Editing Tony Hancock (section)

==Early life and career==
Hancock was born in Southam Road, [[Hall Green]], [[Birmingham]],<ref>GRO Register of Births: JUN 1924 6d 231 KINGS N. – Anthony J. Hancock, mmn = Thomas</ref> to his mother, Lily,<!-- https://www.tonyhancock.org.uk/uploads/docs/Railway%20Cuttings/Railway%20Cuttings%2039.pdf --><!-- Lucie Lilian Sennett   4 Sep 1890...8 Nov 1969 --><ref name="birminghammail/47052">{{cite news |title=BBC to make film about Birmingham comic genius Tony Hancock |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/bbc-to-make-film-about-birmingham-comic-47052 |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=[[Birmingham Mail]] |date=12 October 2012 |language=en}}</ref> and John Hancock, his father, also worked as a comedian and entertainer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tony Hancock in Dorset |work=Dorset Life: The Dorset Magazine |url=https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2018/06/tony-hancock-in-dorset/ |access-date=2023-04-13 |language=en-US}}</ref>

<blockquote>His father, Jack, worked for a shipping firm while his mother, Lily, was the daughter of a printer who served 21 years as a director of [[Birmingham City Football Club]].<ref name="thefreelibrary/a062103596">{{cite news |last1=Hudson |first1=Jenny |title=My life with Hancock; Tony Hancock's widow Freddie tells of the great man's despair as he brought joy to millions |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/My+life+with+H-+h-h-h-ancock%3B+Tony+Hancock%27s+widow+Freddie+tells+of...-a062103596 |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=[[Sunday Mercury]] |agency=|via=[[Free Online Library]] |date=May 14, 2000 |location=Birmingham, England}}</ref></blockquote>

His father, John Hancock, in an effort to improve his health, moved to  [[Bournemouth]] (then in [[Hampshire]]), at his age of three, where his family took over the Mayo Hygienic Laundry in Winton.<ref name="flickr/47-Gervis">{{cite web |last1=Ladell |first1=Alwyn Torquil Francis |title=Hotel Celebrity (Swanmore Hotel, Durlston Court Hotel, Quality Hotel), 47 Gervis Road, Bournemouth, Dorset |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/alwyn_ladell/albums/72157625917623549/with/6102966744 |website=[[Flickr]] |access-date=22 April 2025 |language=en-us |quote=Former church warden, [[St Ambrose Church, Westbourne]]}}</ref> They later moved to run the Railway Hotel in Holdenhurst Road.<ref name="bournemouthecho/18042831">{{cite news |title=Picture of the Day: The Railway Hotel on Holdenhurst Road |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18042831.picture-day-railway-hotel-holdenhurst-road/ |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=[[Bournemouth Echo]] |date=18 November 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1933, Hancock's parents bought ''Swanmore Villa and Lodge'' in Gervis Road,<ref name="bournemouthecho/18042831"/> which they renamed to the Durlston Court Hotel, after [[List_of_schools_in_Hampshire#Primary_and_preparatory_schools|Durlston Court Preparatory School]], now called the Celebrity Hotel.<ref name="bournemouthecho/9000829">{{cite news |title=Tribute to genius of comedy Tony Hancock |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/9000829.tribute-to-genius-of-comedy-tony-hancock/ |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=[[Bournemouth Echo]] |date=29 April 2011 |language=en}}</ref> After his father's death in 1934, Hancock and his brothers (Colin and Roger Thomas)<ref>[[Anthony Hayward]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716180158/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/roger-hancock-agent-who-guided-many-showbiz-careers-and-protected-the-legacy-of-his-brother-tony-2313129.html Obituary: Roger Hancock obituary], ''The Independent'', 14 July 2011</ref> lived there with their mother and stepfather Robert Gordon Walker<ref>Bournemouth electoral Register 1938</ref>  

<blockquote>The young Anthony was sent to board at Durlston Court School, Swanage, from 1936. He learned typing and shorthand at Bournemouth Municipal College at the Lansdowne and later applied to be a newspaper reporter in Birmingham.<ref name="bournemouthecho/1874058">{{cite news |title=Half-hour of fame |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/1874058.half-hour-of-fame/ |access-date=22 April 2025 |work=[[Bournemouth Echo]] |date=2 December 2007 |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>

Hancock attended Summerbee Infants, Saugeen Preparatory School in Derby Road, Durlston Court Preparatory School, part of Durlston boarding school near [[Swanage]] (the name of which his parents adopted for their hotel)<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-06-01 |title=Tony Hancock in Dorset |url=http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2018/06/tony-hancock-in-dorset/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=Dorset Life |location=Dorset}}</ref> and [[Bradfield College]] in [[Reading, Berkshire]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Viner |first=Brian |date=2005-12-24 |title=Tony Hancock: Funny man |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/tony-hancock-funny-man-520612.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=Independent}}</ref> but left school at the age of fourteen.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cowall |first=Simon |date=2008-12-27 |title=The lad himself |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/27/biography-tony-hancock |url-status=live |access-date=2025-03-09 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

<blockquote>He made his stage debut in the hall of the Church of the Sacred Heart on Richmond Hill in 1940, billed as "Anthony Hancock - The Confidential Comic".<ref name="bournemouthecho/1874058"/></blockquote>

In 1940, Hancock made his first professional appearance at ''The Labour Halls'' (now the ''Avon Social Club''), in Avon Road, Springbourne, in Bournemouth.<ref name="bournemouthecho/9000829"/>

<blockquote>During the war, Hancock was billeted to the Hotel Metropole in Holdenhurst Road while attached to the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] photographic interpretation unit.<ref name="bournemouthecho/1874058"/></blockquote>

In 1942, during the [[Second World War]], Hancock joined the [[RAF Regiment]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Fisher|first1=John|title=Tony Hancock|date=2008|publisher=Harper Collins|location=London|isbn=978-0 00-726678-4|pages=72–77|chapter=3. Remember Gibraltar?}}</ref> Following  failed auditions for the [[Entertainments National Service Association]] (ENSA), he joined the Gang Shows, travelling around Europe entertaining troops. After the war, he joined the ''[[Ralph Reader]] [[Gang Show]]'' touring production of "Wings".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=June 19, 1947 |page=9}}</ref> He later worked in a double act with musician Derek Scott at the [[Windmill Theatre]], a venue which helped to launch the careers of many comedians at the time. A favourable press review of his work at the Windmill was seen in July 1948. "But mention must made of a new young comedian…who with a piano partner, gives some brilliant thumbnail impressions of a “dud” concert party."<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=July 13, 1948 |page=3}}</ref> He took part in radio shows such as ''[[Workers' Playtime (radio programme)|Workers' Playtime]]''<ref>{{cite journal |title=Coventry Evening Telegraph |journal=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=January 24, 1950 |page=4}}</ref> and ''[[Variety Bandbox]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Bognor Regis Observer |journal=Bognor Regis Observer |date=June 11, 1949 |page=1}}</ref> In July 1949, he was praised for his work in the summer presentation of "Flotsam's Follies" at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Bognor Regis.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=July 7, 1949 |page=4}}</ref> Christmas 1949 saw him in the part of "Buttons" in the Cinderella [[pantomime]] at the Royal Artillery, Woolwich.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=December 8, 1949 |page=6}}</ref> In June 1950, he opened in the "Ocean Revue" at the Ocean, Clacton Pier<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Stage |journal=The Stage |date=June 22, 1950 |page=6}}</ref> which ran for three months. At Christmas 1950, Hancock was in the "Red Riding Hood" pantomime at the Theatre Royal Nottingham playing the part of Jolly Jenkins, the Baron's page.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Nottingham Evening Post |journal=Nottingham Evening Post |date=November 20, 1950 |page=5}}</ref>

In 1951–1952, for one series beginning on August 3, 1951,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Yorkshire Evening Post |journal=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=July 21, 1951 |page=5}}</ref> Hancock was a cast member of ''[[Educating Archie]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frasier|first1=David|title=Suicide in the entertainment industry|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson|isbn=9780786410385|page=132}}</ref> in which he mainly played the tutor (or foil) to the nominal star, a ventriloquist's dummy. His appearance in this radio show brought him national recognition, and a catchphrase he used frequently in the show, "Flippin' kids!", became popular parlance. The same year, he began to make regular appearances on [[BBC Television]]'s [[light entertainment]] show ''[[Kaleidoscope (British TV series)|Kaleidoscope]]'', and almost starred in his own series to be written by [[Larry Stephens]], Hancock's best man at his first wedding.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/000001940/forgotten_tony_hancock_script_larry_stephens/|title=Forgotten Hancock script rediscovered|website=British Comedy Guide|date=3 November 2015|access-date=7 November 2015}}</ref> In 1954, he was given his own eponymous [[BBC]] radio show, ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]''.