Talk:Benny Hill/Archive 1

Archive 1

Correction

The claim that the reason for the show's cancellation was pure political correctness is pretty egregiously not NPOV. I've edited it to give Thames' official reason, and cite two competing theories for why the show was killed. Metamatic 17:46, July 31, 2005 (UTC)

Reordering

have done some major reordering. hope the article is better organised now. i think that the benny hill show needs an article of its own (too much detail about its broadcast history, etc, to fit into this article on benny hill). i think the life section can also do with a little less personal information. thoughts, anyone? Doldrums 14:17, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Morbid biography

most of the "life" section is about his death. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 161.76.99.106 (talk) 04:48, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

How'd the rumour originate . . .

. . . about Carol Cleveland being part of The Benny Hill Show? Unless she was in at least one of his 1960s BBC shows. However (and needless to say), Ms. Cleveland did not appear in any of the 58 editions produced at Thames Television. Nor is the program listed in her resumé (though The Two Ronnies, listed in her biography on Wikipedia, is shown on her official website as part of her overall credits). Wbwn 18:25, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Comment

I have yet to see credit given to Benny Hill for the bit part he played in the 60's movie The Russians are Coming. Part wasn't very big, but it was well played.--Mike White

• I don't think he was in that one, but I do think you're probably confusing that film with Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, in which he actually did appear. -Wbwn 22:46, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Is the doggrel quoted here actually a Benny Hill composition? If not, I think an actual lyric should be used like one of the jokes from "Gather in the Mushrooms" perhaps. 23skidoo 21:21, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Kirkland's obituary

"Dennis Kirkland died on 16 February 2006, aged 63, after a short illness." Sorry for him, but it had to go. Nothing to do here. 200.55.126.124 03:04, 16 September 2006 (UTC) Nahuel

• A new entry for Dennis Kirkland has been started up in response to these concerns. –Wbwn 00:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

Year of birth

Quite a few sources give his year of birth as 1925 [1]. Is there any reason why only 1924 is mentioned in the article? --Dtcdthingy 20:49, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

• Every Hill bio I know of, has given 1924 as his year of birth, including the book his former producer/director Dennis Kirkland wrote, Benny: The True Story (later re-released as The Strange and Saucy World of Benny Hill). Apparently Hill, early in his career, took a year off his age for whatever reason. However, according to another source, anyone who would have been in a position to know exactly which year he was born is, like Benny himself, dead. –Wbwn 02:55, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
  • That would suggest we leave it as 1924 with a footnote discussing the disagreement. It's not right to not mention it in the article. --Dtcdthingy 23:18, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
    • The UK's GRO (Births, Marriages and Deaths) have his DoB as 1924 on his death index entry. Ian Cairns 07:02, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
    • I've now found his Birth index entry as: Alfred H. Hill MAR 1924 2c 52 SOUTHHAMPTON mmn = Cave so, I think 1924 is definite. I'll remove the dubiousness Ian Cairns 07:15, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Please clarify the chart in the see also section

I do not understand the chart in the see also section. What information is being presented there? Does it even belong with this article? Please remove or reformat the chart so it is more easily understood. Thanks Jerry lavoie 01:32, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

The man vs. the show

Right now, The Benny Hill Show redirects to Benny Hill. Shouldn't there be separate articles for the man and his programme? —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 05:38, 22 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. There's already enough information here to have two articles. I'm going to be bold and separate the articles. 75.33.80.150 14:42, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

Calypso songs?

Does anyone know anything about the (Caribbean-style) calypso songs Hill sang (including the one he sang early in his career, as well as the ones he sang on his show)? Badagnani 02:25, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Knighthood

Shouldn't there be something about his being knighted? I believe this is a fairly major biographical point that the article totally omits. The fact that they were knighted is of course prominantly included in the write ups of Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, etc.

Are you sure he was knighted? I can't find any record of it anywhere reliable chrisboote 14:10, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

As far as I can fathom, he was never honoured by the UK state/royal honours system - not even an MBE, let alone a knighthood. A bit odd given, if nothing else, his contribution to exports, but then the system has always been odd and is increasingly so at the time of writing Sitush 23:54, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

Benny Hill / Benny Hinn

Does anyone really get confused like this? I am going to delete the 'disambiguation' comment again. CanOfWorms 13:35, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I too get really confused with the, it is easy to get the two names mixed up and I imagine a lot of wikipedia readers would also get the two mixed up, and people looking for Benny Hinn that inadvertently come to the Benny Hill page need a small note to send them in right direction. Otherwise this page is a dead end for their search of Benny Hinn. JayKeaton 05:30, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Date of death

Hello.
On WP-FR and WP-ES (spanish), the death date is not the same day that here on WP-EN. So anyone have a real article (newspaper ?) with the good day ? Died on 18,19,20 of april 1992 ? Draky 10:23, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

His body was found on April 20, 1992. From what I've read and gathered, he'd been dead at least two days (that is, since the 18th) at the time his producer/director, Dennis Kirkland, found him slumped in his chair with the TV on. Hope this clarifies the matter. –Wbwn 07:54, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Skit music

There was a piece of music other than Yakety Sax that featured in many of his skits. I'm looking for its title and will add it if I find it, but if anybody knows it I'd be obliged. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.218.64.118 (talk) 18:02, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

There were quite a few. One was a medley of "Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo" (written by Giorgio Moroder, one of his earlier compositions from the late 1960's) / "Für Elise" (by Beethoven) / "Mah-Na, Mah-Na" (of course) / "Gimme Dat Ding" (a hit for The Pipkins in 1970). Other silent sketches (from 1977 to 1989) featured another medley, of four or five French-based songs, leading off with "One of Those Songs" (co-written by Gerard Calvi and Will Holt; recorded by many artists including Jimmy Durante) and concluding with "Brussels (Bruxelles)" (written by Jacques Brel) - I'm in the dark at this point on the other tunes that make up this particular medley. Check the "Benny's Place" site, as there is a section of the music performed on the show in its 20 years on Thames Television. And I'd put it in the Wikipedia page for TBHS. –Wbwn 06:33, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

The piece I was thinking of was "Gimme Dat Ding", but thanks for such a detailed answer 88.218.14.160 10:31, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:BennyHill.jpg

Image:BennyHill.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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"Last Will" section is self-contradictory

The "Last Will section opens with the statement that In Hill's will, he left his estimated £10 million (GBP) estate to his late parents. Later the article says ...the money — approximately £7.5 million —.... £10 million is a far sight from £7.5 million. This needs clarification - was it originally estimated at £10 million which turned out to be £7.5 million? Did £2.5 million disappear? Or what? The figures really need citations anyway, and the discrepancy should be explained. Incidentally I assume that he didn't actually leave his money to his late parents, but to his parents who were still in the land of the living when he made the will - this being the case the section needs a little re-writing here as well. Since I'm only assuming that Hill didn't write a very eccentric will I'm not going to make any changes! Tonywalton ^Talk 23:52, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

No neighbours?

Is it true that he bought the Houses at each side of his, so that he would never have Neighbours? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.108.31.134 (talk) 13:49, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

Vandalism

Somebody keeps inserting this random unsourced non-sequitir: "Hill's TV show was considered better than Monty Python by 2 TV stations (WOR and WLVI)." I would remove it but we all know what happens to anon edits24.4.132.165 (talk) 11:18, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

• Yeah, but the current version is blatant vandalism, so I can't imagine any responsible admin complaining. I've removed it again myself. 68.146.64.9 (talk) 21:28, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

Brilliant

A number of English people with whom I've spoken over the years have spoken derisively of Benny Hill; they seemed almost appalled that foreigners might associate their country with him. That's unfortunate. Benny Hill was a wonderfully talented, creative comedian. His doggerel and faux-poetry ("Ted," for example) are absolutely hilarious. He was a master craftsman of the English language, too, exploiting its possibilities to the fullest. And to top it all off, Hill's humor was never malicious or cruel. The politically correct among us who would condemn him simply don't understand the gentle, innocently lecherous nature of his characters. How could any Anglophone not smile at lines like "Three 'hole weeks of fun and sun, sir. Three hundred and fifty pounds." "I'd hardly call that a popular price." "I like it, sir." Or: "Some girls are like Cairo, mysterious and hot/Other girls are like Paree with all the charm she's got/But my girl she is like Tibet with all its ice and snow there/'Cause everyone knows where it is, but no one wants to go there." Benny Hill, you are one of England's greats, and many of us across the pond miss you still. Bamjd3d

• How could anyone with half an ounce of wit raise even a smirk at pedestrian lines like those?? 62.6.139.11

• The English people you talked to much be off their heads. I'm English and love Benny Hill, as do many others. He was the biggest star on Televsion in the UK for 34 years! 152.163.100.68 20:27, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

"The biggest star on television in the UK for 34 years"??? What a pile of crap! What planet are you on?

This is a funny story. My nephew was visiting London and asked several locals if there was a Benny Hill museum. He was constantly told "why would anyone want to visit such a place". It seems that people in the UK did not seem to appreciate Benny's humor. Piercetp 02:45, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

What on earth would a museum for the awful Hill consist of? A load of discarded cami-knickers? He wasn't even from London, anyway. Dolmance (talk) 04:49, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

• As an American, what I've noticed is that in Britain, many of the Benny-haters are more preferential towards the likes of Monty Python, which I've noticed has a more mean-spirited and strident tone to it in spots (or, to put it another way, "malicious and cruel"), not to mention some sketches pushing a certain kind of socio-political agenda. These hypocrites think that sketches like what Mr. Hill did such as looking at a beautiful woman is verboten, but blood gushing freely on a countryside as Python did (the "Salad Days" sketch) or an undertaker proposing to eat a potential customer's dead mother (also from Python) are perfectly okay. And of course the constant "Benny Hill bad" brainwashing and drumbeat over the last two decades in the U.K. - no wonder there are those across the pond who have such a low opinion of this comic genius. –Wbwn 18:33, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Monty Python isn't malicious, nor is it cruel. It does, I admit, require a modicum of intellect to appreciate it, which presumably is why you are finding it rather heavy going. The problem with Benny Hill is nothing to do with sexism, its simply that he WASN'T FUNNY! Having lived in the UK all my life, I can assure you that I do not need "Benny Hill bad" brainwashing (and by the way, there isn't any - I don't think I have even heard his name mentioned for the last 20 years!) to know when something is inane brainless schoolboy garbage, and when something is genuinely funny. But if you are so obsessed with him - fine - you can have all the DVDs - enjoy! StanPomeray (talk) 07:57, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

You're wrong. Python was aimed at a totally different audience to Benny Hill -- it had intellectual roots, was written and performed by largely Oxbridge team, and took influences from Peter Cook and Spike Milligan (the latter, incidentally, thoroughly despised Hill and said so in print and on TV). Hill's downmarket, lowest common denominator stuff was aimed at a mass audience, the sort of people who read The Sun and take holidays in Bournemouth, and took its cue from seaside postcards. Look at how his biggest supporter in Britain these days is Garry Bushell, a loud-mouthed and extremely right-wing thug.

Ther's nothing hypocritical about disliking Hill, he seemed to find rape amusing, for a start. You've just got to deal with the fact that, while you may have never heard of Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd or Ronnie Barker, they are contemporaries of Hills' who are remembered with great affection, and still reshown, in Britain -- while he is not. Dolmance (talk) 04:49, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

The cancellation of Benny Hill's show was actually nothing to do with so called "political correctness". The Benny Hill show was shown on ITV, and their key agenda was maximising audiance figures in order to gain the maximum advertising revenue. Therefore, if the Benny Hill Show could be guaranteed a mega large audiance, ITV would have screened it. They were still screening Jim Davidson shows at the time, and nobody is less politically correct than him! The reason that the show was scrapped was simply that fewer and fewer people were watching it. Whether that was down to so-called "political-correctness" or whether it was simply down to the fact that people were getting tired of the same old gags time after time after time is debatable. I know that I was a big fan of Benny Hill when I was 9-12 years old, but to be honest if I see a rerun of one of his shows now, I don't find it funny. I don't find it offensive either, its just not funny. It should also be remembered that the heyday of "alternative comedy" and so-called "politically correct comedy", with shows such as The Young Ones, Filthy Rich and Catflap, The Comic Strip Presents and "Saturday Live [with Ben Elton]" was between around 1982 and 1986, and that time Benny Hill's Show was still being shown. It wasn't scrapped until 1989. SimonUK 22:01, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Having been to England twice, and studied the ratings ups and downs over Hill's 20 years at Thames, I can personally attest to this audience erosion being a major factor in Thames' pulling the plug (among other things, the last few years his average audience per show was roughly equal to the highest ratings per show Monty Python ever attained in Britain, in its third [1972-1973] series - and they never even made the weekly Top 20 most-watched shows lists); and living in the U.S. where ratings are every bit as important as with ITV, I can see the parallels. However, neither this fact nor the concern from Thames executives that Hill's show was sliding into perpetual uninspired mediocrity, via the endless repetition of gags which was becoming more and more rote (John Howard Davies, Thames' head of light entertainment at the time, said he felt the qualitative results of Hill's New York special which aired in the U.S. in 1991 and in Britain in two parts of 1994, and which he saw from a special monitor in his office as the studio segments were taped in 1990, justified his decision to ax the show if on that score) has even remotely stopped, dissuaded or deterred the forces of "political correctness" from taking full and complete credit for the cancellation, which they do this day. But as I can see, it wasn't simply for "dramatic effect" as suggested by Mark Lewisohn in his Funny, Peculiar tome; they truly believe their machinations and agitations led to the show's demise, not unlike a dog who barks incessantly out the window, who thinks his/her barking keeps out potential "intruders" from "invading" the house - even though most so-called "intruders" are in fact passersby who have no intention of even visiting, just going through on their way from Point A to Point B.

Nonetheless, this fiction from such forces has been further pushed by their accomplices in the media, many of whom are of that same mentality. One measure of how pervasive their canard has penetrated the debate about Mr. Hill can be found on an online multiple-choice site. There are ten questions dealing with his characters, key members of his cast, how many countries ran the show at its peak, and so on. On the final question, as to the cancellation, are the following possibilities: Declining ratings; accusations that the show was "sexist"; his eagerness to take on more "serious" subjects (one wishes); or his weight gain. I clicked on the declining ratings option, and as far as that site was concerned I was "wrong" and the "correct" answer was the purported "sexism." If not for that, my score would have been 100 instead of 90. –Wbwn 07:51, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Wrong again. Haven't you actually watched Hill's tripe? It's entertainment for dirty old men and masturbating schoolboys, don't tell me Americans watched it for comedy value alone. (Look at how both the BBC and ATV had no luck selling Hill shows to the US in the days when he worked clean.) By the 80's it was like a soft porn video, and what the hell have girls bending over in suspenders have to do with comedy, anyway? And another difference you've failed to consider is that, while it may have been shown late at night in America, there was a real hypocrisy in this stuff, billed as supposed "family entertainment", going out in primetime on ITV, in Britain.

If you knew anything about comedy in Britain (apart from, like so many Americans, thinking it's all either Hill or 'Py-THON') you'd know that it wasn't all alternative comedy on TV in the late 80's, dreadful people like Jim Davidson, the Grumbleweeds, and Bobby Davro were still shown regularly, and in primetime. They can't get arrested now either, like Hill in his last three years. We simply got fed up of Hill, and considering he'd been going for over thirty years, enough was enough. He wasn't canned for being politically incorrect, he was canned for being crap.

Also, even fans of his complained at that time that he was cutting down and down on dialogue until almost every sketch was a silent, speeded-up one, to capitalise on his US fan base, every musical number, too, seemed to be set either in New York or in a farm in the South. If you look in Mark Lewisohn's book, the comment is made that his American success bewildered many in Britain, given that the likes of Morecambe and Wise, "much more admired homegrown comedians" hadn't succeeded there. His success with silly Americans was another good reason to dislike him over here -- nobody likes being patronised.

And your comparing Hill's ratings with Python's don't add up. Python was shown late at night as opposed to Hill's primetime, and in its second series wasn't even fully networked. Yes, Hill may have got better ratings, but at that time, so did stuff like The Black And White Minstrel Show and any number of forgotten sitcoms, stuff nobody would want ever to see again. Dolmance (talk) 04:49, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

The cancellation of the show has been reported a number of times as due to sexism. Ratings for the final episode (as also stated in the show's article) were over 9 million - certainly high enough to keep it going (down on its 1970s peak, but all ratings were down in general by the late 1980s anyway). I would imagine it was mainly down to sexism given that Hill was in his 60s by this time and leering at young women was perhaps inappropriate, but I'm sure that factors such as age, health and repetitiveness were also part of it. I don't think ratings were any part of the problem. By the way, the British public certainly don't have a general apathy towards the man - he was a comic genius, people who criticise him need to lighten up (but they probably don't understand what laughter is anyway).--Tuzapicabit (talk) 06:22, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

The show was almost certainly axed because it had become an embarrassment to the people then coming into 'TV land'. Hill and the show were at that time getting serious flak from the 'right-on' people that were then starting to make names for themselves, as critics, commentators and as journalists, people such as Ben Elton, Janet Street-Porter, Tony Parsons etc., and these people had by them become the 'fashionable' set who's views were listened-to. These same people were the ones who got invited to all the fashionable 'get togethers' (i.e., parties) and who no doubt gave Kirkland a right ear-bashing about the Benny Hill Show. Also Hill was getting on a bit and it's probably no coincidence that people of a similar age such as Dick Emery and Frankie Howerd also disappeared from TV at around this time.

The show was ultimately axed because the people by-then in charge didn't like it. That's why. These are also the same people who made UK TV was it is today (or what it looked like when I last had a TV a few years ago) - dumbed-down, anaemic, shite.

The last laughs on Benny though, as long after the people responsible for axing his show have been consigned to the dustbin of history and forgotten, he will be remembered with affection by many as a great comic genius. BTW, you can find bits of his shows on YouTube. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.40.250.157 (talk) 13:46, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

That doesn't make sense either - the reason that much of UK TV today is, as you say, dumbed-down anaemic shite is that those in charge are doing exactly what you claim Hill did - appealing to a mass audience with the sole intention of increasing viewing figures irrespective of the quality of the programming - why do you think Channel 4 kept plugging "Big Brother"? Why do you suppose the BBC keep plugging "Strictly Come Dancing" or ITV "The X Factor", "Im a Celebrity Get me Out of Here" etc etc. If Benny Hill really does appeal to the millions that you claim it does, then the TV companies would be falling over themselves to show it now! And I think the reason that Dick Emery disappeared from TV was that he died! You're talking crap, go back to The Sun..... StanPomeray (talk) 00:43, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

¶ At least one source reports (possibly a rumor) that it was Benny Hill who encouraged British dancer Audrey Hepburn to try her luck in Hollywood. Even after Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Hill was denying that he had appeared in any movies (this was reported in the Parade magazine Sunday supplement circa 1970).Sussmanbern (talk) 16:43, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Acually the reason Hill's not on tv in england is the interest groups used their victory when Hill's show ended to have repeats blacklisted and Hill at the time did appeal to a mass audience, he'd do anything to keep his show life alive and Thames axed his show due to the production costs were escalating far in excess of their profitability and Thames did ask him back in Feb 1992.

WWII Service ?

I don't know but it seems odd that an Englishman born in 1924 would be able to avoid service unless unfit: The Wikipedia makes no mention of any service: During World War II, Hill was one of the scholars evacuated with the school to Bournemouth School, East Way, Bournemouth. After leaving Bournemouth School, Hill worked variously as a milkman in Eastleigh, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming an assistant stage manager I don't know if it's reliable but http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/H/htmlH/hillbenny/hillbenny.htm claims: Hill saw army service in the later years of World War II and it was there that he began to perform as a comedian Someone who knows about Benny Hill should "fix" Wikipedia to either add his military service or explain how he got oout of military service 66.16.148.174 (talk) 21:46, 30 July 2009 (UTC) JJ

it's in several of his biographies that he was a mechanic or driver or somthing else "truck" (jeep?) related. in france, i believe.

i am unsure if it was during WARTIME, per se, but he was definitely in the service. 66.3.106.3 (talk) 21:34, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Childhood

His parents' names are well-known (not by ME, but they're out there), as well as other details of his childhood normally found on pages like this. Why aren't they here? 66.3.106.3 (talk) 21:37, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Personal life

section needed. --Ericg33 (talk) 22:05, 20 October 2011 (UTC)

So create one. - SummerPhD (talk) 22:27, 21 October 2011 (UTC)

Timeline and history of "The Benny Hill Show"

I came here to find more specific information and come away a little more confused. Hopefully someone with the knowledge will update the timeline of The Benny Hill Show. The present data presented is very general and vague. I live in Detroit and have only been exposed to the numerous episodes offered here. I'd like to fill in the blanks. I have enjoyed The Benny Hill Show and wish to understand the history. -Nick In Detroit- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.250.219.181 (talk) 04:47, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Hill did various versions of his shows like a Australia episode and new york episode — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.136.246.217 (talk) 09:32, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Life imates TV?

IS it true Benny was assigned as a mechanic in British Army-although he knew nothing about cars? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.53.145.32 (talk) 22:29, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

True — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.136.246.217 (talk) 09:37, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Paul Hogan

I recall back in the 1980s, before Crocodile Dundee Paul Hogan had a quite good comedy sketch program. His humor was quite similar to Benny Hill's and I recall reading at the time that he was a great fan of Benny Hill. I can't find any sources for this at the moment, sadly. I'll keep looking. --Tony Sidaway 11:51, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Yes thats what inspired Paul Hogan to the us when Benny's show was a success over there and he did a sketch called benny five 0 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.136.246.217 (talk) 09:52, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Billions?

Isn't billions a rather large estimate? I haven't heard of him. Maybe you could cite come sources. 134.250.72.181 23:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

No chance. Hill was known all over the world, there is no question billions watched his shows between the 1960s and 1980s. He was the first English comic to be a huge star in the USA and still the only one who was a superstar. 92.10.156.73 (talk) 19:28, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

Hill was well-known in the PRC. that alone gets you to "billions".... 66.3.106.3 (talk) 21:27, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

He was the first English comic to be a huge star in the USA??? So Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel languished in obscurity then. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.11.3.97 (talk) 06:10, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

Hill's show was the first british sketch show to be a hit in america — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.136.246.217 (talk) 09:54, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Wasn't he born in 1925?

Craig Wolff (21 April, 1992). "Benny Hill, 67, English Comedian And Creator of TV Show, Is Dead". New York Times. Benny Hill, who originally was named Alfred Hawthorn Hill, was born on Jan. 21, 1925 {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) --Javaweb (talk) 13:30, 21 January 2012 (UTC)Javaweb

Picture

The picture has been changed to a more suitable one for the article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Test60spro (talk • contribs) 02:38, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Just hold on a minute - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Benny_Hill.JPG is a great pic, but it isn't a picture of Benny Hill, surely it is a picture of a waxwork of Benny Hill at (I think) Tussaud's in London - close inspection, especially of the hands confirms Glynhughes (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:16, 21 April 2012 (UTC).

Was Benny Hill gay?

Was Benny Hill gay??? I could have sworn it was common knowledge that he was, yet this Wikipedia article mentions nothing about it. I would have thought that, if he wasn't, the entry should have at least included something to the effect of, "Contrary to widespread rumours, Hill was not gay". But nothing here - just silence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.152.200.175 (talk) 14:23, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, if you can source it. If not, you better be a good runner, Benny had a lot of fans...! Britmax (talk) 11:05, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Every Wikipedia biographical article assumes that the person was inverted unless proven otherwise.Lestrade (talk) 02:11, 3 April 2010 (UTC)Lestrade

Agreed. H C Andersen, Isaac Newton, King Charles XII, all seem to be called poofters. Judging these people by (again) by my own standards, they cant be poofters. I must say, it's good not to be an asperger case from a town in Norway called Vennesla. Then I would be the only bloke able to reach the age of 20 without having made any children. Since Wiki seems to know everything, then I must ask: Dude! Where is my sexdrive? --82.134.28.194 (talk) 12:21, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

What a stupid comment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.250.219.181 (talk) 04:38, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

NOW THIS IS REALLY DUMB QUESTION! What is wrong with people in UK - you don't like Benny Hill(for 20 years I was associating Thames Television as largest TV in Britain because of this show) and assume, that everyone has to be obsessed with sex?! If you have difficulties in finding woman, that would fit your mind and you realize, that after some heartbreaks they would try to change your behaviour, why there is assumption, that you have to look for men? Gay couples have the same problems anyway. The only way is only finding person that would fit - and not everyone succed in this and not everyone are in perfect mental condition to settle with nagging person. Well, let's see it from this way - my observation is that, when people are single, they would have more friends that are single and that also don't help and making friends at work also doesn't help - you don't want to ruin something that is already perfect and don't want to create problems for the only family in the world that you have - sadly but after watching some documentaries he seemed very lonely person.

I didn't knew, that he had lost some relatives in his youth - I can relate to that, as this is actually depressing for a child to think about old age too soon and fear that everyone would die and you would be left alone. Doesn't help in making relationship as well, but it boosts thinking capabilities more than for other kids who are playing around.

The first time I was watching his shows was in 90s and I was a teenager and never thought that this show was sexist - look again on those videos, girls there have quite small breasts ad everything is covered. Now when I'm older - that's a different question and I'm wondering why there are not many girls in UK that look like Bennies Angels... And speaking of embarassment - you really have never been to so called ALTERNATIVE COMMEDIANT Jim Carry show - he didn't show girls on stage, but I was red faced and so was embarassed (female)friend I went together to see this sexist show. 92.22.0.241 (talk) 21:47, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

A waxwork as the portrait -- really?

Surely a portrait could be found. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.157.176.177 (talk) 01:55, 30 June 2013 (UTC)

A screenshot from the show would be the best option. GMRE (talk) 18:13, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Then go find one instead of complaining Hobbamock (talk) 19:13, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

Stupid iriot

As I recall Benny, in his guise as a squint-eyed Japanese caricature would actually use the term "sirry iriot" (silly idiot). If ok I will edit the page to this effect. MichaelGG

• You can expect someone to ask for a citation other than your memory. Wahkeenah 15:25, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

You are correct, the phrase was "sirry iriot". That's the joke, "L" becomes "R". There are web pages that quote "sirry iriot" such as http://sagaalt.blogspot.com/2005/11/puerile-humour-makes-my-day.html and http://www.thebladder.com/content/news/displayContent.asp?CID=3440&EID=349 . The character's name was "Chow Mein" http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/bennyhillshowthe_7773365.shtml . I'm adding this to the now separate article The Benny Hill Show. 75.33.75.106 10:20, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Then a possibly subliminal (or else ignorant) part of the joke is that "Chow Mein" suggests Chinese rather than Japanese. Chinese have no trouble saying L's, that's a Japanese thing. Wahkeenah 18:42, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

You're right. The character was a "Chinaman", not Japanese.

The movie A Christmas Story has a scene with waiters in a Chinese restaurant singing in the same manner (fa ra ra ra ra instead of fa la la la la).

75.35.248.181 14:47, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

It's pretty sad when they can't even get the stereotypes right. Unless that was the point. Wahkeenah 17:29, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

the entire world mocks chinese with L and R confusion; it's a lost cause trying to straighten THAT out!

likewise mocking them with "ching chang chong" -- that works for cantonese ONLY; mandarin speakers better mocked with some combo of short vowels and "sh" "ch" "j" and "zh" -- like "je che sheh SHCHZHSH!!". more like russian, spoof-wise.

good luck getting ANY of this to catch on either!

in any case, ya gotta give Sir Alfred props for making a [near-] pun out of "lift your right buttock up".... 216.50.220.23 (talk) 02:44, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

"Why for you say 'erection' when I say 'erection'?" Even American audiences got that one!203.221.203.50 (talk) 08:19, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Allegations

Why is there no mention of the allegations about him? (217.35.237.95 (talk) 17:18, 3 April 2016 (UTC))

What allegations? Britmax (talk) 08:54, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

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Chaplin

Today I deleted:

Charlie Chaplin was a fan of Hill's work: Hill had discovered that Chaplin, his childhood idol, was a fan when he was invited to Chaplin's home in Switzerland by Chaplin's family and discovered that Chaplin had a collection of Hill's work on video. Hill and Dennis Kirkland were the first outside the family to be invited into Chaplin's private study. Hill was awarded the Charlie Chaplin International Award for Comedy at the 1991 Festival of Comedy in Vevey, Canton Vaud."

The reason is that I contacted the estate to ask if any of the early show that are now wiped still existed there. I was doubtful from the beginning since not just anyone could get copies of shows before the video recorded arrived; it would require particularly well-placed connections.

The Chaplin estate said:

"Benny Hill was invited to the Vevey festival and didn't really want to come,until they said they would award him the Chaplin prize, and he could visit the Manoir de Ban!

This was after Lady Chaplin had died and Eugene Chaplin, who was involved in the festival, lived at the Manoir with his family.

Eugene says his father watched Benny Hill a bit, like he watched anything else, but didn't particularly like him.

Annie Chaplin on the other hand says "He never saw any of his shows or knew about him as far as I know and being at the Manoir from 1959 to 1977.

After that I know Mommy couldn't bear the TV show .The only one that enjoyed watching B;Hill on TV was Eugene"

Plus, the source of this piece of apparently false information only mentioned the festival so there was no citation of him being a fan anyway. Only the last sentence is verified by that source, but that doesn't belong in that section. So I removed the entire paragraph because it was not supported by any evidence.Spiny Norman (talk) 08:48, 29 September 2016 (UTC)

Great work. I think that last fact should be included in the article but agree that was the wrong section; I'm surprised there isn't already an awards/nominations section as it would belong there. Interestingly [Wikidata lists two BAFTA nominations] but doesn't provide a source. WaggersTALK 10:39, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Photos

I removed the two photos representing the subject of the article since they were both of waxwork models. This seem a strange decision. Even if somehow there were no photos of Benny Hill available, it does not seem appropriate to illustrate an article with waxwork figures. It's a bit creepy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meerta (talk • contribs) 04:41, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

I would agree. Would be great if you can source a photo to include that is not copyright. Robynthehode (talk) 05:35, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• Benny Hill.JPG

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 16:52, 9 August 2018 (UTC)

Photos

I removed the two photos representing the subject of the article since they were both of waxwork models. This seem a strange decision. Even if somehow there were no photos of Benny Hill available, it does not seem appropriate to illustrate an article with waxwork figures. It's a bit creepy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meerta (talk • contribs) 04:41, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

• I would agree. Would be great if you can source a photo to include that is not copyright. Robynthehode (talk) 05:35, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

• • Benny Hill profile, screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2009.

• • • Apologies if the formatting isn't perfect in this section. I have had to re-introduce a recently archived discussion, just to say that the suggested picture would be a great picture, and to ask if it we (Wikipedia) would be able to use it, since that isn't clear to me from the information given up to now. Meerta (talk) 05:25, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

• • • I would add that the auto-archiving of dicussions after only 30 days does not seem ideal. Meerta (talk) 05:28, 26 February 2018 (UTC)

• c:Commons:Village pump/Copyright#Benny Hill Image There may be an actual photo available: [2]. The only problem is that we need to figure out if this photo was indeed (as I would suspect) taken by an army photographer. (which would mean it had Crown copyright, which would have expired by now) Anyone who can help to figure out the origins of the photo is welcome to jump in. Alexis Jazz (talk) 01:45, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

@Alexis Jazz: the photo you have found is probably a publicity shot for the 1960 film Light Up the Sky![3][4] This was after Hill left the military, and is unlikely to be by a military photographer. Other pictures in uniform include:

• [5][6] – This is an earlier photo and is less polished. It could have been taken by a friend in the army or by a civilian photographer, perhaps for his family when joining-up.
• [7] – One site associates this with 'Stars in Battledress',[8] a stage production that opened in 1941.[9]. However, Hill would have been 17 in 1941, and he looks much older in this photo.

Verbcatcher (talk) 17:08, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

@Verbcatcher: I won't argue with that: Wikipedia:Media copyright questions#Benny Hill photo. Alexis Jazz (talk) 19:48, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

Adam Ant Music Video

Probably minimalist trivia ... but , then again , the Genesis music video got some space. Benny Hill is seen in the Adam Ant music video for "Apollo 9" , as the man pushing the buttons in the NASA control room. Not sure if Adam was a fan , but he did tend to use "forgotten" Brits. in his videos. ( Diana Dors , for example , appears in his "Prince Charming" music video. )75.104.163.28 (talk) 18:15, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Non-notable trivia. - FlightTime Phone (open channel) 18:22, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

Benny hills Son

Anyone have details I read several article on him 5-10 years ago. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Apemonkey1 (talk • contribs) 05:52, 19 October 2018 (UTC)

Birth date

The following is hidden as an invisible comment in the article:

!-- He was born on 21 January 1924. ref birth indexes for 1st quarter (Jan, Feb, Mar) 1924 reveal "Alfred H. Hill" registered Southampton — mother's maiden name "Cave". This is CORRECT — Please do not change to 1925. --

Sorry, but this being so, the New York Times should not be cited in the article as the source for Hill's birth date. The New York Times's obituary does not list Hill's birth date as 1924, but as 1925. And yet the infobox for this article cites the NY Times as the source for that date! Moreover, the NY Times citation is literally incorrect (the NYT headline gives Hill's age as 67, not 68) and is a broken link to boot. As the source for Hill's birthdate, the Oxford UP Dictionary of National Biography should be cited, rather than changing the New York Times info, as someone has done. I am fixing the broken link — and misquoted headline — to the New York Times obituary.

NicholasNotabene (talk) 07:50, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

The NYT link works fine.--Auric talk 08:56, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

Yes, the NYT link works fine because I fixed it. See "Revision as of 08:13, 11 July 2019 (Corrected link to New York Times obituary)." Before that, the (incorrect) link sent one to a "Page Not Found" page on the NYT website. You're welcome. NicholasNotabene (talk) 22:56, 14 July 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Benny Hill (Madame Tussauds).JPG

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 21:28, 26 March 2020 (UTC)