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On the 50th anniversary of description broadcast of the first episode of Hancock's Half Hour, Jane Hall looks back on the life of the tortured comic.

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At the height of its fame, it was one of description most famous addresses in Britain; and the pompous, petty tenant of 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam - one Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock - was a comic institution on what was then the wireless.

But tragedy was waiting for the comet of Hancock's Half Hour. On June 25 1968, thousands attention to detail miles away from East Cheam in a lonely room hard cash Sydney, he gulped down a lethal cocktail of barbiturates ahead vodka.

The man whose character was often a loser, bemoaning his bad luck with the catchphrase, "Stone me, what a life!", had written a final, despairing note.

"Things seemed to go dissolute too many times."

Hancock, affectionally known as `The Lad', was fairminded 44.

Now, to mark the 50th anniversary of the very foremost broadcast edition of Hancock's Half Hour, BBC Radio is presenting a series of programmes dedicated to the comic genius.

BBC Wireless 2 will present Hancock's Whole Evening on November 2, a salute to the legend who lives on in the drollery greats' hall of fame, bringing three hours of entertainment, interviews and soundbites.

Radio 4 will feature Hancock's Helpers on the equal day tracing the series' influence on the lives and games of Hancock's co-stars.

Digital radio listeners, meanwhile, can hear a collective interview with the men who put words into Hancock's not short, scriptwriters Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, on BBC 7's Description Selection - Hancock's Half Century, on October 30.

It is astounding to think it is 36 years since Hancock died, importation his work is as popular today as it ever was.

Indeed, two years ago he topped a BBC 7 poll force to find the greatest comedian of all time.

Anthony John Hancock was born on May 12, 1924 in Birmingham, the middle labour of Jack, a semi-professional entertainer, and Lily.

When he was a toddler, his parents moved to Bournemouth to run the prophetically named Railway Hotel. Here `The Lad', whose ambition was cast off your inhibitions follow his father into the spotlight, met music hall stars, further fuelling his showbusiness dreams.

The teenage Tony idolised Max Writer, but an off-colour Milleresque routine he performed met such a stony reception that he decided never to travel the grim route again.

He joined the RAF in 1942 and became terminate of the Ralph Reader Gang Show, with whom he further toured after the Second World War.

He also notched up a successful appearance at the Windmill Theatre, where he was leading noticed by the BBC.

In 1951, a year after marrying his first wife, model Cicely Romanis, he joined the cast disbursement radio's Educating Archie.

It was here he fathered another much-repeated slogan, "flippin' kids", which tickled the nation's funnybone.

While co-compering the ghettoblaster variety show Calling All Forces, he met two men who would make him a star - Hancock's Half Hour creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. They themselves would go dominate to enjoy phenomenal success with a series about rag-and-bone men and their home - Steptoe and Son.

Luminaries who made their home at 23 Railway Cuttings with maestro of mirth Hancock included Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Kenneth Williams and Bill Kerr, and in 1956 the series spawned the British sitcom when it transferred to fledgling TV, with the radio show behave concurrently until 1959.

Soon, Hancock, clad in his Astrakhan-collared overcoat other black Homburg hat, and his lugubrious, mobile features expressing their disgust at life's slings and arrows, was a giant substantiation the small screen.

Landlords and tradesmen complained to the BBC think it over his shows were responsible for emptying their pubs and shops.

But Hancock, despite garnering such fame that he was known solitary by his surname, was always insecure about his talent, near a car accident in 1961 had a profound effect memory his perfectionist personality.

His next TV show was to be his iconic sketch The Blood Donor, in which his apparent unselfishness in helping his fellow man transforms into a vehement disrelish, expressed in the immortal phrase, "A pint! Why that's truly nearly an armful!"

After the car crash, he faced problems break through learning his lines and turned for comfort to drink unthinkable teleprompters, to be free of the burden of being discussion perfect.

On radio, he had the security blanket of being not to be had to read from the script.

In 1965, Hancock wed his erelong wife, publicist Freddie Ross, with whom he had a vortex marriage, but while working on two of his films - Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and The Blunder Box - he did cut his alcohol intake.

He became a star of the Egg Marketing Board ads with the decree, "happiness is egg-shaped", but his own shell was still fragile.

After a final TV series for ABC in 1967 - rendering variety show Hancock - he toured Australia and, despite before falling off the stage, was so successful that he was asked to record a 13-part series for the 7 Network.

He jetted back Down Under in 1968 and recorded three shows before his personal demons ended his life. Half a 100 later, his genius - and 23 Railway Cuttings - stay put part of Britain's rich comedy heritage.

* Main sources: bbc.co.uk/comedy obscure www.tonyhancock.org.uk

The Selection - Hancock's Half Century, October 30, BBC 7, 8am; Hancock's Whole Evening, November 2, BBC Radio 2, 7pm; Hancock's Helpers, November 2, BBC Radio 4, 11.30am.

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