Talk:Tony Slattery

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Regarding his period of over-exposure, Rory Bremner also made jokes about it, as did the down-market sitcom Birds Of A Feather. Given that in Britain, we always assume Anmericans are far ahead of us in all areas of showbusiness, it was really weird to find, when the Internet started opening up in the late 1990's, that so many young Yanks were going on about the well past-it Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and that their favourite on it seemed to be Slattery, who at that time couldn't get arrested. And his interviews, to this day, are of the "I've been to hell and back" variety, rather than about new performing or writing projects. Also, he is widely assumed to be gay. It's odd that he's never confirmed it in this day and age. Dolmance 17:27, 26 September 2007 (UTC)fwible

A list of who made jokes at him over his perceived near-omnipresence would be so long it would need an article to itself. He did seem to get flustered when it was done to his face on Whose Line Is It Anyway though. 87.115.34.177 (talk) 17:11, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

I thought he had confirmed it, on a TV documentary where he discussed his mental problems. AuntFlo (talk) 06:53, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

The article states his parents are/were Catholics, but fails to state whether or not he currently is. The only thing stated about his family is his parents country of origin and religion; it doesn't even state their names or whether they are dead or alive. Nietzsche 2 (talk) 22:37, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Not exactly a newbie, but in my wandering about getting to know wikipedia, I don't think I've read crueler comments about a performer on the page where I see we are apparently allowed to malign the subject of the article. I don't suppose any of you charming back-biters are subjects of a wiki article. This kind of thing is disturbing and makes me wonder about who is writing these wiki articles if you "wiki" arbiters are any example.Stellabystarlight (talk) 01:41, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

Breakdown

The article was biased initially, attributing Slattery's breakdown solely to bipolar disorder and (by omission) painting him as some kind of tragic saintly figure. I've corrected this. Slattery has admitted in a number of interviews (Guardian, Daily Mail cited as examples) that the main cause was excessive drink & drugs ("I spent £4,000 a week on cocaine ... [and drank] two bottles of vodka a day"). Regardless of any existing mental health issues he may have already had, that quantity of self-harm propelled him over the edge and exacerbated his depressive behaviour. Mrstonky (talk) 06:54, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

Douglas Bader controversy?

No mention of the controversy surrounding his “Douglas Bader” impersonation; this seemed to cause a large back=lash against him at the time, and - combined with the over-exposure in the media - perhaps led to him being on TV quite so much (beginning of the end?). Stephen Fry has tried to defend it as “very funny”, but the reaction of the audience at the time, never mind the viewer who complained, suggests otherwise. 109.152.116.71 (talk) 16:56, 25 February 2014 (UTC)

It's mentioned here; , and was in one of Stephen Fry's charity shows Hysteria!, televised by Channel 4. Regarding the article itself, the phrase "taking delight in making people laugh" sounds a bit fannish and could be disposed of. If, as I suspect, that was written by one of Slattery's over-eager American fans from around twenty years ago, they may be unaware that having participated in the Cambridge Footlights largely guarantees easy entry into British showbusiness, regardless of talent.

And he was not a "film critic" on Saturday Night At The Movies, but presented previews, onset reports and interviews on new cinema releases, rather than evaluations or opinions. It's untrue that Slattery and Richard Vranch "hosted" Cue The Music; it consisted of largely bought-in concert footage introduced by producer Mike Mansfield from his control booth, with Slattery and Vranch camping around behind him, uncredited. Both shows were broadcast very late at night. S&M was not "his own improvisational comedy series" but an unsuccessful vehicle for him and Mike McShane, hence the title.

For the sake of completeness, the drastic changes in Slattery's physical appearance since his heyday should to be included. Virtually every review of his Horizon documentary mentioned how much he has aged, and even Hadley Freeman's largely supportive Guardian interviews with him, in 2019 and earlier this year, remarks that "he looks at least a decade older than his 59 years". His voice is also noticeably slurred. Dolmance (talk) 04:06, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

References

Lead paragraph

"He has appeared on British television regularly since the mid-1980s" ... He's obviously not appeared so much in recent years. Would it be more accurate to say "He appeared on British television regularly from the mid-1980s onwards"? MFlet1 (talk) 16:41, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

Agree. Have adjusted. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:44, 22 May 2020 (UTC)