0:00:16 > 0:00:20Dying on stage is an occupational hazard for every comedian.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24But Tommy Cooper brought a whole new meaning to the phrase
0:00:24 > 0:00:28when he had a heart attack at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1984.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31The man literally died to the sound of laughter.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43- What's that you've got on your head? - A bucket.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46- That's not a bucket, it's a saucepan.- Is it?
0:00:47 > 0:00:49I've got the wrong hat!
0:00:51 > 0:00:55He was a brand, with the trademark red fez and the catchphrase,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59so familiar it has been exploited by advertisers, impressionists,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03and even Margaret Thatcher in her final conference speech.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Just like that!
0:01:09 > 0:01:12But who was he, this giant with size 13 feet,
0:01:12 > 0:01:17whose mere entrance on stage had audiences erupting with laughter?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23There are comedians and entertainers that you like, people you love.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Tommy Cooper, you want to do that to.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29That was a head-start. He could do anything he wanted.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34EXPLOSION
0:01:34 > 0:01:37He was an icon, respected by his peers.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40And yet, despite the plaudits and trappings of success
0:01:40 > 0:01:43he was privately plagued by self-doubt.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49He said, "Thanks, Vic. You made me look good. Thank you."
0:01:49 > 0:01:52I was knocked out because he was just brilliant.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57He didn't think he was funny. He wondered why people laughed.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Now, I place one egg there,
0:02:01 > 0:02:03one there,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07one there and one there.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Now the trick is this -
0:02:14 > 0:02:17with my right hand, I hit the tray like that...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19LAUGHTER
0:02:26 > 0:02:28And tray goes over there, and the eggs...
0:02:32 > 0:02:35..they are supposed to go into the glasses.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38It hasn't worked yet. I want to know the reason why.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Like that!
0:02:46 > 0:02:52Tommy Cooper was born at 19 Llwynon Street Caerphilly 85 years ago.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Tommy's father, also Tommy, was a collier's son
0:02:56 > 0:03:00who spent time underground before serving in the First World War.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04Although Tommy Senior had endured tragedy in his life,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08he was renowned as a man with a gift for making people laugh.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12I'm positive the talent comes from his dad
0:03:12 > 0:03:15cos it was in the Cooper family, you know.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17He was a character.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21If you had a party or a wedding, you never stopped laughing.
0:03:22 > 0:03:27His uncle, Jimmy Cooper, was a moon-face regular clown.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30He developed an act for the halls and miners clubs.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34A comic more than a magician, but he did master one trick -
0:03:34 > 0:03:36the egg trick.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40Years later, it would make its way straight into Tommy's routine.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Tommy was like this big kid, shambling about,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50trying to do magic.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53And as we know, he was a brilliant magician.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57If you ever see him do bottle glass, glass bottle, bottle glass,
0:03:57 > 0:04:00the table finishes up filled with glasses and bottles.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Anybody would look at that and say, "That man is brilliant."
0:04:09 > 0:04:13For Tommy and his mother, the damp polluted air of the mining valleys
0:04:13 > 0:04:15posed a constant health threat.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18At the age of three, the family was moved to Devon
0:04:18 > 0:04:20to breathe the clean air of Exeter.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26But the Welsh influence was to leave its mark,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29and perhaps the single most significant act
0:04:29 > 0:04:31came from his Auntie Lucy in Cardiff.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35On Christmas Day 1929, she gave him a box of magic tricks
0:04:35 > 0:04:38and the means for a complex, reclusive boy
0:04:38 > 0:04:40to become the centre of attention.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Tommy started young.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49I guess, if I'm honest, it's almost an ego thing
0:04:49 > 0:04:52where you are the centre of attention,
0:04:52 > 0:04:56you're doing something that none of your friends can do,
0:04:56 > 0:05:00you're making them laugh, you're becoming the class clown.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01But it becomes addictive.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05It's often said that there are three rules to magic.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10The first one is to practise, the second one is to practise,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12and the third one is to practise.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16We do practise literally thousands of hours.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21'From the gorgeous to the ungainly, Tommy Cooper.'
0:05:21 > 0:05:24At 6ft 4 and 16 stone, the sheer size of the man
0:05:24 > 0:05:28was in direct contrast to the childlike quality of his gags.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31They just told me to go out and warm them up.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Thank you.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Thank you very much. I'm wearing my tails tonight.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Do you like them?
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Be honest, how do you like the show so far?
0:05:49 > 0:05:50LAUGHTER
0:05:51 > 0:05:55I can always tell whether an audience is going to be good or bad.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Goodnight!
0:05:58 > 0:06:01He used to sulk if he wasn't the centre of attention.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04If you were all talking about sex or football or politics
0:06:04 > 0:06:08and Tom was there, he'd be sitting very quietly
0:06:08 > 0:06:11and then some cards would come out of his pocket
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and he'd start doing a trick. There's the kid in him.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18"They're looking at me now. I'm doing this card trick."
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Like most boys of that generation, he left school at 14.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26After a short unproductive spell as a shipwright's apprentice,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29he signed for the structure and discipline
0:06:29 > 0:06:32of the Household Cavalry.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38It's hard to imagine you on a horse. How did you manage?
0:06:38 > 0:06:40They're big horses.
0:06:41 > 0:06:4417 hands. No feet, just hands!
0:06:47 > 0:06:51No, it was very good. But this is a true story...
0:06:53 > 0:06:55LAUGHTER
0:06:55 > 0:07:00You see, when you get on a horse, as a recruit I didn't know this,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04but when you put the girth around the horse, like that,
0:07:04 > 0:07:10the horse blows himself out because it doesn't want it to be tight.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14So you've got to wait. I didn't know this.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16You're supposed to wait for a while,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21cos he still looks at you like that, really.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24He's a little bit suspicious, you know what I mean?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27But then, all of a sudden, you've got to go quick
0:07:27 > 0:07:29and he goes, "Ooh!"
0:07:30 > 0:07:35But I didn't know this, so as a recruit I went like that,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38he went out with his stomach and I thought, "That's tight."
0:07:38 > 0:07:42So we're on parade and they say, "In front of your horses.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44"Prepare them out."
0:07:44 > 0:07:47You put your foot in the stirrup and they said, "Mount!"
0:07:47 > 0:07:50I put my foot in and the saddle went underneath.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53Everybody's on top and I'm underneath!
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It was during the war in Egypt that Tommy was to shape everything.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Entertainment's National Service Association, ENSA,
0:08:09 > 0:08:14proved to be fertile ground for a generation of entertainers.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20He met his wife, Gwen, or "Dove" as he called her in a touring show,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and crucially, he could develop his unique brand of comedy magic.
0:08:24 > 0:08:29When I got the fez... I got it when I was in Egypt. I was in the army.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34We did a show a show at the YMCA.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36I used to wear a pith helmet.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Pith helmet.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40LAUGHTER
0:08:43 > 0:08:45My teeth...
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Anyway I used to wear this pith, and one day, I forgot to bring it,
0:08:50 > 0:08:54so these waiters used to walk about with a fez on.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58So I took one off their head and I've worn it ever since.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Tommy Cooper was one of a post-war group of ex-servicemen
0:09:02 > 0:09:04who decided to try comedy as a profession.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The War had brought about radical change. They were anarchic.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13I think the post-war generation - Peter Sellers, Frankie Howard,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17Harry Secombe, Dick Emery and Tommy Cooper,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19they'd come through a war and not got killed.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24They'd been abominably treated when they came out of the services.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26They were all, obviously by nature,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29doing jokes about officers and the ruling class.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32So there was a sense of rebellion about them.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36They thought - to hell with the rules, hence the Goons,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38and everything that happened around that time.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- 1941.- 1941, any advance on '41?
0:09:44 > 0:09:47There was no advance in '41. The War was a veritable stalemate.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49- Was it, mate?- Yes, mate.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The impact of this group on British comedy is without parallel
0:09:54 > 0:09:58and set the tone for the cultural revolution of the 1960s.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01Add to this Cooper's natural gift for making people laugh,
0:10:01 > 0:10:04talent, the time and place was perfect.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08We had a flat in Chelsea and Tommy was staying with us.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I got a phone call from the police.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13"Is Mr Cooper staying with you?
0:10:13 > 0:10:18"Will you get him off the King's Road? He's stopping the traffic."
0:10:18 > 0:10:21I said, "What's he doing?" He said, "Nothing."
0:10:21 > 0:10:26Tommy was buying stuff in shops and walking up to this car, a Cortina,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and putting the stuff in the boot and walking back.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33But buses were stopped and people were doubled up.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38"How can I stop him doing that? He's just Christmas shopping."
0:10:41 > 0:10:45All great performers hone their acts through thousands of shows.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The variety circuit was thriving.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Tommy was a regular, and like any true original
0:10:51 > 0:10:53he spotted a gap in the market.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00Most of Tommy's material was very corny,
0:11:00 > 0:11:05but somehow Tommy had a knack of making the lines very funny.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08I think this is an example of that.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11It's a bath tap on the end of a piece of rope.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14This is the actual prop that Tommy used.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16All he did was...
0:11:17 > 0:11:20..bounce it on the stage, like that, and said, "Tap dance,"
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and the audience would fall about laughing.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31He once said to me, "There are 100 brilliant magicians in this country.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33"I'm going to be the idiot."
0:11:33 > 0:11:35He'd thought it through.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39"There isn't a fool about at the moment," he thought.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41"I'm going to be the fool."
0:11:41 > 0:11:44He could have done the act straight and been brilliant, but no.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50Variety for years had been full of people who can do virtually anything
0:11:50 > 0:11:55at the drop of a hat, even at 85 they can still do their act.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Tommy had to learn to be special.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02How's that?
0:12:03 > 0:12:07If you look in the history of musichall variety,
0:12:07 > 0:12:09there hasn't been another Tommy Cooper.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20As a reprieve from touring, the Windmill Theatre in Soho,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23famous for its semi-naked chorus girls
0:12:23 > 0:12:26was a magnet for aspiring comedians.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Tommy Cooper auditioned five times before joining the cast
0:12:29 > 0:12:33of a legendary list of entertainers who cut their teeth there.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38I was at the Windmill in 1957.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41I met a guy there called Bruce Forsyth.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43I never found out what happened to him.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46But it was a great school, it turned out these comics.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51I was at the bottom of the bill and you learned to die gracefully.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55You did six shows a day, six days a week - 36 a week.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57You learned to cope with silence.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00You weren't heckled. There was no aggression.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04They hadn't come to see you. They'd come for the strippers!
0:13:04 > 0:13:09They would just open newspapers when you came on. It was a great school.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Now, with a regular West End gig,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16he wasted no time in writing to every theatre in town.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20But not before considering the fledgling medium of television.
0:13:20 > 0:13:26On June 2, 1947, he wrote to the BBC, asking for an audition.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He was summoned, but the feedback was less than flattering.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54He had, however, secured the services of a dapper wee Scotsman,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56the agent, Miff Ferrie.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00The only thing I know about Tommy's relationship with his agent
0:14:00 > 0:14:06was that Tommy did do what he was told, up to a point.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11He would never take money. "No, send it to Mr Ferrie. I don't do that. "
0:14:11 > 0:14:15He made out that his agent was a fellow with a big stick
0:14:15 > 0:14:18and he was petrified of him. I'm sure he wasn't.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23Miff Ferrie. Yes, three Fs. Two in Miff and one in Ferrie.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29He was a legendary figure. He was barred from rehearsals
0:14:29 > 0:14:32because he was always sticking his oar in.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36Ferrie signed him on a sole agency agreement
0:14:36 > 0:14:40at the unheard of percentage of 15% of all future earnings.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45Miff Ferrie, using contacts from his own days as a performer,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47relentlessly pushed Tommy at the BBC,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50securing him a spot on a Christmas variety show.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53The BBC Head of Light Entertainment
0:14:53 > 0:14:56recognised Tommy was a potentially big star.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00In 1952, after looking for the right vehicle,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03they eventually commissioned Tommy in his own TV series.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11William G. Stewart, the TV presenter and very fine director, said to me,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15"The genius of the man is, he's big, he's ugly and he's clumsy,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17"but when he moves, he glides."
0:15:17 > 0:15:19And if you watched Cooper, he's a skater.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Although it was all this, and the plodding about,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25underneath, he was on rollerskates, the man.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28I think that was the same in the brain.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33We've got an opinion of Tommy being a big, sloppy, loveable fellow.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36But I think inside, there was a serious person.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40See, you missed that. You went over there, didn't you?
0:15:40 > 0:15:43You've got to watch me all the time, you see.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45I must say, I'm delighted to be in the show.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48I couldn't afford to be in the audience.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50LAUGHTER
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Thank you.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02When I went to the house once,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05he's a big man, as you know, size 13 shoes,
0:16:05 > 0:16:11and every few minutes, he started jumping up and down.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Jumping up and down like this.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I said, "What on earth's the matter, Tommy?"
0:16:16 > 0:16:19He looked so funny, this big man jumping up and down.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21And he said, "I've just taken my medicine,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24"and I forgot to shake the bottle!"
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Throughout the early 1950s, he also played lucrative cabaret gigs
0:16:30 > 0:16:34at the Savoy and the Dorchester, where he came to the attention
0:16:34 > 0:16:38of the country's most influential theatre critic, Ken Tynan.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42"Cooper is the hulking preposterous conjuror,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44"who's always in a jelly of hysterics
0:16:44 > 0:16:46"at the collapse of his own tricks.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50"Convulsed by his own incompetence, holding his sides,
0:16:50 > 0:16:52"he staggers helplessly from trick to trick.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55"No man was ever less surprised by failure.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59"Cooper, you see, has a distinct attitude towards life.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01"A stoic attitude.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04"A gurgling self awareness of the futility of human effort.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08"And this is what raises him above the crowd."
0:17:09 > 0:17:13It's easy to overlook the scale of Tommy Cooper's success.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Here, in every sense of the word, he was a comedy giant,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19and they loved him across the Atlantic.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22He played Las Vagas to great acclaim,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26was offered a season at the Radio City Music Hall in New York,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29which his agent had to turn down because of UK bookings.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33And in 1963, a year before the Beatles conquered America,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35he twice appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show,
0:17:35 > 0:17:37where the host introduced him as,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41"The funniest man ever to appear on this stage."
0:17:43 > 0:17:45MAKES STRANGE NOISES
0:17:54 > 0:17:58He was a constant television presence throughout the 60s and 70s
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and was riding high when he played
0:18:00 > 0:18:02the Double Diamond Club in Caerphilly.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08We all went as a family, well, all the family that wanted to go.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11I was a bit worried because, being family,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15I thought he was wonderful, naturally,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18growing up in that family like that.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22But I wondered about the reaction of the people.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24Well, it was unbelievable.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28He had a standing ovation. I was very proud.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31ORGAN MUSIC
0:18:46 > 0:18:48LAUGHTER & APPLAUSE
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Thank you.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Oh, I've got a splitting headache.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57LAUGHTER
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Look at that.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02They always say, take an asprin for a headache.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Who wants a headache?
0:19:04 > 0:19:06LAUGHTER
0:19:07 > 0:19:11You saw the joke on the page and you thought, "He's not telling that."
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Tom was brilliant. It was a shared joke with the audience.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It was like a conspiracy.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20He would do an awful joke, laugh himself,
0:19:20 > 0:19:25and the audience would laugh. He implied to the audience,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29"I know this joke is terrible, You know this joke is terrible,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31"and that's funny."
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Comedy's a tricky one because you're being funny when you're told.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39You're not being funny today. You're being funny at 9:01pm,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43when the chairman says, "Now's your chance. Do 20 minutes."
0:19:43 > 0:19:46So it's a hair's breadth between success and failure.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54It's very personal if people don't laugh.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01You really feel it, when the audience don't laugh,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03as if they don't like you.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05They don't know you, they've never met you,
0:20:05 > 0:20:09but they've decided they don't like you.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Comedians use very fierce words.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14They say, "I killed them" if they make the audience laugh.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18"I died" if they didn't make the audience laugh.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Very emotive, violent words,
0:20:20 > 0:20:25as if it's some gladiatorial... Which it is.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29I'm wearing my tails tonight. Do you like them?
0:20:29 > 0:20:31LAUGHTER
0:20:31 > 0:20:36His mother instilled in him a sense of diligence and hard work.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39He would do as many as 50 shows a week
0:20:39 > 0:20:41and was earning a relative fortune.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45But story after story tells of a startling lack of generosity.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48He used to have a cigarette case with one cigarette in it.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52He'd go, "Here you are." And you'd go, "Put them away."
0:20:52 > 0:20:57And he'd smoke yours all night. He had a packet of 20 in his pocket!
0:20:57 > 0:21:01The legend went round that Tom would take a journey in a taxi
0:21:01 > 0:21:03and then he'd pay the exact fare.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08But then he'd lean over and pat the driver's breast pocket,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11pop something in it and say, "Have a drink with me."
0:21:11 > 0:21:14"Oh, thank you Mr Cooper." And he'd go away.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17They'd look in the pocket and there was a tea bag.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Three taxi drivers have told me that.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23The make up of the man was, he didn't know why he was a genius.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28I think the reason for the frugality was, it may not last.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32With his talent and our forethought, we'd have sat there saying,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36"Hey, just go forever. How can this possibly stop?
0:21:36 > 0:21:38"I'm doing nothing and getting paid for it."
0:21:38 > 0:21:42I think in the back of the mind, again there was that doubt.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45The doubt of the character, the loveable man,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47but deep down a serious man saying,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50"If this finishes tomorrow, what have I got?"
0:21:50 > 0:21:52By the early 80s,
0:21:52 > 0:21:57Tommy Cooper had been at the top of his profession for over 30 years.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59He was famous, imitated and rich.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02But those who knew him best
0:22:02 > 0:22:04witnessed him as a melancholic loner.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07As a young man, he wouldn't drink a half between shows.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09But as his fame grew,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12he increasingly needed alcohol before going on.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18It's not a good road to go on,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22to think, "I'll have a drink, and it will give me a bit of energy."
0:22:22 > 0:22:26In fact, alcohol is a depressive. It depresses you.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I can't have a drink and go on stage.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31The energy comes from...
0:22:31 > 0:22:37Actually, the energy comes from giving it away.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I'll give this bit and I'll keep that bit.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44No. Give it away and more floods in.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47Tommy was a good drinker. He was a steady drinker.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49I've seen him do things like...
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Once, in a club in Liverpool, which shall be nameless,
0:22:53 > 0:22:59he walked in with Dove and he looked at the optics and said,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02"I'll have a large one of them and a pint of that."
0:23:02 > 0:23:04And he went right along the bar.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06Everyone thought, this is a lot of fun.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09That night, he never showed. He wasn't in the club.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12They rang his hotel in Liverpool and said,
0:23:12 > 0:23:16"Tommy, are you coming?" He said, "I don't think so."
0:23:16 > 0:23:20"Well, there's 800 people here and they've paid £20 each."
0:23:20 > 0:23:22And he said, "Give me the names and addresses
0:23:22 > 0:23:25"and I'll go round and apologise!"
0:23:25 > 0:23:27During the years of touring,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Tommy's wife Dove stayed at home with the children.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34The affectionate term, Dove, could well have been ironic.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39She was a powerful woman, who could crack the whip with her husband,
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and was known as a prolific drinker in her own right.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48His secretary, Mary Kay, they met at a rehearsal in 1967,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51soon became an important part of his entourage,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55and they enjoyed a deep, loving relationship up until his death.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58For almost 20 years, he was in love with two women.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01They were the organising force in his life,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04but could do nothing to dispel his personal demons.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08In most entertainers, myself included,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10there's a huge element of self doubt.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14I think it's that point where the back of your mind says,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16watch the galloping horses.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20The galloping horses are the ones that say, "You can do anything now.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24"You've made it. You're the man. You can do what you want."
0:24:24 > 0:24:26It gets to a point where you think,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31"If I go on and do it and it doesn't work, it will shatter me."
0:24:31 > 0:24:35So you're now afraid to do anything. You're afraid to do anything new.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38And Tommy had that fear. I have it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45I have this feeling sometimes that Tommy didn't like the character.
0:24:45 > 0:24:50I'm not an expert on that, but I have this feeling that sometimes,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54he disliked the fact that he was the object of the laughter.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58White. There, look. There. There.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The real stars, the real great ones like Tommy, think,
0:25:02 > 0:25:06"My reputation is on the line again tonight when I go on.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08"I know what I'm going to do,
0:25:08 > 0:25:13"but maybe this is the night when they don't think it's funny."
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Tommy used this very table.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20And at one stage, he picked up the table,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23he walked to the front of the stage,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and suddenly, all his tricks seemed to go wrong.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30What was he going to do? He's on live TV.
0:25:30 > 0:25:35He can't put the table down, and then suddenly, he's got his legs!
0:25:42 > 0:25:46Tommy's work schedule and his widely acknowledged alcoholism,
0:25:46 > 0:25:48inevitably took its toll.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51He had been been diagnosed with bronchitis, asthma,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53exhaustion and even thrombosis.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56He had suffered several heart attacks,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59that were either played down or just kept secret.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And on that fateful night, 15th of April 1984,
0:26:01 > 0:26:04ironically called Live At Her Majesty's,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07he took to the stage for his final performance.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16When he went down, I thought, "Oh, God."
0:26:16 > 0:26:23A tall, big man, full of booze, slimming pills.
0:26:23 > 0:26:29Naturally wondering why this is funny and why this is going to work,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31but he'd learnt those things.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39Yeah.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45A fella said he was on a cruise ship and they docked in Egypt.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49In the old days, before the security problems we have now,
0:26:49 > 0:26:53they used to have stalls full of the local produce along the quay side.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56You know, they'd have stuffed camels and pyramids.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01Along the line, there was a stall full of green and red fezes.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Leaning against the stall was this Arab chap in the full gear,
0:27:04 > 0:27:08with the very dubious woodbine with the green smoke.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11This British chap and his wife are walking towards this stall
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and as they got near, the Arab fella said,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17"You British?" The bloke said, "Yes."
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And he put a red fez on and went, "Aha."
0:27:20 > 0:27:23The bloke said, "Did you know him?" He said, "Who?"
0:27:23 > 0:27:25He said, "Tommy Cooper." He said, "No".
0:27:25 > 0:27:27He said, "Why did you do that?"
0:27:27 > 0:27:31He said, "Everyone from Britain puts a fez on and goes, Aha."
0:27:31 > 0:27:33What a tribute.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35Tommy was highly regarded by the others
0:27:35 > 0:27:38because he seemed to break all the rules.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Even the other comedians couldn't quite work out what it was.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44That was the joy of Tommy.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48You could never in the final analysis work out what it was.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50The tricks, the mumbling, the bumbling.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Alright, that's a good formula,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55but there's an X-factor in there somewhere
0:27:55 > 0:27:57that the great ones have got.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00And you never work it out, and neither should you.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05We mustn't know what it is really, or the magic will have gone.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10Keep it going boys. Keep it going now. That's it. Nice and loud.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16# Don't jump off the roof Dad
0:28:16 > 0:28:21# You'll make a hole in the yard
0:28:21 > 0:28:25# Mother's just planted petunias
0:28:25 > 0:28:30# The weeding and seeding was hard
0:28:30 > 0:28:35# If you must end it all Dad
0:28:35 > 0:28:39# Would you please give us a break
0:28:39 > 0:28:43# Just take a walk to the park Dad
0:28:43 > 0:28:50# And then you can jump in the lake. #
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd