Hancock star dies
Bregonzi was in 22 Half Hours
Character actor Alec Bregonzi, a regular of the Hancock’s Half Hour TV shows, has died at the aged of 76.
He was in 22 of the 63 episodes, including the classics Twelve Angry Men and The Missing Page, where his upper-class bearing contrasted with Hancock’s pretensions.
And he twice went on tour with Hancock, in the 1958 revue Tony Hancock - In Person and in 1961’s The Tony Hancock Show
He went on to appear on many other comedy shows of the Fifties and Sixties, starring alongside the likes of Benny Hill, Charlie Drake, Arthur Askey and Frankie Howerd.
But his connection with comedy endured – working with everyone from Kenny Everett to Cannon and Ball. He played waiter on Filthy Rich and Catflap and his last TV role, in 2001, was as a vicar in Paul Whitehouse’s Happiness. For four years, he read viewers' letters on BBC’s Points of View
Bregonzi was also a regular on stage, his most daunting job being to take over the role of Pseudolos from Frankie Howerd when Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum went on tour after a West End run.
Born in London on April 21, 1930, Bregzoni died in the capital on Sunday.
Published: 9 Jun 2006
