny Hill?

Alfred Hawthorne Hill, known by his stage name Benny Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992), was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.

Benny Hill - Double Date
Benny Hill (Harry) & Jenny Lee-Wright (Ruby) go on a Double Date with Jackie Wright (Paddy) & Rita Webb (Edi).
--
Benny Hill shows of the 70's DVD
https://amzn.to/2J3ObYr

Benny Hill shows of the 80's DVD
https://amzn.to/2DN5rNu
--
British Comedy UK
Posted by British Comedy UK on Thursday, 18 July 2019

Alfred Hawthorne Hill, Jr. was born in Southampton. After leaving school, Hill worked at Woolworth's, as a milkman, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before becoming assistant stage manager with a touring review. He was called up in 1942 and trained as a mechanic, but transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment division before the end of the war.

Benny Hill - Bennys Circus
Benny The Clown entertains with his trained turtle, boomerang cap, a Centaur, Lady Ringmaster, The invisible man, Leopard Girl, skeletons and much more.
--
Benny Hill:The Complete 70's shows
https://amzn.to/2YGocdW

Benny Hill:The Complete 80's shows
https://amzn.to/2xzc5Ug
--
Benny Hill's Angels Benny Hill Fans Benny Hill Show British Comedy UK
Posted by British Comedy UK on Saturday, 13 July 2019

Inspired by the "star comedians" of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to "Benny" in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny.

Benny Hill & The Hot Gossamers
Benny Hill & The Hot Gossamers
Benny Hill TV Benny Hill Show Benny Hill's Angels Benny Hill Show The Benny Hill Show (1955) British Comedy UK
Posted by British Comedy UK on Friday, 21 June 2019

Hill had struggled on stage and had uneven success in radio. But in television he found a form that played to his strengths, allowing him a format that included live comedy and filmed segments, with him at the focus of almost every segment. It was to prove one of the great success stories of television comedy, keeping Hill a star for nearly four decades, generating impressive revenues for Thames TV, and remaining a cult series in much of the world long after Hill's death.

Benny Hill - Sale Of The Half-Century
Benny Hill plays Nicholas Parcels in a spoof of the Sale of the Century gameshow which was hosted by Nicholas Parsons.
with Libby Roberts, Jackie Wright & Bella Emberg as the contestants.
--
Benny Hill:The Complete 70's shows
https://amzn.to/2YGocdW

Benny Hill:The Complete 80's shows
https://amzn.to/2xzc5Ug
--
Benny Hill's Angels Benny Hill Show The Benny Hill Show (1955) British Comedy UK
Posted by British Comedy UK on Saturday, 6 July 2019

The show had a music hall-derived format and its humour relied on slapstick, innuendo and parody. Recurring players on his show during the BBC years included Patricia Hayes, Jeremy Hawk, Peter Vernon, Ronnie Brody, and his co-writer from the early 1950s to early 1960s, Dave Freeman. Short, bald Jackie Wright was a frequent supporting player, who in many sketches had to put up with Hill tapping him on the head.

Benny Hill - Spot Black
Benny Hill does some amazing trick shots during this snooker match, until Lesley Goldie distracts him.

Benny Hill shows of the 70's DVD
https://amzn.to/2J3ObYr

Benny Hill shows of the 80's DVD
https://amzn.to/2DN5rNu

Benny Hill TV The Benny Hill Show (1955) Benny hill show Benny Hill's Angels British Comedy UK
Posted by British Comedy UK on Sunday, 5 May 2019

Hill remained mostly with the BBC through to 1968, except for a few sojourns with ITV station ATV between 1957 and 1960 and again in 1967. In 1969, his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television, where it remained until cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials. The series showcased Hill's talents as an imaginative writer, comic performer and impressionist. He may have bought scripts from various comedy writers but, if so, they never received an onscreen credit (there is evidence that he bought a script from one of his regular cast members in 1976, Cherri Gilham, whom he wrote to from Spain and told her he was using her "Fat Lady idea on the show" in January 1977.)

Benny Hill in ETA Nuts advert
NUTS TO YOU!! Benny Hill in an ETA Nuts advert Benny Hill TV The Benny Hill Show (1955) Benny Hill Benny Hill's Angels Benny Hill Fans The Best of Benny Hill
Posted by British Comedy UK on Thursday, 31 August 2017

From the start of the 1980s the show featured a troupe of attractive young women, known collectively as "Hill's Angels". They would appear either on their own in a dance sequence, or in character as foils against Hill. Sue Upton was one of the longest serving members of the Angels. Henry McGee and Bob Todd joined Jackie Wright as comic supporting players, and the later shows also featured "Hill's Little Angels," a group of cute children including the families of Dennis Kirkland (the show's director) and Sue Upton.



The alternative comedian Ben Elton made a headline-grabbing allegation, both on the TV show Saturday Live and in the pages of Q magazine (in its January 1987 issue), that The Benny Hill Show was single-handedly responsible for the incidences of rape in England during the period in question, and also suggested the programme incited other acts of violence against women. But a writer in The Independent newspaper opined that Elton's assault was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context, and he appeared in a parody for Harry Enfield and Chums, Benny Elton, where Elton ends up being chased by angry women, accompanied by the "Yakety Sax" theme, after trying to force them to be more feminist rather than letting them make their own decisions.



The loss of his show was devastating for Hill (or, as one former supporting player put it, "He started to die from there"[citation needed]) and what followed was a self-inflicted decline in his health. In 1990 a new show was produced complete with Hill and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour: New York!.



Hill died on 20 April 1992, the same day that a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television, for which he was to have made a series of specials. Hill turned down competing offers from Carlton and Thames.

For more British Comedy information, please check out my Youtube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/ComedySuperstarsuk