Comedian and actor Tony Slattery dies aged 65

Comedian and actor Tony Slattery has died, aged 65, following a heart attack. The news was shared in a statement made on behalf of his partner, actor Mark Michael Hutchinson.

Slattery became familiar to TV audiences through his appearances on improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway?. He was a fixture of the popular Channel 4 show for 48 episodes and seven series from 1988-1995, alongside host Clive Anderson. While there, he worked alongside cast members such as Sandi Toksvig, Paul Merton, and Ryan Stiles.

He also appeared in the films The Crying Game, Peter’s Friends, and the final Carry On comedy, 1992’s Carry On Columbus. He was a member of the influential Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe as a student, appearing alongside future stars such as Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie.

Hutchinson’s statement read: “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”. The couple had been together since 1986 after meeting on the West End production of Me and My Girl.

Following success on television, Slattery suffered with his mental health and addiction issues, which led to him withdrawing from the spotlight in the mid-‘90s. In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, he went through what he described as “terrible isolationism and an almost comatose state, and then terrible agitation, constant pacing, sitting inside with thoughts whirling round and round”.

He would eventually be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, something he believed had a connection to his addiction. “There’s no question. Bipolarity often presents itself as something else” he said in the same interview.

In recent years, Slattery would work more frequently, opening up about his diagnosis in 2020 BBC documentary What’s the Matter with Tony Slattery?, as well as releasing his autobiography Retrievals: A Memoir alongside author Robert Ross.

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