Tony Slattery dies at 65

Comedian and improviser had heart attack

Tony Slattery has died aged 65 following a heart attack, his partner has announced.

Slattery was a regular on the Channel 4 comedy improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Radio 4's Just A Minute.

A statement on behalf of his partner of more than three decades, the actor Mark Michael Hutchinson 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.'

Born on November 9, 1959, Slattery grew up on a council estate in north-west London, the son of working-class Irish immigrants and was a talented student, who earned a place at Cambridge to study modern and medieval languages.

There he became a member of the Footlights team, which won the first Perrier award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1981, alongside Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Richard Vranch, with whom he became lifelong friends. Vranch said today: 'Me and Tony first performed together as Ben Hur on Ice in 1981. He was hugely talented in many fields, and a very good friend. We giggled like kids whenever we met up over the years. RIP.'

Slattery appeared on several TV shows but his breakthrough was improvising on Channel 4's Whose Line Is It Anyway? from 1989. Dan Patterson, who co-created the format, said today: 'So sad to hear about the terribly early passing of Tony Slattery. He was one of the nicest, kindest, cleverest and funniest people I ever had the privilege to work with. In his day the camera loved him and he was right up there with the best of them.'

Slattery was also a regular with the Comedy Store Players live improv troupe and made a number of appearances on Radio 4's Just A Minute and BBC One's Have I Got News For You in its early days.

Acting credits include roles in The Crying Game, Carry On Columbus, Peter's Friends and Red Dwarf. And he earned an Olivier Award nomination for best comedy performance for his role as Gordon in Tim Firth's play Neville's Island in 1994.

However, his work was overshadowed by personal problems, with excessive drinking and cocaine use - his daily diet was said to be two bottles of vodka and 10g of cocaine - culminating in 1996 with a six-month period as a recluse in his London riverside apartment, during which he did not answer his door or telephone. At one point, he threw all his furniture into the Thames.

Eventually, one of his friends broke down the door of his flat and persuaded him to go to hospital, where he was diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder. '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,' he said in a later interview.

Slattery discussed this period and his subsequent living with the disorder in a documentary made by Stephen Fry, The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive, in 2006.

He made a comeback with a show at the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe, and made an unflinching 2020 BBC Two Horizon documentary, What's The Matter With Tony Slattery?, examining his history of mental health problems. Around this time, Slattery revealed that he had been repeatedly sexually abused by a priest at the age of eight, but had never told his parents; he believes the event contributed to his unstable character later in life.

Erica Lear, who produced his podcast, Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club, said today, 'I will miss my mischievous partner in crime. They say you should never meet your heroes, but I met mine and he became my best friend.'

Rufus Jones, the actor and writer behind Channel 4 comedy Home, was among those paying tribute today. He said: 'The manic sadness of Tony Slattery’s life, followed by his eager desire to talk about it and repair, was hard to watch but I suspect a valuable contribution. But man, he really was a comedy Prince in his pomp.'

Robin Ince wrote on Facebook: 'Tremendously sad to hear of the sudden death of Tony Slattery - we worked together a few times in the last couple of months and he was someone I felt empathy for and camaraderie with from the first time I met him a few years ago - a sweet and clever man.'

Comedy writer Jason Hazeley posted on BlueSky: 'So very sad. He was a lovely, funny, lovely, fragile, lovely guy. Poor Mark.'

Al Murray called him 'a dazzling talent', Arthur Smith described him as a 'brilliant quick wit, kind [and] thoughtful', and Sylvester McCoy paid tribute to a 'dear sweet funny tragic man'.

Stand-up Alistair Barrie added: 'I grew up adoring Tony Slattery. Anyone who liked laughing in the late 80s couldn’t help it. I also had the pleasure of meeting him a couple of years back, & though time & demons had inevitably taken their toll, there was still that astonishing sparkle in his eye & he was utterly delightful. RIP.'One of five siblings, Slattery previously lost a sister to cancer and one of his brothers to a heart attack last year.