Editing Kenneth Horne (section)

===Death and tributes===
[[File:The Dorchester Hotel in London Mayfair, England United Kingdom (4579989922).jpg|thumb|[[The Dorchester]], where Horne suffered his second, fatal heart attack<ref name="Times: Obit" />]]
Because of his heart condition, Horne had been prescribed an [[anticoagulant]], but had stopped taking it on the advice of a faith healer.{{sfn|Took|1998|p=68}} Horne died of a heart attack on 14 February 1969, while hosting the annual [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|Guild of Television Producers' and Directors' Awards]] at [[the Dorchester]] hotel in London.<ref name="Times: Obit" /> Presenting the awards was [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Earl Mountbatten of Burma]]; an award had gone to [[Barry Took]] and [[Marty Feldman]] for their TV series ''[[Marty (TV series)|Marty]]'', and Horne had just urged viewers to tune into the fifth series of ''Round the Horne'' (which was due to start on 16 March) when he fell from the podium.{{sfn|Took|1998|p=67}} The televised recording of the event omitted the incident, with announcer [[Michael Aspel]] explaining, "Mr Horne was taken ill at this point and has since died."{{sfn|Johnston|2006|p=297}} A memorial service was held at [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]] in March that year.{{sfn|Johnston|2006|p=297}}{{efn|Horne's ashes were interred at the [[Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens]], [[Buckinghamshire]], adjacent to the [[Church of St Giles, Stoke Poges|Church of St Giles]] where the poet [[Thomas Gray]] completed his ''[[Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.southbucks.gov.uk/media/15887/Memorial-Gardens-Booklet-2020/pdf/Booklet_2020.pdf?m=637419078510070000|title=Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens|publisher=South Bucks District Council|accessdate=24 September 2022}}</ref>}}

After his death, Horne was eulogised in ''[[The Times]]'' as "a master of the scandalous [[Double entendre|double-meaning]] delivered with shining innocence",<ref name="Times: Obit" /> while ''[[The Sunday Mirror]]'' called him "one of the few personalities who bridged the generation gap" and "perhaps the last of the truly great radio comics."{{sfn|Johnston|2006|pp=297–298}} In the December 1970 issue of ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'', Barry Took recalled ''Round the Horne'' and said of its star:

<blockquote>He was an unselfish performer, but it was still always ''his'' show. You just knew it. A Martian would have known it. His warmth tempered the sharpness of the writing&nbsp;... To say that everyone loved him sounds like every obituary ever written&nbsp;– nonetheless it's true&nbsp;... Horne was one of the few great men I have met, and his generosity of spirit and gesture have, in my experience, never been surpassed. I mourn him still.<ref name="Listener: Golden Show" /></blockquote>

On hearing the news Kenneth Williams wrote in his diary that "I loved that man. His unselfish nature, his kindness, tolerance and gentleness were an example to everyone".{{sfn|Williams|Davies|1993|pp=344–345}} In ''The Sunday Times'' in February 1969, [[Paul Jennings (British author)|Paul Jennings]] wrote of him: "If I ever knew a gentleman, it was Kenneth Horne.&nbsp;... He gave you his whole attention, his whole courtesy. And what a courtesy it was!&nbsp;... I knew him in the context of panel games, to which his marvellous unforced humour, spontaneous but beautifully timed, always added sparkle."{{sfn|Hackforth|1976|p=174}}