British comedian and actor Tony Slattery has died of a heart attack, aged 65.
Slattery was best known as a regular performer on game show Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the 1980s. The following decade, he appeared on radio series Just a Minute and BBC panel show Have I Got News For You.
He also worked as an actor, appearing in the films The Crying Game, Peter’s Friends and Bruce Robinson’s How to Get Ahead in Advertising, starring Richard E Grant.
News of Slattery’s death was announced by his partner of three decades, Mark Michael Hutchinson, who said: “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.”
Slattery burst onto the comedy scene after becoming president of Cambridge’s esteemed comedy society, Footlights, in 1982, alumni of which includes Stephen Fry, John Cleese, Miriam Margolyes and Richard Ayoade.
Other members who were a part of Footlights at the same time as Slattery were Emma Thompson, Jan Ravens, Richard Vranch and his. future Whose Line Is It Anyway? co-star Sandi Toksvig.
His television career was launched in 1983 when he was hired as a performer on Saturday Stayback, hosted by Chris Tarrant.
Five years later, he became a regular fixture on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the series, led by Clive Anderson, that tested comedians’ improvisational skills.
Slattery left the show in 1995, becoming less of a presence on screen due to health issues. He would return for a reunion special in March 2011, held for Comic Relief.
The comedian claimed in Stephen Fry’s documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive that he had a “midlife crisis” after leaving Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and said he spent six months as a recluse.
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After a friend broke down his door and took him to hospital, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
In 2020, Slattery – who regularly spoke openly about his bipolar disorder – revealed he went bankrupt following a battle with substance abuse and mental health issues.
He told the Radio Times that his “fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy” as well as his “misplaced trust in people” had also contributed to his money problems.
Slattery released the BBC Two Horizon documentary What’s The Matter With Tony Slattery? in the same year, which saw him and Hutchinson visit leading experts on mood disorders and addiction.
Additional reporting by Agencies
