British comedian Tony Slattery died Tuesday. He was 65.
Slattery’s partner Mark Michael Hutchinson told the BBC the “Whose Line is it Anyway?” performer suffered a heart attack Sunday night. That British improv program showcased the funnyman’s quick wit from 1988 to 1995 and made him a household name to Channel 4 viewers overseas.
In 1986 Slattery starred in the West End musical “Me and My Girl,” where he reportedly met Hutchinson. Slattery also appeared on stage in the 1995 British comedy “Privates on Parade,” which drew some poor reviews. According to the Telegraph, the exhausted star was regularly using cocaine and drinking vodka at that time.
“I had a very happy time until I went slightly barmy,” Slattery told The Guardian in a 2019 interview where he spoke about that decline.
Slattery claimed that breakdown included locking himself in his apartment and tossing his furniture into a river.
“The river police came by and said ‘Tony Slattery, we like you on television, but please stop polluting the river,’” he told the Guardian.
Slattery said he was eventually diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, which likely contributed to his troubles with addiction and subsequent financial problems. None of those woes drove away Hutchinson.
“He’s kept with me when my behavior has been so unreasonable and I can only think it’s unconditional love,” Slattery said.
The London native is also survived by “a ferocious cat” named Molly, according to a social media post from his Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club podcast. Two of his four siblings preceded him in death.
Slattery’s screen credits include the 1992 Academy Award winning film “The Crying Game.” He starred the same year in “Peter’s Friends” alongside Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.
