What happened to BENNY HILL

alfrid Hawthorne Hill was born 21 January 1924 in Southampton England his father a former circus clown was quite strict with the Sun and his fair's frugality shaped Benny's attitude towards money for his entire life leading to a phobia of spending money though he found school boring Hill's classmates remembered him as the class clown after dropping out of school in his teens Benny worked as a milkman before seeking his fortune in London where he found work in the props department of a theatre company oh I was a milkman yes when I left school at about what 1415 I worked for a coal company for three weeks I work for Woolworths as a stockroom Clarke and general dogsbody for about six months and then about six months I went on the milk where in 1942 he'll join the British army where he trained as a mechanic and served in Normandy while there he entertained the troops in variety shows it was at this time that he adopted the professional name Benny Hill in amage to comedian Jack Benny after the war ended Hill worked in radio but after seeing little success moved to television making his first appearance there in 1950 eventually Hill began writing his own ideas for a show after spending seven weeks on his scripts Hill presented his idea for a sketch comedy to the BBC I think television is gonna need material as I wasn't doing terribly well as a performance a comic I thought I'd try my hand at writing the channel was so impressed with the pitch they offered him a deal on the spot and the Benny Hill show made its television debut in the 1955 [Applause] inspired by the vaudeville stylings of hills screen idol Charlie Chaplin the Benny Hill shows pioneering musical format combined live onstage comedy with pre-filmed segments making audiences laugh with comedy that was heavy on slapstick innuendo and parody [Music] Hills trademark van in fish choirboys grin gave slapstick a whole new meaning the combination was an instant success in his home country making Benny Hill a household name [Applause] due to his phenomenal success Hill made a few cameos on the silver screen appearing in whodunit helpless Timmy drew light up the sky those magnificent men in their flying machines Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Italian Job in the 1970s Hill left the BBC and joined tames television who brought the Benny Hill show to the United States where it found enormous popularity the show would go on to air in over 140 countries around the world [Music] Hills enormous success came with equally enormous wealth however he never owned a car he only bought groceries when they were on sale and never left the modest apartment he rented he'll wore his clothes until they were threadbare and would glue the soles back on old shoes to make them last longer you can only wear one shot at a time one pair of trousers at a time you only eat one meal at a time on a permanent tired I can't dine at Maxim's every night much as I'd love to in the late 1980s critics started to complain that Hills humor too often cross the line from good fun into sexism I I don't think I go beyond the bounds of propriety I try not to you can't be saucy and was very difficult to be saucy when you know everything is so permissive [Laughter] [Music] well it's over now tennis in 1989 he was informed by his studio that the Benny Hill show had been cancelled he was deeply hurt business is business and I don't mind you know them saying we had enough but we can't afford it or or whatever I would have liked a little bit of a small pat on the back cuz I'd been there for 22 years although he remained a huge international star he'll begin to eat and drink heavily and three years after the cancellation of his show Benny Hill suffered his first heart attack and then declined a much-needed heart bypass surgery that would have extended his life in April 1992 after friends could not reach Hill by phone and a neighbor had heard his television on for days Benny Hill was found dead on his couch in front of the television surrounded by money and uncashed checks he had passed away days earlier he was only 67 years old [Music] although if any Hills comedy outlived its time he influenced numerous artists all over the world the British tabloids had worked hard to find disparaging information about mr. Hill but the worst they could say was that he occasionally rode buses and often entertained disabled people Benny Hill left behind no survivors having been rejected by the two women to whom he proposed marriage he was buried at Holly Brook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton [Music] shortly after the burial grave robbers broke open mr. Hills coffin hoping to find a treasure trove they believed had been buried with him they obviously failed to understand that Benny Hills greatest treasure his kindness and passion for bestowing laughter had perished with him [Music] thank you for watching don't forget to subscribe and to click the bell to be notified of new videos

Channel: Alpha 11

Views: 2,122,308

Rating: 4.921792 out of 5

Keywords: Benny Hill, Benny Hill Biography, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Johnny Carson, Alfred Hawthorne Hill, The Benny Hill Show, Thames Television, Calssic Comedy, British Comedian, Classic Television

Id: tOGnr_LgS6Q

Length: 6min 52sec (412 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 14 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/rollingreen48]

I used to love his show as a kid. Def not appropriate but still funny. Sad to hear he died like that.

[u/LukeNew]

That's pretty sad. Wonder what he was going through e before he died?

[u/screenwriterjohn]

Better than being found dead with no money!

Depositing checks used to be a chore. You're rich if you didn't bother cashing some checks.

[u/malvoliosf]

That video just showed up in my YouTube feed. I wonder if YouTube is pushing it for some reasons, or if this TIL is making it noticeably more popular.

[u/zstandig]

That's depressing, you can be a success and still be lonely and sad 😓

[u/inbeetween]

Rest In Peace Benny Hill

[u/esjwsn]

I think I recall Benny Hill Show used to come on HBO early on? Anyway my over-sheltering mom wouldn’t allow us to watch it. Yeah we were a little young but my step-brothers used to let us watch when the folks were out of town. We laughed our asses off. Genius. This doc really puts a damper on the evening. I had no idea about any of that

[u/Runswithtoast]

Sounds like a nice way to go

[u/SpongeforInformation]

This made me think of Bilbo Baggins, sad still though he was a funny man.