Tommy Cooper gets a blue plaque
- English Heritage have unveiled a blue plaque for Tommy Cooper
- The plaque is situated at 51 Barrowgate Road in Chiswick, West London
Tommy Cooper has been honoured with a Blue Plaque.
English Heritage unveiled the dedication at his former home in Chiswick in West London.
51 Barrowgate Road was home for the comedian, his wife Gwen and their two children from 1955 until he collapsed on stage and died in 1984.
Cooper's house sometimes acted as a meeting place for comedians, with the likes of Jimmy Tarbuck and Eric Sykes having visited.
An unveiling ceremony took place today in which many of the crowd wore fez hats, to mimic the comedian's famous style. The plaque, which is inscribed with "Tommy Cooper, 1921 - 1984, Comedian, lived here 1955 - 1984", is situated on the wall of the second floor, and was unveiled by releasing some helium balloons that were held in front of it.
The plaque was proposed by Councillor John Todd, and supported by Cooper's friend and fellow comedian Ken Dodd.
Dodd says: "Tommy Cooper was a giant of a man with an equally gigantic sense of humour that was unique to him. He belonged to everyone who loved to laugh and was a true comedy legend."
A number of different organisations dedicate blue plaques, but those of English Heritage - behind today's unveiling - are perhaps the most well known. Cooper has previously been honoured by the Heritage Foundation, whilst the British Comedy Society is dedicated to honouring comedians and comedy achievements exclusively.
Greg Dyke, a member of the English Heritage Blue Plaque panel, led today's ceremony. He said: "Tommy Cooper was a comic genius and none of us quite understand how and why, but he was. Here's a man who put on a fez, would do magic tricks badly and make bad jokes and the world rolled around - and it was all about the timing."
Dyke added: "He was one of the great comedians of the post-war years and therefore it's only right that there's a plaque on his house."
Below is a picture of the crowd before the unveiling:
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And here is a video of the actual unveiling:
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