Product Description

Frank and revealing, this fully authorised biography by Tommy's friend and colleague, acclaimed TV producer, John Fisher, is the first ever intimate portrait of Britain's best-loved, but little known, entertainer. More than just a comedian, Tommy Cooper was a born entertainer. Working in a golden age of British comedy, Cooper stood - literally - head and shoulders above the crowd, and had a magical talent for humour that defied description. When Cooper enlisted in the army in 1939, and began to perfect his comic timing on his army colleagues in the Egyptian desert, the man with the fez was born. Cooper was at the heart of the thriving British variety scene, adored by his legions of fans and much revered by his fellow professionals. The gentle giant of entertainment accompanied his bewildered, botched magic act with a sublime sense of bravado and a face that was made for comedy. He was one of the first funny men to have the entire nation in stitches. But, there was a man behind the laughter that few people saw. John Fisher was Cooper's friend and colleague and witnessed first-hand the child that lingered within the adult and moments of self-doubt and inadequacy that contrasted with the genial exterior. Until his tragic death, which occurred in the middle of his act on live television in 1984, Tommy Cooper lived in constant fear of the day he would be found out by his audience. He could never believe the accolades that came so thick and fast from every direction, and died to the sounds of laughter that he never really believed. Supplementing his own intimate knowledge with material accessed for the first time from the archives of Tommy's agent and manager, Miff Ferrie, and with the full co-operation of the Cooper family, John Fisher brings alive the man behind the comedic mask in this definitive biography of a comedy legend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #143873 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

Review
Praise for Tommy Cooper: 'Everyone wanted to imitate him didn't they. That was the true accolade I think. And he was funny as soon as he came on, he didn't have to say anything he was just ! FUNNY.' Ronnie Barker 'Tommy was amazing. He looked like Mount Rushmore on legs. He never said anything about real life so he never dates.' Barry Cryer 'Absolutely fantastic. No other comic would work with him, he was too good. He had this fantastic expression. A giant of comedy, a British WC Fields and he will be irreplaceable.' Eric Morecambe

From the Inside Flap
More than just a comedian, Tommy Cooper was a born entertainer.
Working in a golden age of British comedy, Cooper stood - literally - head
and shoulders above the crowd, and had a magical talent for humour that
defied description.

With a love of laughter stemming from a magic performance gone wrong when
he was in his teens, Cooper enlisted in the army in 1939 and began to
perfect his comic timing on his army colleagues in the Egyptian desert. The
man with the fez was born.

Cooper was at the heart of the thriving British variety scene, adored by
his legions of fans and much revered by his fellow professionals. But there
was a man behind the laughter that few people saw. John Fisher was Cooper's
friend and colleague and witnessed first-hand the moments of self-doubt and
inadequacy that contrasted with the genial exterior. Until his tragic
death, which occurred in the middle of his act on live television in 1984,
Tommy Cooper lived in constant fear of the day he would be `found out' by
his audience. He could never believe the accolades that came so thick and
fast from every direction, and died to the sounds of laughter that he never
really believed.

Supplementing his own intimate knowledge with material accessed for the
first time from the archives of Tommy's agent and manager, Miff Ferrie, and
with the full cooperation of the Cooper family, John Fisher's warm, honest
and insightful account brings alive the man behind the comedic mask in this
definitive biography of a comedy legend.

About the Author
John Fisher has a long and distinguished career as a TV producer working in light entertainment with such giants of comedy as Bob Monkhouse, Spike Milligan, Bruce Forsyth & Tommy Cooper. His most recent work includes Channel 4's critically acclaimed "Heroes of Comedy". An authority on popular entertainment, he has written many books on the subject. 'Jus' Like That!', his stage celebration of the life of Tommy Cooper, was a recent West End hit. He is also a member of the Inner Magic Circle.

Customer Reviews

Reliving Cooper
If by 'definitive' Fisher and his publishers mean wordy, then it's certainly a fair description of this hefty tome.
Having said that, Cooper fans will enjoy this thoroughly researched and affectionate portrait of one of the greatest British entertainers of the last century. Some of the chapters on the ins and outs of Cooper's career, dealt with in extraordinary detail, might have benefited from some gentle editing. Equally, some may feel they would have liked more on Cooper the man. Fisher does eventually get round to delving into Cooper's personal life, his alcoholism, his other health problems and, of course, his infidelity, but only in any depth during the penultimate chapter.
It's an uneven book, but clearly a work of love by the author and he succeeds in reminding the reader what a great and fascinating man Cooper really was. Fisher retells countless jokes and routines to great effect, so much so that you can almost relive Cooper performing them. And that in itself makes this book a marvellously rewarding read. If Ken Dodd can still fill theatres up and down the land, imagine what Tommy Cooper could do if he were alive today. The mind boggles.

Words! Words! Words!
I have enjoyed John Fisher's books in the past but he has mainly dealt with his subjects in an incisive, almost surgical, manner getting to the heart of the subject very quickly and concisely. Boy, was this a long read! I felt as if I had spent every day of Tommy Cooper's life with him such was the immense detail. How much better this book could have been if it had been shortened by about 40% omitting a great amount of the interaction between TC and his agent. Most of that detail got in the way of the story and I found myself skimming through to get back to the meat. Enjoyable on the whole? Yes, to a point so long as you have the stamina.

Affectionate, informative, literate definitive biography
Nobody has a pedigree like John Fisher for writing about Tommy Cooper and, as expected, this is a superb book. Fisher, a TV producer who wrote Funny Way to be a Hero some time ago about variety comedians, worked with Cooper on the box and was responsible for the excellent Heroes of Comedy documentary series - but above all he's literate, takes his subject seriously and his transparent love for the man doesn't mean he conceals his failings although the emphasis is on the development of his craft.

Writing about comedy is difficult - at least I've often been disappointed by what I've read (the Eric Sykes book about his faves barely scratches the surface in most cases, and Simon Louvish - Laurel and Hardy - and Roger Lewis - Sellers - persist in imagining autobiographical pointers in every last scrap of their subjects' material) - but John Fisher's book does not disappoint and is a fitting tribute, especially as its author had access to the papers of Cooper's late agent and the comic's own jottings. The death, incidentally, is dealt with sensitively and movingly.