Funny, Peculiar

On the whole, a well-written biography. I was a little dubious to begin with as on page 95, the biographer describes a a moment when Benny is seduced by another man, the biographer retells the story but it is unclear if he was retold the story by the man in question. Mark ends the scenario with Benny stumbling over a doormat as he leaves the gentleman's flat. I was wary that this might be some "creative license" on the biographer's part and the book I was delving into might be littered with authorial interpretation of unknown finer details. However, this kind of writing didn't continue.



Being a Benny Hill aficionado, I was aware of most of the material within this sizeable tome but it was nice to read unabridged as can be possible with a biography. I suppose the facile nature of Alfie Hill Junior makes for delving any deeper into the man an obstacle. It certainly was as objective as possible, sometimes, I thought, too much so. But then again, Benny was a fairly objective personality. I did like how the interviews were conducted with friends, relatives and lovers. Mark must have asked quite personal questions which paid off as far as the person in question is concerned.



I once went on a television specialist quiz show with The Life and Times of Benny Hill as my specialist subject, it was enjoyable revisiting all that trivia in this book. I do have to add a personal remark, Benny's declining health must have been horrible to endure and I found the remaining months of his life difficult to read as this predicament must have surely been awful for him, and especially lonely and frightening at times. The archetype tragic comic at the very end. I would recommend this for anyone with an interest in historic comedians.