Funny, Peculiar: The True Story of Benny Hill [Hardcover]

Mark Lewisohn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Benny Hill was an unlikely figure of global admiration—he was a deeply private individual, a loner, uninterested in money and the trappings of success. Acclaimed in the 1950s as the first British TV comedy superstar, loved for his pioneering ideas and humor, Hill's popularity remained undimmed for decades. But in the 1980s, he was reviled in Britain, with his innuendo-strewn humor branded sexist. His TV show's sudden end in 1989 was followed by a self-inflicted decline in his health, and Benny died in 1992.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Riveting and unexpectedly sympathetic' Craig Brown, Mail On Sunday; 'A revelation... entertaining and exhaustively researched' Kathryn Flett. Observer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Critically acclaimed for works such as his encyclopaedic 'Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy', Mark Lewisohn has an enviable reputation as a meticulous and balanced researcher of popular culture: the Telegraph said of Lewisohn's 'The Complete Beatles Chronicle' that it 'borders on a work of genius'. With unprecedented access to archives, intensive research and interviews with friends, family and colleagues, this is the last word on the 'world's most popular comedian'.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan UK (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0283063696
• ISBN-13: 978-0283063695
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #654,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exemplary biography of a misunderstood man, November 6, 2002

By 

Neil L. Inglis "Lord Starlink" (Bethesda, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funny, Peculiar: The True Story of Benny Hill (Hardcover)

This is one of the finest biographies I have read in years -- it penetrates deeply into the formative experiences and motivations of this strange and reclusive figure, and brings him vividly to life. Many interviewees discouraged the author from this task, but he persevered, and we have much to thank him for. All Benny Hill fans will now watch and enjoy his familiar sketches -- shamelessly recycled over the years -- with an added appreciation for their origins and rationale. Lewisohn helps us to delve into the psyche of this mysterious man, at once the embodiment of little Englishness, yet also a sensitive soul and a student of foreign cultures and languages.

The book is not unblemished. Benny's 50s farce, "Who Done It", is not nearly as abysmal as the author suggests (it's adequate slapstick with a few laughs -- how many 50s British movies has Lewisohn seen, there are many worse!). Benny's frugality is surely comprehensible in a man who had withstood wartime privations; and that character trait, combined with the much-hyped locker-room chit-chat with Bob Monkhouse, was regrettable but entirely standard male behavior for the 1950s. Despite all the conventional wisdom to the contrary, Benny did evolve. And--again with respect to Lewisohn--Benny scaled some of his finest heights of inspiration during his latest years with Thames. I am thinking of the Chubby Dodds documentary, and Murder on the Orient Express, and the "Family" skit, which bring smiles and laughter without fail, though I know them back to front. Of course, he was a comedian who operated rather too comfortably within his decent but clearly defined artistic parameters. Yet what was comforting for Benny was also reassuring for us... Lewisohn is right that Benny Hill's work will return to favor some day. It deserves to.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All of Benny Hill is exceptional, December 24, 2005

By 

Peter Bros - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funny, Peculiar: The True Story of Benny Hill (Paperback)

Good but slightly flawed

I bought this book not only because BCCA started to run the half-hour series again, but because I remembered reading a story in the paper a number of years ago how Benny Hill died alone in a sparsely furnished apartment, unloved.

What I got was a tremendous insight into English vaudeville and its morphing into radio and then television. I also got a tremendous amount of information about Hill's life, as other reviews note. I would, however, like to focus this review on the author's highly critical look at Benny Hill's work after he brought together the Hill's angels. The author unabashedly takes the feminist line that these programs were sexist, and there's no doubt that while the programs themselves were probably enough to get the feminists atwitter, now that BBCA is showing the uncut hour long shows, Hill's on air ridicule of the feminists was what really did it. I hadn't seen the hour long shows when I read the biography, so I more or less took the author at his word. Now that I've seen them, I have two comments. In no way are the Hill's Angels in any way objectionable. The author's comment, what did they have to do with comedy, is misdirected because they had everything to do with framing the skits that were carried within the performances. I think some of Hill's best work was done in these years.

My second comment is more of a revelation. I've always wondered exactly what it was that set Hill apart, the quality that no one else could or ever will duplicate. I realized watching these later shows that Hill had done something no one else had ever been able to do. He brought vaudeville, in its true form, to television. From childhood, he was steeped in, although unsuitable for, vaudeville. Television gave his strength, an acute eye for vaudeville, and his weakness, an inability to project beyond the tenth row of seats, the perfect format. It happened once, and that's the only time it will ever happen.

Finally, as to his death alone in a sparsely furnished room. The picture of Hill dead looks pretty bleak. However, the author makes one thing clear. Benny Hill did in life exactly as he pleased, lived his life exactly the way he wanted to live it, and knowing he was going to die soon, died exactly the way he wanted to die, eating candy bars, drinking, and watching his beloved TV. He had no regrets about anything in life and he was surrounded by people who loved him dearly. Even his failed romances weren't romances, but attempts to reach for unattainable women so he never had to make a commitment that would limit his freedom to do as he pleased. The one time he was expected to make a commitment, he ran fast. Hill did what he wanted in life, and to do that, he had to live and travel alone, and that's exactly what he did. Definitely buy this book, but don't let the author's prejudices dissuade you from enjoying all of Hill's work. As to the author's hope the British return to an appreciation of Hill, it'll never happen, but that doesn't stop us from enjoying him.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good evening viewers!, November 3, 2004

By 

Tim Brimelow (Mount Waverley, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funny, Peculiar: The True Story of Benny Hill (Paperback)

An excellent biography of the funniest man who ever stole a gag from another comedian. Yes it's Benny Hill, a man who took a name because is sounded Jewish and wrote some of the funniest songs ever using the most recycled of jokes.

His humour was what the people wanted in the seventies, coarse slightly obscene and saucy. He deserved the title of the the worlds most popular comedian. It was a shame that Benny ended up as a target for feminists and other politically correct groups and was eventually sacked for his humour. The people that hounded him must have been very humourless, cold hearted people indeed.

The book is great though there are few mistakes here and there with respect to show titles and content. I recommend anyone who is interested in British actors and theatre read this book.

Tim Brimelow

Melbourne Australia