Tony Slattery, the comedian and actor best known as a regular performer on game show Whose Line Is It Anyway? , has died of a heart attack, aged 65.
He became a frequent panellist on shows such as Have I Got News For You and Radio 4’s Just a Minute.
He also worked as an actor, appearing in the films The Crying Game, Peter’s Friends and Bruce Robinson’s How to Get Ahead in Advertising, which starred Richard E Grant.
News of Slattery’s death was announced by his partner of three decades, Mark Michael Hutchinson, who said: “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.”
Slattery burst onto the comedy scene after becoming president of Cambridge’s esteemed Footlights comedy society in 1982, alumni of which include John Cleese, Clive Anderson, Miriam Margolyes and Richard Ayoade.
Among those who were a part of Footlights at the same time as Slattery were Sir Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Jan Ravens, Richard Vranch and his future Whose Line Is It Anyway? co-star Sandi Toksvig.
His television career was launched in 1983 when he was hired as a performer on Saturday Stayback, hosted by Chris Tarrant.
Five years later, he became a regular fixture on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the series, presented by Anderson, that tested comedians’ improvisational skills.
Slattery left the show in 1995, becoming less of a presence on screen due to health issues. He would return for a reunion special in March 2011, which was held for Comic Relief.
The comedian claimed in Stephen Fry’s 2006 documentary The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive that he had a “midlife crisis” after leaving Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and said he spent six months as a recluse.
After a friend broke down his door and took him to hospital, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
In 2020, Slattery – who regularly spoke openly about his bipolar disorder – revealed he went bankrupt following a battle with substance abuse and mental health issues.
He told the Radio Times that his “fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy” as well as his “misplaced trust in people” had also contributed to his money problems.
Slattery released the BBC Two Horizon documentary What’s The Matter With Tony Slattery? in the same year, which saw him and Hutchinson visit leading experts on mood disorders and addiction.
Sir Stephen, 67, hailed Slattery as “the gentlest, sweetest soul”.
“A cruel irony that fate should snatch him from us just as he had really begun to emerge from his lifelong battle with so many dark demons. He had started live ‘evenings with’ and his own podcast series. Lovely, at least, this past year for him to have found to his joyous surprise that he was still remembered and held in great affection.”
Actor and comedian Helen Lederer paid tribute to Slattery: “My best friend in laughter, wit, love, absurdity, being my best man (twice), we adored you – what will we do now?”
Additional reporting by agencies
