The comedian Tony Slattery has died aged 65 following a heart attack, his partner announced.
Slattery appeared on the Channel 4 comedy improvisation show Whose Line is it Anyway? and comedy shows Just a Minute and Have I Got News for You.
A statement on behalf of Mark Michael Hutchinson, his partner of more than three decades, said: “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.”
Born on 9 November 1959, Slattery was the contemporary of Dame Emma Thompson, Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie at the University of Cambridge.
He was the former president of the improvisation group Cambridge Footlights, and had recently been touring a comedy show in England and launched a podcast, Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club, in October.
Outside of standup, Slattery appeared in films in the 1980s and 90s including the crime thriller The Crying Game, Peter’s Friends with Laurie, Sir Stephen and Thompson, and the comedy How to Get Ahead in Advertising with Richard E Grant.
In 2020, Slattery – who regularly spoke openly about his bipolar disorder – revealed he went bankrupt after experiencing substance abuse and mental health issues.
He told the Radio Times his “fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy”, as well as his “misplaced trust in people”, had also contributed to his financial problems.
Slattery released the BBC Two Horizon documentary What’s the Matter with Tony Slattery? in the same year, in which saw he and Hutchinson visit leading experts on mood disorders and addiction.
