All All. Sign In. Everyone's Favorite Jolly Fat Men. I got the impulse to make this list after I saw someone else's list which was mourning famous people who died prematurely, and realised that many were fat and died as a result of cardeovascular problems, so I promptly decided to pay tribute to the many fat men out there who bring joy to the world in their craft Listed In order of importance and jolliness, not fatness.
List activity. Benny Hill. He was born Alfred Hawthorn Hill. It was his grandfather who introduced him to Burlesque Shows and the theatre from where the young Benny Hill was to draw much of his comic inspiration. After his national service with the army during WW2, Benny came to London, adopted the stage name Benny Hill in homage to his all time favourite comedian Jack Benny and began appearing in variety shows.
He briefly formed a double act with Reg Varney and did radio shows. But it was his talent for impressions and comic timing that were to give him his first big break on TV with the show "Hi There" in The Benny Hill Show began in Its pioneering combination of cheeky humour, songs and impressions were to make it a hit for the next 40 years.
Timeless landmark of comedy. Oliver Hardy. Actor Writer Director Block-Heads Although his parents were never in show business, as a young boy Oliver Hardy was a gifted singer and, by age eight, was performing with minstrel shows. In he ran a movie theatre, which he preferred to studying law. In he became a comedy actor with the Lubin Company in Florida and began appearing in a long series of shorts; his debut film was Outwitting Dad He appeared in he series of "Pokes and Jabbs" shorts, and from he was in the "Plump and Runt" series.
From he was a regular in the "Jimmy Aubrey" series of shorts, and from he worked as an actor and co-director of comedy shorts for Larry Semon. In addition to appearing in two-reeler comedies, he found time to make westerns and even melodramas in which he played the heavy.
