First watched : Uncertain
Tommy used to do one hour specials, usually following Coronation Street, so it would be around 1973-74 that I first saw him. I remember my gran dismissing it as "he tries to be a magician and he isn't funny" and the rebel in me took up the challenge. I did find him funny although I can't quite see why he was so highly-rated among his peers.
For all the affection he generated on screen, Tommy seems to have been a fairly disagreeable character in a very private - he would only do interviews in character - life. He was a long-term adulterer, notoriously tight-fisted and a heavy smoker and drinker. The latter and its effect on his health curtailed his TV career as Thames decided in 1980 that continuing with his own shows was too much of a risk though he continued to work with them as a guest on other shows. That seems to have acted as a wake-up call and Tommy made some effort to cut back .
Tommy of course went out "just like that" collapsing backwards on stage during a guest spot on Live From Her Majesty's in 1984 while the unknowing audience guffawed at what they assumed was part of the act. A hasty commercial break signalled to the TV audience that all was not well. Tommy was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. 1984 was a bad year for show business with Eric Morecambe, Leonard Rossiter and Diana Dors all checking out and Dustin Gee, who followed Tommy on stage that evening, wasn't long in joining them. Like the Bradford fire , footage of Tommy's death comes and goes on YouTube but it's there at the time of writing, posted from Spain.
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