Benny Hill

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Alfred Hawthorn Hill (January 21, 1924 – April 20, 1992), better known as Benny Hill, was a prolific English comic, actor & singer, best known for his television programme, The Benny Hill Show. Since its debut in 1955 his television show has been sold to over 140 countries worldwide, with viewership in the billions.

Contents

1 Life
2 Career
3 ''The Benny Hill Show''
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Life

Hill was born in Southampton. After leaving Taunton's School, Southampton (which his brother also attended), Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, bridge operator, driver and drummer, before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager. For the stage he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian Jack Benny.

Benny worked compulsively and had only a few friends, although colleagues who knew him closely insist that he was never lonely, but content with his own company. He never married, although he did propose to two women - one the daughter of a British writer - and was rejected by both. He never owned his own home, nor even a car, instead preferring to rent a small flat in Teddington, a convenient walking distance to the Teddington Studios, where he taped his show. He was a distant relative of the Australian actress and singer Holly Valance (Hill's cousin being Valance's grandfather).

Hill's health began to decline in the early 1990s. Weighing 17 stone (238 lb or 108kg) at 5 ft 10½ in tall, he suffered heart problems related to his obesity. On 11 February 1992, doctors told him that he needed to lose 28 lb, and recommended a heart bypass. He declined, and was diagnosed a week later with renal failure. Benny died 'on or about 20 April', alone in his flat, at the age of 68. The cause of death was listed as coronary thrombosis. Neighbours found his body on 20 April. (His death closely coincided with that of another British comedy icon, Frankie Howerd, who died on 19 April aged 75.)

Hill's will had left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, neither of whom he had enjoyed the closest of relationships with, and both of whom were also deceased. This left his seven nieces and nephews, amongst whom the money—approximately £7.5 million—was divided. A note was found among his belongings assigning huge sums of money to his close friends Sue Upton, Louise English, Henry McGee, Bob Todd and Dennis Kirkland, but because it was neither signed nor witnessed, the note had no legal standing.

He was buried near his birthplace in Southampton. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body.

Career

Between the end of the war and the dawn of television, he worked as a radio performer. His first appearance on television was in 1949 in the television programme Hi There. He continued to work intermittently until his career took off with The Benny Hill Show in 1955 on BBC Television.

His film credits include parts in nine films including Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), in which he played the relatively straight role of the Toymaker, The Italian Job (1969), and finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames shows (1969-73) called The Best of Benny Hill (1974).

His audio recordings include "Gather In The Mushrooms" (1961), "Transistor Radio" (1961), "Harvest Of Love" (1963), "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)" (1971), among many others. He also appeared in the video of the song "Anything She Does" by the band Genesis.

The Benny Hill Show

The Benny Hill Show featured him in innumerable short sketches (along with Henry McGee, Carol Cleveland, Nicholas Parsons (in the show's early years at Thames), Bob Todd, Rita Webb, Jackie Wright (Little Jackie) and others) portraying a leering, lecherous, never-quite-succeeding, yet charming protagonist. He was very versatile and appeared in many different costumes. Slapstick and double entendre were his hallmark. The show was criticized by some for being sexist, but Hill replied by pointing out that the female characters were all intelligent and kept their dignity, while the men chasing them were all buffoons. He used sped-up film - also known as 'Undercranking' - and sight gags to create what he called 'live animation' and he masterfully employed techniques like mime and parody. He was also a skilled composer and singer of patter songs. Here is an example of his doggerel:

Roses are reddish

Violets are bluish

If it weren't for Christmas

We'd all be Jewish.

The theme song, "Yakety Sax," which has gained a particular cult following on its own, was written by Boots Randolph. Apart from the tune, another signature of the show was the enthusiastic announcer intro — "Yes! It's The Benny Hill Show!" (The announcer was often cast member McGee.)

Another well known song used in The Benny Hill Show is Mah Nà Mah Nà by Swedish porn star and music composer Piero Umiliani.

In 1969, his show moved to ITV, where it remained until its cancellation in 1989, with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials. The show was first broadcast in the United States in January 1979 and screened there with a series of re-edited half hour programmes culled from the ITV specials. The US versions of his show have far less risqué material than those which were aired in the UK. The show was awarded the 'Special Prize of the City of Montreux' at the 'Rose d'Or' festival in 1984.

The show has been broadcast in over 100 countries. The Benny Hill Show (1969–89) is in syndication and available on videotape in the US. The syndicated version consists of 111 half-hour episodes, re-edited from the original hour-long specials made by Thames Television and screened on Britain's ITV network three or four times a year. Half-hour edits also appeared on ITV, although the contents may be different from the syndicated US versions. In 1989 Thames dropped Hill, claiming a major decline in ratings; however, this has often been disputed. Some argued that the show was the victim of political correctness, others that the style of comedy was simply very dated. Modern British comedy stars such as Ben Elton were also dismissive of Hill's penchant for using pretty girls in his shows, supposedly in a sexist way. Though Hill's characters were made to look ridiculous and lecherous, and the butt of the joke, a lot of viewers didn't think of his shows as being sexist at all. Thames' final broadcast of a brand new Benny Hill show attracted more than 12 million viewers across the ITV Network. One reason often cited was that his character's constant leering at attractive women was less charming as he grew older. Hill later recorded some shows for US television. The Benny Hill show is currently airing in one-hour portions (not corresponding to the original hour-long format), twice nightly on BBC America (Dish Network channel 135/DirecTV channel 264).

There is far less material currently available in the UK, although in 2005 the Thames specials began to appear uncut on Region 2 DVD sets, each representing one year and entitled The Benny Hill Annual. In 2004, the same year Benny Hill started airing on BBC America (originally in two half-hour shows), the Thames specials began to appear uncut on Region 1 DVD sets for the US, by A&E Home Video, entitled Benny Hill: Complete And Unadulterated. The first three sets are called "The Naughty Early Years". And unlike the UK sets, each represents multiple years of the shows in order of the original airings. Set One shows the episodes from 1969-71 (with the three black-and-white episodes never-before seen in the US), Set Two shows the episodes from 1972-74, and Set Three shows 1975-77. Set Four was released early in 2006 under the new name "The Hill's Angels Years" with shows from 1978-81. Later in September 2006, Set Five will be released showcasing episodes from 1982-85.

Charlie Chaplin and Michael Jackson were avid fans of Hill's work; Jackson found time to visit Benny in hospital when Hill was recovering from a heart attack in February 1992. Hill discovered that Chaplin was a fan when he was invited to Chaplin's home in Switzerland by Chaplin's family. Apparently, Hill and Dennis Kirkland (a friend, and director of Hill's show for many years) were the first people outside of family to be allowed into Chaplin's private study. Dennis Kirkland died on 16th February 2006, aged 63, after a short illness. Adam Carolla has also claimed that he was an avid fan of Benny Hill and that he considered Hill "as American as the Beatles".

References

[Benny Hill] page at the Museum of Broadcast Communications
[Benny Hill] at IMDb
[Biography] at BBC America
[The Benny Hill Show] page at the Museum of Broadcast Communications

External links

[Lyrics and transcriptions]
[Benny's Place featuring Louise English & Hill's Angels] A tribute to the late, great Benny Hill and his beautiful ladies known as Hill's Angels