Benny Hill



Benny Hill (real name Alfred Hawthorne Hill, 1924-1992) was a prolific English comic, actor, and singer best known for his television programme The Benny Hill Show.

His on-screen persona was as a skirt-chasing Dirty Old Man, and there was much Fan Service. Some of his humour today walks into the sexist, which has affected his reputation, although the women involved with his shows have denied that they were sexist. That said, when non-Britons are speaking of British comedy genius, Hill is often mentioned in the same breath as, say, Monty Python. This mystifies many Brits, and the series is rarely repeated in his home country. His novelty record One-Hit Wonder "Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West" does get more play, though, and his shows are available on DVD.

In the mid-noughties there was a TV show entitled Is Benny Hill Still Funny? in which a cross-section of the British public, most of whom were too young to have seen his original broadcasts, were shown a selection of his sketches and asked the eponymous question. The consensus was "Yes".

The ending song of The Benny Hill Show was "Yakety Sax" by Boots Randolph, an infamous Ear Worm if there ever was one. Endlessly parodied, if there's a nonsensical Chase Scene (or anything, really), play Benny Hill!

Most of his comedy is visual, which typically leads to good video sales worldwide. No translation needed for the most part, especially for the pretty girls in colourful dresses.