Tommy Cooper

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Lore & Background

Thomas Frederick Cooper was born on 19 March 1921 at 19 Llwyn-On Street in Caerphilly, Glamorgan, delivered by the woman who owned the house in which the family were lodging. His father was Thomas H. Cooper, a Welsh recruiting sergeant in the British Army and later coal miner; his mother was Catherine Gertrude (née Wright), Thomas's English wife from Crediton, Devon. When Cooper was three, the family moved to Exeter, Devon. At age eight, an aunt bought him a magic set, and he spent hours perfecting the tricks. After leaving school, Cooper became a shipwright in Southampton, Hampshire. In 1940, he was called up as a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, serving for seven years. He joined Montgomery's Desert Rats in Egypt. Cooper became a member of a Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI) entertainment party, and developed an act around his magic tricks interspersed with comedy. One evening in Cairo, during a sketch in which he was supposed to be in a costume that required a pith helmet and having forgotten the prop, Cooper reached out and borrowed a fez from a passing waiter, which got huge laughs. He wore a fez when performing after that, the prop later being described as 'an icon of 20th-century comedy'. Cooper was demobilised after seven years of military service and took up show business on Christmas Eve 1947. He later developed a popular monologue about his military experience as 'Cooper the Trooper'. He worked in variety theatres around the country and at many night spots in London, performing as many as 52 shows in one week. Cooper developed his conjuring skills and became a member of The Magic Circle, but there are various stories about how and when he developed his delivery of 'failed' magic tricks: he was performing to his shipbuilding colleagues when everything went wrong, but he noticed that the failed tricks got laughs; he started making 'mistakes' on purpose when he was in the Army; his tricks went wrong at a post-war audition, but the panel thoroughly enjoyed them anyway. To keep the audience on their toes, Cooper would throw in an occasional trick that worked when it was least expected. Cooper was influenced by Laurel and Hardy, Will Hay, Max Miller, Bob Hope, and Robert Orben. In 1947, Cooper was booked by Miff Ferrie, a musician, to appear in a show starring the sanding dance act Marqueeze and the Dance of the Seven Veils. This was followed by a European tour and work in pantomime, and concluded with a season at the Windmill Theatre. Ferrie remained Cooper's sole agent for 37 years, until Cooper's death in 1984. Cooper rapidly became a top-liner in variety with his image as the conjurer whose tricks never succeeded, but it was his television work that raised him to national prominence. After his debut on the BBC talent show New to You in March 1948, he began starring in his own shows. He remained popular with audiences for nearly 40 years, notably through his work with London Weekend Television from 1968 to 1972 and with Thames Television from 1973 to 1980. Thanks to his many television shows during the mid-1970s, he was at his peak one of the most recognisable comedians in the world. By the mid-1970s, alcohol had started to erode Cooper's professionalism, and club owners complained that he turned up late or rushed through his show in five minutes. In addition, he suffered from chronic indigestion, low back pain, sciatica, bronchitis and severe circulation problems in his legs. When Cooper realised the extent of his maladies, he cut down on his drinking, and his act regained energy and confidence. However, he never stopped drinking and could be fallible: on an otherwise triumphant appearance with Michael Parkinson, he forgot to set the safety catch on the guillotine illusion into which he had cajoled Parkinson, and only a last-minute intervention by the floor manager saved Parkinson from serious injury or worse. Cooper was a heavy cigar smoker (up to 40 a day) as well as an excessive drinker. He suffered a heart attack on 22 April 1977 while performing a show in Rome. Three months later, he was back on television in Night Out at the London Casino. By 1980, his drinking meant that Thames Television would not give him another starring series, and Cooper's Half Hour was his last. He did continue to appear as a guest on other television shows, however, and worked with Eric Sykes on two Thames productions in 1982. On 15 April 1984, Cooper collapsed from a heart attack in front of 15 million viewers midway through his act on the London Weekend Television variety show Live from Her Majesty's, transmitted live from Her Majesty's Theatre in Westminster, London. An assistant had helped him put on a cloak for his sketch while Jimmy Tarbuck, the host, was hiding behind the stage curtains waiting to pass him different props that he would then appear to pull from inside his gown. His last words seemed to be 'thank you, love', to the assistant, seconds before collapsing. The assistant smiled at him as he slumped down, believing that it was part of the act. Likewise, the audience laughed as he fell backwards, as a hand (possibly Tarbuck's) briefly appeared from behind the curtain to reach out towards Cooper. As Cooper lay on the floor, the audience continued to laugh at him, believing he was making a joke about how long it had taken him to button up the cloak he had on. Tarbuck, director Alasdair MacMillan, and crew behind the curtain who witnessed the incident realised that Cooper had genuinely collapsed. The laughter from the audience began to die down as they realised that Cooper was unable to get back up. In the wings, show producer David Bell asked Cooper's son if the fall was part of the act. He replied that his father had a bad back and would thus be unable to get back up if he had fallen on purpose, implying that it had not been done on purpose. Once it became apparent that Cooper was in trouble, Alasdair MacMillan cued the orchestra to play music for an unscripted commercial break and Tarbuck's manager tried to pull Cooper back through the curtains. It was decided to continue with the show. Dustin Gee and Les Dennis were the act that followed Cooper and performed in the limited space in front of the curtains. Two stools were positioned on either side of the protrusion from behind the curtain where Cooper had collapsed, while efforts were being made to revive him. The following act, Howard Keel, performed as Cooper was moved (evident by twitching of the curtains as he sang and the disappearance of the protrusion as he finished performing). After another commercial break, the curtain was removed, and Cooper was taken by ambulance to Westminster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 63 years old. His death was not officially reported until the next morning, although the incident was the leading item on the news programme that followed the show. Cooper's funeral was held at Mortlake Crematorium in London.

Reader's Guide

Tommy Cooper's significance lies in his unique fusion of magic and comedy, where deliberate failure became his signature. His towering 6-foot-4 frame and red fez made him instantly recognisable, and his television work with London Weekend Television and Thames Television brought him international fame during the 1970s. He influenced generations of comedians by showing that incompetence, when carefully crafted, could be hilarious. His death on live television in 1984 became a defining, tragic moment in British entertainment history, underscoring the fragility of live performance. Despite personal struggles with alcohol and health, his legacy endures through his distinctive act and the enduring image of the fez.

Did You Know?

• Cooper was 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) tall and habitually wore a red fez when performing, which he first borrowed from a passing waiter in Cairo after forgetting his pith helmet.
• He performed as many as 52 shows in one week during his early career in variety theatres and London night spots.
• Cooper suffered a heart attack on 22 April 1977 while performing a show in Rome, but was back on television three months later in Night Out at the London Casino.
• His last words on live television were 'thank you, love', to an assistant seconds before collapsing from a heart attack.
• Cooper's agent Miff Ferrie remained his sole agent for 37 years, from 1947 until Cooper's death in 1984.