"Itma" Died With Tommy Handley

Chronicle (Levin), 12 January 1949, Page 6

"Itma" Died With Tommy Handley

Received Tuesday, 7 p.m. LONDON, Jan. 10. ' ' There wilL be no more 'Itmas'," said tlie New Zcaland script writer, Ted Kavanagh, after the sudden death oi Tommy Handley, tlie radio comedian, vvliQse weeldy audience of millions included the Royal Family .and Mr. Attlee. Mr. Handley eomplained of sudden pain on Sunday morning. He died in the middle of the afternoon from a cerebral haeniorrhage. The JB.B.C. was not informed of his death until live .nxnutes before the end of the "repeat" of his Thursday programme. The re•oiding was allowed to finish, but there is agreement that ' ' Itma ' ' died with Tommy Handley. ' ' "There can be no 'Itma' after this," said the producer, fFrancis Worsley. "How could you earry on a show ealled 'It's That Man Again' without 'that man'— the man who made it what it was?" Tril)utes to Mr. Handley were paid by the majority of the British newspapers this morning. One leading article referred to him as "a great jester. " Several articles reealled the struggles of his earlv days after serving in the Royal Xavgl Air Service in the First .World War. He began as a singer and a general run-aronnd entertainer at £5 a week. He began broadeast ing with tlie British Broadcastiug Company at 2LO in 1921, and iater made a name for liimself with Ronald Frankau in " Murgatroyd and Winte. • bottoiu." "ltma,•, did not begin until 19:19, and at iirst it was unsuccessfui. It was not until the New Zcalandei Ted Kavanagh began to write the scripts that it began to catch on, but onec it attraeted attention it became i jiopular 1'avourite, until last week, wheti Mr. Handley completeed the 313th live broadeast of "Itma," it was estimated that it had 12,000,000 listeners. The King and Queen twice went along to tlie studio to watch an "Itma" broadeast, and Princess Margaret attendcd tlie 300th birthday party last Oclober. Tliough Mr. Ilandley was the mainspring of "Itma," the broadeast was a perfeet example of team work v between the comedian, Kavanagh, and

Worsley. Its enormous popularity _was regarded as being due not only to a mixture ■ of up-to-date wise-craeks, topical references, and Jnspired lunaev. but also to the essentially good-natured humorous genius of "Tommy" liimself. Mr. Kavanagh was in the middle of this week rs script when he learned of' Mr. Handley 's death. Stunned, tio tumed over the nnlinislied pages and wrote the followiug tribute: "In Tommy Handley 's death I have lost a great personal friend, a man who took up in himself a great part of my life, day in and day out, for many years. The B.B.C. have lost a comedy genius. And millions of 'ItmaV listeners > throughout Britain and abroad havo lost a wonderful, genuine fellow. " Mr. Handley 's remains will be cremated. on January 13 — tlie day tlu '312th edition of "Itma" was to be broadeast.