Benny Hill

The sight of Benny Hill scurrying after scantily clad ladies to the jolly saxophone tune Yakety Sax became an iconic part of British comedy in the 1970s, and his cheeky, bawdy, slapstick humour also found cult fame in the United States with people such as Johnny Carson, Michael Jackson and even Snoop Dogg declaring themselves fans. Born in Southampton, he served in the army as a mechanic during WWII and began performing in the Combined Services Entertainment division in 1944. He cut his teeth in theatre and radio, but was one of the real pioneers of comedy on television, thanks to his hugely popular sketch series The Benny Hill Show, which ran from 1955 to 1991 and was broadcast in 140 countries. As his fame grew in the early 1960s, he released several comedy-pop records through the PYE Records label, including Gather In The Mushrooms, an innuendo-filled skiffle song about a farm girl milking cows and cooking dumplings which reached number twelve in the UK charts. A string of parody singles included Transistor Radio, Pepy's Diary and Harvest Of Love, but his biggest success came when his tale of Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) became the Christmas number one in 1971 and claimed its place as one of the great novelty records of all time. He later featured in a music video for Genesis' single Anything She Does, but died in 1992 of a heart attack aged 68.