British comedy legend Tony Slattery dies of heart attack at 65

CELEBRITY DEATHS OF 2024

Tony Slattery, an iconic British actor and comedian, has sadly passed away at the age of 65 due to a heart attack. Known for his exceptional improvisational skills and brilliant performances on Channel 4’s Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Slattery left an indelible mark on the comedy world.

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From the 1980s to the 1990s, he appeared on endless quiz shows, commercials, plays like Me and My Girl and Neville’s Island, and films like The Crying Game, Carry on Columbus, and Peter’s Friends.

But his most famous and beloved show was the Channel 4 improv show that ran from 1988 to 1999.

Tony Slattery passes away at the age of 65

Tony Slattery’s untimely death was caused by a heart attack on Sunday evening, as confirmed by long-time partner, Mark Michael Hutchinson. A statement 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.

Tributes have since poured in from friends, colleagues, and fans, reports The Guardian. Sir Stephen Fry, Slattery’s friend from their Cambridge Footlights days, remembered him as ‘the gentlest, sweetest soul’ and ‘a screamingly funny, deeply talented wit and clown.’ He added:

...cruel irony that fate should snatch him from us just as he had really begun to emerge from his lifelong battle with so many dark demons

Comedian Sandi Toksvig called him ‘the brightest and the best,’ and Clive Anderson, host of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, fondly recalled him as ‘the naughtiest kid in the class, adored by the studio audience and those watching on TV.’

Tony Slattery's life after fame and his struggles

Born in 1959 to a working-class family in North London, he achieved academic brilliance, earning a scholarship to Cambridge University, where he joined the legendary Footlights club alongside experts like Dame Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie. From there on he became a household name and never looked back.

However, behind the laughter lay a turbulent personal life.In the mid-1990s, Slattery suffered a severe mental and physical breakdown, leading to a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, reports The Guardian. It was at this point that he started making sense out of his dual nature - ‘the mania, finding things too exciting, then the withdrawal, apathy and bleakness.’

In later interviews, he spoke candidly about his battles with alcohol and drug addiction, explaining how his struggles led him to periods of isolation and financial ruin. On being asked if his drug and alcohol binging had more to do with his mental illness than anything, he said:

There’s no question. Bipolarity often presents itself as something else, like a rash that can present as lupus or Lyme disease.

Adding:

The manic part of me was not because of the drugs and alcohol. I think it was there already. But the drugs and alcohol certainly ignited it.

In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, he said:

I had a very happy time until I went slightly barmy.

[I flipped between] terrible isolationism and an almost comatose state, and then terrible agitation, constant pacing, sitting inside with thoughts whirling round and round.

He admitted himself to hospital on several occasions and once locked himself in his flat for six months. During this time he threw out all of his furniture into the Thames.

In 2020, he revealed he went bankrupt after experiencing substance abuse and mental health problems. He attributed much of his financial troubles to misplaced trust in people and his self-described ‘fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy.’

Over the years, he also revealed that all his celebrity chums and hangers-on vanished when ‘the money dried up,’ labelling it as ‘very saddening.’

Despite these challenges, his partner Hutchinson remained a steadfast presence in his life. Slattery said: