I still rate him as a great comedian and still find his stuff very amusing. Especially his songs, lyrically they are at times comedy genius.
Many great comedians cite Benny as a big influence which suggests those in the industry realised he was a master of his craft. For me the telling factor was at the height of his popularity in the 1970s, The Benny Hill Show on Thames Television was one of the biggest shows on British TV.
Now that doesn't seem like
much ( there were only 3 or 4 channels then ) but bear in mind how many great Comedy Acts were around then , Morecambe and Wise , The Two Ronnies ( sheer class ) and the late , great Dave Allen ( I used to stay up late to watch his show - he was excellent ) to name others - to be that popular you had to be really good .
His vaudeville-style saucy slapstick was, and remains, massively popular around the world. Charlie Chaplin reportedly had a shelf of Benny Hill films in his office.
It's shocking that someone of Benny's talent was treated as a pariah.
He was the first comic to exploit TV's full potential.
He was portrayed as a sexist monster but if you actually watch the shows it's the men who were the targets of his humour - they were inadequate and the ones who walked into lamp-posts and got slapped. Women always ended up with the upper hand.
To make people laugh,
really belly laugh, that is a rare skill .