Tommy Cooper, genius on the stage, but could be a bit of a ~~~~~~~ off it.
I used to love Tommy Cooper when I was a young magician, even did a few tribute acts to him.
I read the biography of him, For The Love Of Tommy, written by his long term mistress Mary Fieldhouse, and it certainly took some of the shine off.
I still think he's a funny bloke, but some of the enjoyment is taken away by knowing he was a bit of a git.
It's not a book i'd recomend to a fan of Tommy.
One story I thought was quite funny in the book was the origin of one of his gags.
He used to say "Went out on a date last night, she was a funny girl" and pull out a bra with three cups.
This gag came about when Tommy's housekeeper told him the hotel in he had stayed in recently had rung up to tell them Mrs Cooper had left her bra at the hotel, would Mr Cooper like them to mail it back to her? The housekeeper knew true well that Tommy's wife hadn't been with him.
Tommy told the housekeeper that he'd attend to it.
He quickly phoned Mary and told her to go and buy two new bras, and get straight on the train back to the hotel. On the way he had her cut one of the cups out the bra, cut the other bra in half, and stitch the whole thing back together. She said she was getting some very funny looks on the train as she hacked away at those bras
She then picked her own bra up from the hotel, and mailed the three cup bra to Tommy, pretending it was sent by the hotel.