Comedian and actor Tony Slattery dies aged 65 following heart attack

Comedian Tony Slattery has died at the age of 65 following a heart attack after years fighting addiction to cocaine and alcohol as well as a battle with bipolar disorder and depression.

The stand up, best known as a star of Channel 4's Whose Line Is It Anyway?, passed away on Sunday evening, his bereft partner of 40 years, Mark Michael Hutchinson, has revealed.

Mr Slattery was the contemporary of Dame Emma Thompson, Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie at the University of Cambridge - where he was president of the world famous improvisation group The Cambridge Footlights.

He then became a household name on appeared on comedy shows including Whose Line Is It Anyway, Just A Minute and Have I Got News For You. 

But it later emerged that he battled addiction. At his lowest moments he was spending £4,000 a week on his drug habit at his lowest point, taking 10 grams of cocaine and downing two bottles of vodka. 

In 2020 he revealed that he was raped by a priest aged eight and suffered from depression all his life, turning cocaine and booze in a bid to cope, even at the height of his fame. 

He was last seen on TV five years ago. But had recently been touring a comedy show in England and launched a podcast, Tony Slattery's Rambling Club, in October.

Revealing his death, his partner Mark Michael Hutchinson 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.' 

Born November 9, 1959, Slattery was the contemporary of Dame Emma Thompson, Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie at the University of Cambridge.

He was the former president of the improvisation group Cambridge Footlights, and had recently been touring a comedy show in England and launched a podcast, Tony Slattery's Rambling Club, in October.

Outside of stand-up, Slattery appeared in 1980s and 1990s films including crime thriller The Crying Game, Peter's Friends with Laurie, Sir Stephen and Dame Emma, and black comedy How To Get Ahead In Advertising with Richard E Grant.

He also had prominent roles in the theatre, which including receiving a 1995 Olivier Award nod for best comedy performance for the Tim Firth play Neville's Island, which was later made into a film starring Timothy Spall, and starring in Second World War-set production Privates On Parade, based on the film of the same name, as ace impersonator Captain Terri Dennis.

His West End debut was in the 1930s-style musical Radio Times, and on TV he also played a detective in Tiger Bastable, a gentlemen comedy spoof, and the title character in sitcom Just A Gigolo.

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.

Slattery is survived by his partner of more than three decades, the actor Hutchinson.