About Tony Slattery
Anthony James Slattery was born in Stonebridge, London on the 9th of November 1959 to Irish immigrant parents. The youngest of five children (including older sister Marlene and triplet brothers Christopher, Michael and Stephen), he had a lonely but (he insists) happy childhood. At the age of eleven, Tony chose to go to Gunnersbury Catholic Grammar where he became an excellent academic achiever and also immersed himself in sports; he was Captain of the Rugby Team, represented Britain in a 15 and under judo competition and by 17 had earned his black belt.
After completing secondary school, Tony won a scholarship to go to Cambridge University where he studied medieval and modern languages. He completed his course and achieved an MA, but during his time at the university, he developed a taste for performing when asked by Stephen Fry to join the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, of which he became president in 1982. No longer intent on becoming an academic, Tony tried his best to break into stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, this didn't really go very well. However, he got his first television break on Chris Tarrant's "Saturday Stayback".
Tony's big claim to fame came in 1988 when he starred as a regular on the long-running improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? His wit, charm and eccentric humour made him a favourite and brought him widespread recognition. During this time he appeared on several other shows, including Red Dwarf as a voice actor, Just A Minute as a regular guest, Have I Got News For You? and film roles such as Carry On Columbus. Unfortunately, his overexposure made him something of a laughing stock, as Colin Mochrie became in Canada, with several satirical sketches and comics being made illustrating his apparent need for attention.
During the mid-nineties, Tony left Whose Line? but seemed to go nowhere after this. He was taking excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs and even once crashed his car under the influence of cocaine. In 1996, he went through what he called a "mid-life crisis" during which he became so depressed he refused to do anything, not even talk to friends or answer calls. Finally, one of his friends broke into the flat and convinced him to get help. Since then, Tony Slattery has been making an amazing recovery and has turned up once again on our screens, even landing a role in Coronation Street, one of the UK's longest running soaps. Inexplicably and without mention, however, his character has since disappeared without trace. He was even elected Rector of the University of Dundee in 1998, but the demand sadly became too much for him and he ended his term early, leaving Jason Wassell, his Rectors Assessor, to speak for him while he was absent.
His most recent television roles include Sidney Snell in Kingdom where he starred alongside Stephen Fry, and Robin Hood where he had a cameo as the Canon of Berkley.
-Biography written by SC
- See the Tony Slattery Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Slattery/
After completing secondary school, Tony won a scholarship to go to Cambridge University where he studied medieval and modern languages. He completed his course and achieved an MA, but during his time at the university, he developed a taste for performing when asked by Stephen Fry to join the Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, of which he became president in 1982. No longer intent on becoming an academic, Tony tried his best to break into stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, this didn't really go very well. However, he got his first television break on Chris Tarrant's "Saturday Stayback".
Tony's big claim to fame came in 1988 when he starred as a regular on the long-running improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? His wit, charm and eccentric humour made him a favourite and brought him widespread recognition. During this time he appeared on several other shows, including Red Dwarf as a voice actor, Just A Minute as a regular guest, Have I Got News For You? and film roles such as Carry On Columbus. Unfortunately, his overexposure made him something of a laughing stock, as Colin Mochrie became in Canada, with several satirical sketches and comics being made illustrating his apparent need for attention.
During the mid-nineties, Tony left Whose Line? but seemed to go nowhere after this. He was taking excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs and even once crashed his car under the influence of cocaine. In 1996, he went through what he called a "mid-life crisis" during which he became so depressed he refused to do anything, not even talk to friends or answer calls. Finally, one of his friends broke into the flat and convinced him to get help. Since then, Tony Slattery has been making an amazing recovery and has turned up once again on our screens, even landing a role in Coronation Street, one of the UK's longest running soaps. Inexplicably and without mention, however, his character has since disappeared without trace. He was even elected Rector of the University of Dundee in 1998, but the demand sadly became too much for him and he ended his term early, leaving Jason Wassell, his Rectors Assessor, to speak for him while he was absent.
His most recent television roles include Sidney Snell in Kingdom where he starred alongside Stephen Fry, and Robin Hood where he had a cameo as the Canon of Berkley.
-Biography written by SC
- See the Tony Slattery Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Slattery/