Comedian and actor dies at 65

British actor and comedian Tony Slattery has died of a heart attack at the age of 65, his partner has confirmed.

From 1988 Slattery was best known for his role in the hit Channel 4 show Whose Line Is It Anywhere? “Famous for his witty improvisation.”

The Londoner has also played comedic and serious roles in films including The Crying Game, Peter's Friends and How to Succeed in Advertising.

He was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his performance as Gordon in Tim Firth's drama Neville's Island.

His partner, actor Mark Michael Hutchinson, said in a statement: “It is with great sadness that we announce that actor and comedian Tony Slattery, 65, passed away this week. Passed away this Tuesday morning after suffering a heart attack last night.”

Born in 1959 to a working-class family in north London, Slattery won a scholarship to study medieval and modern languages ​​at Cambridge University.

It was from here that he entered the acting world, meeting the young Sir Stephen Fry, who invited him to join the Cambridge Footlights, the university's famous amateur drama club.

From that time on, Slattery once said, “Get up on the stage and hear the laughter.”

At Cambridge he was a contemporary of Dame Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie.

In 1981, their band won the first Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival for their production of The Cellar Tapes.

The following year, Slattery was named president of Footlights, following in the footsteps of Eric Idle, Clive Anderson and Peter Cook.

Slattery appeared on the London club circuit, performing, in his words, “a bit of a freak show”.

He has made numerous television appearances, including hosting the children's show TX.

But his big break came in 1986, when he landed the lead role in the West End musical Me and My Girl. Subsequent appearances in the Radio Times, Parade of Soldiers and Neville's Island received critical acclaim.

His other screen credits include “To Die For,” “Up 'N Under” and “The Wedding Tackle.”

But he will be best remembered for his work on Channel 4’s flagship comedy show Whose Line Is It? ” work in which performers perform a series of short improvisational games to create comedy scenes based on suggestions from the host or the audience.

Slattery joined Comedy Store cast members Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and Sandy Toksvig from 1988 to 1995, as well as Rory Bremner and his old friend Sir Stephen Appeared in 48 episodes of the show and became popular across the country.

Slattery, one of the show's most popular cast members, left after the seventh season, hurting the show's ratings.

The comedian took a break from acting for personal reasons before returning to film and television, filming a number of projects for the BBC.

He recently toured the UK with a comedy show and launched a podcast: Tony Slattery's Manga Club in October.

Like many beloved entertainers, Slattery had his demons. In 1996, at the age of 36, he suffered a physical and mental breakdown.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2019, “I had a really good time until I went a little crazy,” he said.

The star, who had alcohol and drug problems, vacillated between “terrible isolationism and near-comatose states, and then terrible restlessness, pacing, sitting with his mind spinning.”

He was hospitalized multiple times.

At one point, he locked himself in his apartment for six months and threw all his furniture into the Thames.

He was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which helped explain his “mania, finding things too exciting, and then withdrawal, apathy and bleakness.”

Slattery is survived by Hutchinson, his partner of more than thirty years, whom he met while performing “Me and My Girl” in the mid-1980s.

“He stayed with me when I was behaving so irrationally and I can only think of it as unconditional love,” he told the same publication. “He's certainly not with me for my money – we don't have any. That's the secret of love.”