Tommy Cooper

Tommy Cooper
Born	March 19, 1921 U.K.
Died	April 15, 1984 (age 63)

Tommy Cooper (1921–1984) was a British prop comedian and magician.

Biography

Cooper's interest in magic began at the age of 8 when Tommy received a magic set as a gift. Though he was able to present magic normally, he chose instead to create a comedy act. There are a number of different stories about how the creation of his act came about, but suffice to say the character of the lovable magician who can't get a single trick to work was a winner.

Known as a fez-wearing magician whose tricks always seemed to go wrong. Tommy's career started while performing for the troops following World War 2. During the 1950's he appeared numerous times on British Television and in the 1960's he got his own show, first with Cooperama, then The Tommy Cooper Show and even into the 1970's he was still going strong. In 1984 he was appearing on the TV show LIVE From Her Majesty's when he suffered a heart attack during a televised performance. He uttered 'I don't feel well' and fell back against the curtain. Given the usual nature of his act, the audience took some time to realize that this really wasn't part of it.

His brother David (born 1930) opened a magic shop in the 1960s in Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) called D. & Z. Cooper's Magic Shop.

In Tommy Cooper's hometown of Caerphilly, there is a statue of Tommy that was dedicated a few years ago. Among the notables in attendance was Sir Anthony Hopkins who spoke of his admiration for Cooper and did a spot on impression of him as well.

Books

• Tommy Cooper: Always Leave Them Laughing By John Fisher (2006)

References

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