or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
28 used & new from £1.88

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography
 
See larger image
 

Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography (Hardcover)

by John Fisher (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
RRP: £20.00
Price: £16.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £4.00 (20%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
9 new from £4.99 19 used from £1.88

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas by Graham McCann

Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography + Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas
Price For Both: £22.72

Show availability and delivery details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas

Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas

by Graham McCann
4.2 out of 5 stars (8)  £6.72
Kenneth Williams Unseen: The Private Notes, Scripts and Photographs

Kenneth Williams Unseen: The Private Notes, Scripts and Photographs

by Wes Butters
5.0 out of 5 stars (5)  £14.74
The Tony Hancock BBC Collection (8 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

The Tony Hancock BBC Collection (8 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

DVD ~ Tony Hancock
4.2 out of 5 stars (29)  £24.88
Alastair Sim: The Star of Scrooge and The Real Belle of St Trinian's: The Star of "Scrooge" and The "Belles of St Trinian's"

Alastair Sim: The Star of Scrooge and The Real Belle of St Trinian's: The Star of "Scrooge" and The "Belles of St Trinian's"

by Mark Simpson
4.0 out of 5 stars (4)  £16.12
Hancock's Last Stand: The Series That Never Was

Hancock's Last Stand: The Series That Never Was

by June Whitfield
4.2 out of 5 stars (4)  £10.50
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Hardcover: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; 1st Edition edition (1 Oct 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007266774
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007266777
  • Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 15.8 x 5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 38,872 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #16 in  Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Radio > Biographies
    #23 in  Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Radio Performers

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Tony Hancock's Half Hour opens new browser window
www.RadioSunday.com  -  Buy 96 Episodes and listen today. The Best of British Radio 
   Tony Hancock DVD opens new browser window
www.tv-nostalgia.com  -  6 Classic Episodes - 1963 Series £9.99 Free UK Postage 
   Tony hancock opens new browser window
www.Ask.com  -  Find the Best Results for Tony hancock
  
 

Product Description

Review

`What John Fisher doesn't know about traditional British comedy probably isn't worth knowing.' --The Guardian.


Product Description

Regarded as the best radio and TV comic of his era, Tony Hancock was a man whose star burned brightly in the eyes and ears of millions before his untimely death in 1968. Now, forty years on, critically acclaimed biographer John Fisher brings the first fully authorised account of his life. Tony Hancock was one of post-war Britain's most popular comedians -- his radio show 'Hancock's Half Hour' would clear the streets as whole families tuned in to listen. His peerless timing and subtle changes in intonation marked Hancock out as a comic genius. His character 'Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock' was an amplification of his own persona, a pompous prat whose dreams of success are constantly thwarted. The original British loser that we recognise in Victor Meldrew and Alan Partridge. Wonderfully supported by a cast including Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams, and working with scripts from Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Hancock became a huge star. The show was commisioned for TV, showcasing his talent for hilarious facial expression, and he became the first British comedian to earn a thousand pounds a week.Behind Tony Hancock's success however hid the self-destructive behaviour that plagued him all his life. Prone to self-doubt, and wanting to be the star of his own show, he got rid of James, and finally dismissed Galton and Simpson who had created the platform for his success. His private life was wracked by his ever increasing alcoholism and bouts of depression, and his relationships shattered by his capacity for violence. His ratings fell and, feeling washed up and alone after divorcing his second wife, he committed suicide in an Australian hotel room in 1968. Now, forty years after his death John Fisher explores the turbulent life of a man regarded by his peers as one of the greatest British comics to have ever lived.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography
76% buy the item featured on this page:
Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography 3.9 out of 5 stars (8)
£16.00
Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography
10% buy
Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£6.21
Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas
4% buy
Bounder!: The Biography of Terry-Thomas 4.2 out of 5 stars (8)
£6.72

 

Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Probably the last word on "the lad", 14 Nov 2008
By William Brandon (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This isn't the first account of Tony Hancock's life. Variously his agent/wife Freddie, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams among others have covered his story to one degree or another. The previous "full" account - When the Wind Changed - concentrated more on the scurrilous allegations of Tony's life -but, as John Fisher effectively says in hs preface here, you need to take some of that with a pinch of salt.

I guess we're not likely to have a more definitive biography than this one looking at the wealth of contributions to it. Fisher clearly knows his British comedy, as he pompously keeps telling us, but you are left with a very clear idea of where Hancock's humour came from, the contribution he made and the footprint he left. I'm tempted to say he left a huge shadow but it is clear that it was exactly those sort of puns which represented his dislike - if not loathing - of his self image.

The truth is that he was the best British comic actor of our time but he was fatally unable to simply recopgnise that and luxuriate in the genuine love his audience and colleagues had for him (Sid James comes out of this particularly sympathetically). Fisher brings out very well Hancock's huge intellectual pretensions and the negative impact his ever growing quest for perfection had on his comedy and those around him.

Hancock's alcoholism, mental illness and lapses into violence and abuse are well and responsibly handled by Fisher. Ultimately it leaves you with a real sense of sadness for what Hancock did to himself and what we lost. But there is a huge amount of good to remember and this long (very long)and exhaustive view of the lad and his times is rewarding at all times.

I finished the book and watched a couple of old TV shows straightaway, Brilliance.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Revealing insight, 9 Mar 2009
By J. W. Platt "Author of the Book" (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I grew up during the radio heyday of Tony Hancock - his "Hancock's Half Hour" persona was legendary when I was at grammar school, every episode being discussed at length at both break times and between lessons; every laugh being relived in the process. This biography of the flawed genius that was Hancock has given me so many insights into the man, his times and his character. He may not have been what I thought he was, but then few of us are, and my debt of gratitude to Hancock, as well as the author, is undiminished. I particularly liked the early chapters on radio comedy of the 1950s. A brilliant book, thoroughly recommended.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Hancock (and His Fans) Deserves Better Than This, 30 April 2009
By John Fitzpatrick (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
One of the problems of shopping via the Internet especially for someone like me who has little access to English-language bookshops, is that you don't get a chance to dip into the book. I know Amazon allows some online dipping but I think it would be an idea to give Internet purchasers a larger sample. I make this preamable because within a few pages of reading this book I realized I had made a big mistake in buying it. Had I picked up in a shop and leafed through it, I would have put it back on the shelf and moved on.

To call it a biography is misleading as it does not give an in-depth chronological account of Hancock's life but consists of lots of padding and dozens of pages of quotes and dialogue from scripts plus descriptions of sketches which might have been hilarious on the radio or television but lie dead on the printed page. The style is painfully bad.

I admit I gave up halfway through. Perhaps the book suddenly takes off towards the end but I simply did not have the patience to wait and find out.

Pity because I always found Hancock a very interesting character and would like to have learned more about him. It's also a pity that Hancock did not keep a diary or write letters as his one-time partner Kenneth Williams did. Hancock through Hancock's eyes would have been much more edifying than Hancock through Fisher's eyes.

Incidentally, Williams mentions Hancock in his Diary and Letters which are edited by Russell Davies and make highly recommended reading.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars An exhaustive account
It has to be said that this book by John Fisher is probably the most in depth analysis of Tony Hancock that has ever been written. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. A. Whiteside

4.0 out of 5 stars Affectionate, but still heartbreaking.
In his preface to this work, John Fisher mentions eight other previous biographies of "the lad himself" that he has referred to and which have between them have attempted to tell... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Emanon

5.0 out of 5 stars Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0007266774/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

It was in very good condition. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ian Burns

4.0 out of 5 stars Meticulous biography of the best comedian we've ever had
Forty years after his death his genius is undimmed and is being re-discovered on BBC Radio 7. You have only to listen to Paul Merton doing some of the Hancock sketches to realise... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. L. Williams

4.0 out of 5 stars Big Book of Hancock
This big book of Hancock is like combining many of he previously published books, nothing new here, but still good if you don't have the others. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. A. Upton

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.