Thomas Frederick Cooper

Thomas Frederick "Tommy" Cooper (19 March 1921 - 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian, actor, entertainer and magician. He was large and lumbering at 6 feet 4 inches and habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army for seven years before developing his conjuring skills and becoming a member of The Magic Circle. Although he spent time on tour performing his magical act, which specialised in magic tricks that appeared to fail, he rose to international prominence when his career moved into television, with programmes for London Weekend Television and Thames Television.

Cooper was born at 19 Llwyn-On Street in Caerphilly, Glamorgan, to a Welsh recruiting sergeant father and an English mother from Crediton, Devon. The family moved to Exeter, Devon, when Cooper was three. When he was eight years old, an aunt bought him a magic set, and he spent hours perfecting the tricks. After leaving school, he became a shipwright in Southampton, and in 1940 was called up as a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, serving for seven years and joining Montgomery's Desert Rats in Egypt. One evening in Cairo, having forgotten a prop, he borrowed a fez from a passing waiter, which got huge laughs, and he wore a fez when performing after that.

Cooper took up show business on Christmas Eve 1947, working in variety theatres around the country and performing as many as 52 shows in one week. He was influenced by Laurel and Hardy, Will Hay, Max Miller, Bob Hope and Robert Orben. After his debut on the BBC talent show New to You in March 1948, he began starring in his own shows, and remained popular with audiences for nearly 40 years, notably through his work with London Weekend Television from 1968 to 1972 and Thames Television from 1973 to 1980. By the end of the 1970s, his heavy smoking and drinking affected his career and health. On 15 April 1984, Cooper died at the age of 63 after suffering a heart attack on live television.