Benny hill was gay

Hill had struggled on stage and had uneven success in radio, but in television he found a medium that played to his strengths. This was commonly filmed using "under-cranking" camera techniques and included other comic features such as jogging instead of a run at full speed and characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other.

Sue Upton was one of the longest-serving members of the Angels. He took on the nickname of "Benny" in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. In , his show moved from the BBC to Thames Television , where it remained until its cancellation in , with an erratic schedule of one-hour specials.

The series showcased Hill's talents as an imaginative writer, comic performer and impressionist. The Benny Hill Show had a music hall-derived format combining live on-stage comedy and filmed segments, and its humour relied on slapstick, innuendo and parody. Yet, by the late s, Hill had upped the sexual content in an attempt to beat Kenny Everett at his own game (Hill’s dance troupe was named Hot Gossamer) and the audiences dropped to (a still.

Rumours circulated that he was gay, but he always laughingly denied them. He may have bought scripts from various comedy writers, but if so, they never received an onscreen credit some evidence indicates he bought a script from one of his regular cast members in , Cherri Gilham , to whom he wrote from Spain, telling her he was using her "Fat Lady" idea on the show in January The most common running gag in Hill's shows was the closing sequence, the "run-off", which was literally a running gag in featuring various members of the cast chasing Hill, along with other stock comedy characters such as policemen, vicars and old women.

Inspired by the "star comedians" of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. From the start of the s, the show featured a troupe of attractive young women, known collectively as "Hill's Angels". As fans continue to celebrate the timeless humor he shared with the world, the elusive details of Hill’s love life remain an unsolved piece of the puzzle.

Hill appeared in five full-length feature films— Who Done It? Finally, a clip-show film spin-off of his early Thames Television shows — , called The Best of Benny Hill , was a theatrically released compilation of Benny Hill Show episodes. The tune used in all the chases, Boots Randolph 's " Yakety Sax ", is so strongly associated with the show that it is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme".

He lived in the same large double apartment, most of the time with his mother, for 26 years. His show was among the most-watched programmes in the UK, with the audience peaking at more than 21 million in His father, Alfred Hill — , later manager of a surgical appliance shop, [5] [6] and grandfather, Henry Hill born , had both been circus clowns.

[34] Hill was a Francophile and enjoyed visits to France, including to Marseille, where until the s, he could go to outdoor cafes anonymously, travelling on public transport and socialising with local women. Hill was a prominent figure in British television for several decades.

Alfred Hawthorne Hill 21 January — 20 April was an English comedian , actor , singer and writer. He played a number of characters in the series, such as Harry Hill and Fred Scuttle. The question of whether Benny Hill ever had a romantic relationship remains unanswered, contributing to the intrigue surrounding his legacy.

In addition, he attempted a sitcom anthology, Benny Hill , which ran from to , in which he played a different character in each episode. He served as a mechanic, truck driver and searchlight operator in Normandy after September [8] and later transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment [9] division before the end of the war.

When his mother died, he turned the apartment into a shrine, not changing anything. It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and films. They would appear either on their own in a dance sequence or in character as foils against Hill. [34].

Short, bald Jackie Wright was a frequent supporting player who in many sketches had to put up with Hill slapping him on the top of his head. It seems that Benny Hill, famous throughout the world by surrounding himself with young women, either was scared of intimate sexual intercourse or, as some un-named sources have implied, he was impotent or gay.

He is remembered for his television programme The Benny Hill Show , an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double entendre in a format that included live comedy and filmed segments, with Hill at the focus of almost every segment. Sad truth: Most people remember British comedian Benny Hill for his slapstick, risqué humour - but the real-life character was sad, insecure and almost obsessively tight-fisted.

Contrary to the boisterous, loud character he played on the small screen, Benny was a quiet, private man in real life. Alfred Hawthorne " Benny " Hill (21 January – 18 April ) [1] was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter.