Last surviving cast member of Hancock’s Half Hour Andree Melly dies at her Ibiza home aged 87
- Andree Melly appeared in The Belles of St Trinian’s and The Brides of Dracula
- She was a cast member on Hancock’s Half Hour Radio show and Just a Minute
- Melly was first panellist to win points for talking for the prescribed 60 seconds
The last surviving cast member of Hancock’s Half Hour, Andree Melly has died aged 87 at her home in Ibiza.
Melly, who was the sister of jazz musician George Melly, also appeared in The Belles of St Trinian’s, The Brides of Dracula and later in The Benny Hill Show in the 1970s.
She was the last remaining regular cast member of the BBC’s legendary Hancock’s Half Hour Radio show, which first broadcast in 1954 and was also a regular panellist on Radio 4’s Just a Minute.
Melly was the first panellist to win points for talking for the prescribed 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation and appeared in 54 episodes of the show between 1967 and 1976.
Melly, picutred in 1955, who was the sister of jazz musician George Melly, also appeared in The Belles of St Trinian’s, The Brides of Dracula and later in The Benny Hill Show in the 1970s
Hancock’s Half Hour with Tony Hancock (centre), Alan Simpson (left) and Ray Galton (right)
Melly, pictured right in The Bridesmaid, also appeared on Radio 4’s Just a Minute regularly
She was the third most prolific woman on the show, after Sheila Hancock, Jenny Eclair and Sue Perkins and chaired one episode ‘as our contribution to the women’s liberation movement’ in 1972.
Melly played Tony Hancock’s girlfriend in two series of the Hancock’s Half Hour and became the final surviving cast member after the death of Bill Kerr in 2014.
She once had a relationship with artist Lucien Freud, and later married actor Oscar Quitak, with whom she lived in Ibiza.
She died on January 31 at her home in St Eulalia, Ibiza where she has lived for the past three decades.
Hancock’s Half Hour, which was originally broadcast on the BBC Home Service between 1954 and 1959, centered on a fictionalised version of Tony Hancock’s life.
Melly, who spent the past three decades in Ibiza, appeared in Brides of Dracula (pictured)
Melly (left and right) played Tony Hancock’s girlfriend in two series of the Hancock’s Half Hour and became the final surviving cast member after the death of Bill Kerr in 2014
He was joined by his dim Australian lodger, played by Bill Kerr, and dodgy businessman Sid, played by Sid James.
In all, 103 episodes were recorded and a TV version followed in 1956 which ran for five years and more than 60 episodes.
The programme was the first hit for writing partners Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who went on to create Steptoe and Son.
Martin Gibbons, the president of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society, said: ‘Andree was the last surviving member of the radio cast of Hancock’s Half Hour and her passing really is the end of an era.
‘The Society would like to extend its condolences to her family.’