Tommy Handley

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Tommy Handley
Born	Thomas Reginald Handley January 17, 1892 (1892-01-17) Toxteth Park, Liverpool
Died	January 9, 1949 (aged 56) London
Cause of death	Cerebral haemorrhage
Nationality	British
Occupation	Comedian

Tommy (Thomas Reginald) Handley (17 January 1892 – 9 January 1949) was an English comedian mainly known for the BBC radio program ITMA ("It's That Man Again").

He was born at Toxteth Park, Liverpool on 17 January 1892 and died on 9 January 1949 from a brain hemorrhage.

He served in the British Army during World War I and went on to work in variety, and in the infancy of radio became known as a regular broadcaster. He worked with people such as Arthur Askey and Bob Monkhouse, and wrote many radio scripts, but it is the BBC comedy series ITMA for which he is best known. He later starred in the ITMA film in 1942 and in Time Flies in 1944.

In later years, he suffered with high blood pressure, the result of his driving commitment to ITMA, and died suddenly on January 9, 1949. In a eulogy at his memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, the Bishop of London said that "he was one whose genius transmuted the copper of our common experience into the gold of exquisite foolery. His raillery was without cynicism, and his satire without malice...".

The BBC decided that he was such a key figure of ITMA that the show must die with him.

On 2006-11-07, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a review of one of his partnerships, Mr Murgatroyd and Mr Winterbottom: "The story of Tommy Handley and Ronald Frankau, a comedy partnership which had its heyday in the 1930s world of radio. There was no straight man, so the partnership was a rare one. Tommy was a fast talking Liverpudlian, while Ronald in contrast was upper class and Eton-educated. Presented by Nicholas Frankau, actor and grandson of Ronald."^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Tommy Handley at the Internet Movie Database
• Tommy Handley at Find A Grave

Persondata
NAME	Handley, Tommy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Handley, Thomas Reginald
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Comedian
DATE OF BIRTH	1892-01-17
PLACE OF BIRTH	Toxteth Park, Liverpool
DATE OF DEATH	1949-01-09
PLACE OF DEATH	London