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![The Music of Video Games [59] Tecmo Super Bowl](http://web.archive.org./web/20110524142141im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gtjnf24He-U/0.jpg "The Music of Video Games [59] Tecmo Super Bowl")
| Company name | Tecmo, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Company logo | |
| Company type | Subsidiary of Tecmo Koei |
| Foundation | 1967 (original date) 2010 (relaunch) |
| Industry | Video games |
| Parent | Tecmo Koei |
| Products | Dead or Alive Ninja Gaiden Tecmo Bowl Fatal Frame Monster Rancher Rygar Gallop Racer Solomon's Key |
| Homepage | www.tecmoinc.com |
, formerly known as , was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. In 2009, it merged with Koei to form the holding company Tecmo Koei, and was operated as a subsidiary and brandname until its disbandment in early 2010. Tecmo is best known for the Star Force, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Deception, Monster Rancher, Rygar, Tecmo Bowl, Fatal Frame, Tōkidenshō Angel Eyes and Gallop Racer video game series. Tecmo had its headquarters in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Tecmo's United States offices are in Torrance, California.
In March 1981, a U.S. division was inaugurated as U.S. Tehkan, Inc.. A month later, on April 1981, Tehkan released in Japan its first arcade video game titled Pleiads (which was distributed in America by Centuri). When it was still called Tehkan, the company also released such classic games as Bomb Jack and Tehkan World Cup. On January 8, 1986, Tehkan officially changed its name to Tecmo.
On the 3rd June, 2008 Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki resigned from the company and filed a 145 million yen ($1.3 million) lawsuit for "unpaid completion bonuses" and "emotional distress". This was followed by another lawsuit filed on the 16th of June by two plaintiffs on behalf of Tecmo's 300 employees for unpaid wages amounting to ¥8.3 million. On August 29, 2008 Square Enix made plans for a friendly takeover of Tecmo by purchasing shares at a 30 percent premium with a total bid of ¥22.3 billion. On September 4, 2008 Tecmo officially declined the takeover proposal. Tecmo subsequently engaged in talks with Koei about a possible merger between the two companies, and agreed in November 2008 to merge on April 1, 2009 to form Tecmo Koei Holdings. On January 26, 2009 the two companies officially announced the merger, and the holding company formed on April 1, 2009 as planned.
The subsidiary Tecmo and associated development teams have been declared disbanded in Japan as of February 25th, 2010, and relevant intellectual properties are slated to be further managed by Tecmo Koei, effective April 1st, 2010.. On March 15, it was re-established as a game development studio.
Category:Japanese video game companies Category:Companies based in Tokyo Category:Amusement companies of Japan Category:Companies established in 1967 Category:Video game developers
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| Caption | Lynch in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl. |
|---|---|
| Currentteam | Seattle Seahawks |
| Currentnumber | 24 |
| Currentposition | Running back |
| Birthdate | April 22, 1986 |
| Birthplace | Oakland, California |
| Heightft | 5 |
| Heightin | 11 |
| Weight | 215 |
| Debutyear | 2007 |
| Debutteam | Buffalo Bills |
| Highlights | |
| Status | Active |
| College | California |
| Draftyear | 2007 |
| Draftround | 1 |
| Draftpick | 12 |
| Pastteams | |
| Statweek | 17 |
| Statseason | 2010 |
| Statlabel1 | Rushing yards |
| Statvalue1 | 3,338 |
| Statlabel2 | Rushing average |
| Statvalue2 | 3.9 |
| Statlabel3 | Rushing TDs |
| Statvalue3 | 23 |
| Nfl | LYN442976 |
Lynch experimented with other positions in high school. He played defensive back and accumulated 20 interceptions his senior year. His coaches put him at defensive end for one game, and he forced three fumbles. Lynch also played some quarterback and wide receiver in high school. Rivals.com had him ranked #1 in the nation as a defensive back, but he decided to stick to his passion at running back. Lynch ended his high school career as the second-ranked running back in the nation in 2004 behind Adrian Peterson by Rivals.com.
In addition to being a star football player, Lynch was also an excellent track sprinter and played on Oakland Tech's basketball team alongside former Cal star and current Cleveland Cavaliers forward Leon Powe.
As a true freshman in 2004, Lynch was the primary backup to senior J.J. Arrington. Lynch carried the ball 71 times for 628 yards with 8 rushing touchdowns and an additional 147 yards on 19 receptions and 2 receiving touchdowns.
In 2005, Arrington graduated and Lynch became the starting running back. Even though he missed two games due to a hand and finger injury, he still amassed 1,246 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns on 196 carries and an additional 125 yards on 15 receptions. In the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl, Lynch ran for 194 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries and was named MVP. In addition to his great running ability, he also has a tight grip on the ball, fumbling just once in his career.
Lynch wore jersey No. 24 his freshman year but switched to No. 10, his high school number. This switch placed him in sequence with his cousins Virdell Larkins (No. 9) and Robert Jordan (No. 11), also teammates at Cal.
In the 2006 preseason, Lynch earned a spot on the watchlist for the Maxwell Award, was named 8th best player in the nation by Sports Illustrated and earned several preseason All-American accolades.
On July 22, 2006, the Cal football program officially launched the campaign for Lynch to win the 2006 Heisman Trophy with the opening of the website Marshawn10.com, featuring Lynch's highlights from the 2004, 2005, and 2006 seasons. Lynch was named to the 2006 All Pac-10 team First Team. Lynch not only earned various awards, he also scored the game-winning overtime touchdown against Washington. He later called the run his favorite career highlight, after which Lynch spontaneously drove around the football field in an injury cart, pretending to ghost ride.
Lynch was also named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2006 and an AFCA (Coaches') All-America in 2006.
In his final game for California, Lynch ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns against Texas A&M; in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl on December 28, 2006. He shared the Co-Offensive Player of the Game award with teammate, quarterback Nate Longshore.
Lynch had a highly successful career at Cal and holds the school record for most 100-yard rushing games at 17.
On January 2, 2007, Lynch announced he would forgo his senior season and entered the NFL draft.
Lynch injured his ankle the following week against the Miami Dolphins and missed the next three games. He returned to play on December 9 for the second game of the Bills' season against the Dolphins, rushing for 107 yards and making his first career fumble. The game marked the first time that the Bills' offense produced two 100-yard rushers since 1996, as Fred Jackson also rushed for 115 yards. Lynch went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark on December 23 against the New York Giants, scoring a touchdown in the 38–21 loss which resulted in the Giants clinching a playoff berth. This made him the fourth Bills rookie to break the 1,000-yard mark, and the first since Greg Bell in 1984. He finished a successful rookie season with 1,115 total rushing yards and seven touchdowns.
Lynch was expected to be more involved in Buffalo's passing game in 2008, his second season as a pro. The Bills' new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert had stated a number of times that he anticipated Lynch "being in on third down a lot more" this season, citing Lynch's inexperience as a reason he was not very involved in 2007.
Following his guilty plea on misdemeanor weapons charges during the 2009 offseason, Lynch met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for a disciplinary hearing. On April 9, the NFL announced that Lynch would be suspended for the Bills' first three games for violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy. Lynch appealed the league's suspension on May 14 in an attempt to have it reduced or nullified, only to have it upheld by Goodell later on August 3. When interviewed on the topic, Lynch has said that he was not surprised when the suspension was upheld, and that he loves playing too much and will try to keep himself out of situations in which there is a risk of being suspended.
Lynch played his first game of the 2009 season against the Miami Dolphins and played the rest of the season. Beginning November 29, he was supplanted as the Bills' starting running back by Fred Jackson, who had the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his career. Lynch finished the season with 450 yards on 120 carries with two rushing touchdowns and did not break 100 rushing yards in a single game.
Lynch scored his first touchdown of the season on October 17 on a one-yard run against the Chicago Bears. On December 5, he scored three touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers.
In his first career playoff game on January 8, 2011, Lynch had a 67-yard touchdown run in which he broke eight tackles and threw Saints cornerback Tracy Porter to the ground with a stiff arm. The home field crowd's reaction to the run was so strong that it was recorded as seismic activity at a monitoring station 100 yards from the stadium. The fourth-quarter run proved to be the game winner, as three minutes later the game ended with the Seahawks defeating the Saints, 41–36, capping one of the biggest upsets in NFL playoff history.
Lynch was nicknamed "Money" in college. Additionally, he has referred to himself as being in "beast mode" during games.
While in Buffalo, Lynch embraced the Buffalo community, in stark contrast to former Bills RB Willis McGahee, as noted by an interview with ESPN's Kenny Mayne. In the video interview, which has become an internet sensation, Lynch talks about his love of Applebees, and his teammates joke that he loves chain restaurants.
On January 25, 2007, Lynch was accused of sexual assault by his former girlfriend. The incident reportedly happened on December 13, 2006, outside the woman's home in Emeryville, California. On January 29, 2007, an Alameda County Deputy District Attorney who specializes in domestic violence cases declined to press charges, citing a lack of evidence and "grave inconsistencies" in the alleged victim's accusations. Lynch was never arrested or charged.
On March 3, 2007, an Alameda County judge threw out a restraining order that Lynch's ex-girlfriend had issued against him because it was obtained improperly.
During June 2008, Lynch was investigated for his involvement in a hit and run accident that occurred in Buffalo on May 31, 2008. His 2008 Porsche Cayenne struck and injured Kimberley Shpeley, of Ontario, Canada, before leaving the scene. It should be noted that Shpeley was extremely intoxicated, and dancing in the middle of the street. After the 27-day saga, on June 26, 2008, Lynch apologized and accepted a guilty plea to a single count of failure to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian, a traffic violation. He was assessed a $100 fine, and his driver’s license and car registration were revoked. Because a Buffalo police officer gave testimony that Shpeley did not suffer "severe physical injury," Lynch avoided criminal charges for the incident. Lynch was later sued by Shpeley on December 28, 2009 for negligence.
Three days after his 2009 Pro Bowl appearance, Lynch was arrested on February 11 in Culver City, California. Lynch and two companions were sitting in a running 2006 Mercedes-Benz when police approached; after smelling marijuana, the police searched the car and discovered a loaded gun that was determined to belong to Lynch. He was released the same day after posting $35,000 bail. Lynch's felony charge was reduced to three misdemeanors, and no drug charges were filed. On March 5, Lynch pled guilty to a single misdemeanor gun charge and was sentenced to three years of probation, and 80 hours of community service. He also agreed to submit to police searches at any time. The two other misdemeanor gun charges were dismissed.
Lynch was accused of stealing $20 from the wife of a Buffalo police officer in a local TGI Friday's on December 7, 2009. A complaint was filed against him the next day.
Category:1986 births Category:American football running backs Category:African American players of American football Category:California Golden Bears football players Category:Living people Category:Buffalo Bills players Category:Seattle Seahawks players Category:People from Oakland, California
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | DeSean Jackson |
|---|---|
| Width | 280px |
| Caption | Jackson with the Eagles in August 2009. |
| Currentteam | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Currentnumber | 10 |
| Currentposition | Wide receiver |
| Birthdate | December 01, 1986 |
| Birthplace | Long Beach, California |
| Heightft | 5 |
| Heightin | 10 |
| Weight | 175 |
| College | California |
| Draftyear | 2008 |
| Draftround | 2 |
| Draftpick | 49 |
| Debutyear | 2008 |
| Debutteam | Philadelphia Eagles |
| Pastteams | |
| Status | Active |
| Highlights | |
| Statweek | 17 |
| Statseason | 2010 |
| Statlabel1 | Receptions |
| Statvalue1 | 171 |
| Statlabel2 | Receiving Yards |
| Statvalue2 | 3,124 |
| Statlabel3 | Receiving TDs |
| Statvalue3 | 17 |
| Nfl | JAC127681 |
Jackson is the first player to be selected to the Pro Bowl at two different positions at once. He was named to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a wide receiver and return specialist. He was also named to the 2011 Pro Bowl.
Jackson caught 60 passes for 1,075 yards for 15 touchdowns his senior year, leading the Jack Rabbits to a CIF Southern Section championship. He was pressed into service last minute as a defensive back in the section title game against Los Alamitos High School, responding with two interceptions, one which he returned 68 yards for a touchdown to help fuel Long Beach Poly's 21–6 victory.
To cap off his high school career, Jackson was voted the Most Valuable Player at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, where he caught seven passes for 141 yards and passed for a 45-yard touchdown in leading the West to a 35–3 victory in a game that featured 80 of the nation's top players. However, he was also involved in an embarrassing play when he attempted to somersault from the five-yard line for a touchdown, but landed on the one-yard line, leaving the ball there. ESPN.com's Tom Lemming rated him as the number four wide receiver in the country, PrepStar Magazine named him an All-American and a member of its Dream Team Top 100 players, and Calhisports.com voted him the 2004 Mr. Football State Player of the Year. He committed to the football program at the University of California, Berkeley under Coach Jeff Tedford, making his announcement on Southern California's FSN West. Jackson waited until the deadline to choose between scholarship offers for California and the University of Southern California. He also missed the first quarter of the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl for violating undisclosed team rules.
Jackson left Cal following the 2007 season, declaring for the 2008 NFL Draft. He departed holding Pac-10 records for punts returned for a touchdown both in a season (four), and in a career (six). Jackson ranks third all-time at California for receiving yards with 2,423 and receiving touchdowns with 22. He is sixth in receptions (162). Jackson finished with 52 career plays of 20 yards or more, making up 23 percent of his 226 touches.
Going to the 2008 NFL Draft Jackson was considered one of the top ten wide receivers available in a draft class littered with talented wide outs. The only knock on Jackson was his small frame, being measured at 5'9¾ " and just over 170 pounds. During the pre-draft period, Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice was quoted saying that Jackson "has all the talent in the world. There's no reason he can't be everything he wants to be at the next level." At the 2008 NFL Combine, Jackson had an impressive showing, running an official 4.35 40-yard dash. Jackson finished the game with 110 yards on six receptions, becoming only the second receiver in NFL history to have over 100 yards receiving in each of his first two games since the Eagles' Don Looney in 1940.
On September 28, Jackson recorded his first offensive touchdown against the Chicago Bears. During this game, he also fumbled a punt return that set up the Bears' go ahead score. The following week against the Washington Redskins on October 5, Jackson returned his first punt return for a touchdown with a 68-yard return. Jackson scored his first rushing touchdown on November 9 on a direct snap in the wildcat formation with a nine-yard run against the New York Giants. A rematch against the Giants on December 7 which resulted in a 20-14 upset of the defending Super Bowl champions marked the first time in the season that Jackson did not have a reception. The following week, Jackson rebounded, recording 77 yards on five catches in a 30–10 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Jackson's final touchdown of the season came in the on January 18, 2009 against the Arizona Cardinals, when he managed to haul in a 62-yard touchdown. Jackson narrowly finished second to Curtis in postseason receiving yards with 207 to Curtis' 211.
Jackson finished a successful rookie season equaling and surpassing the feats of two other Eagles rookies, Keith Jackson and Don Looney. His 912 receiving yards set a new Eagles rookie record and surpassed the previous mark of 869 set by Keith Jackson in 1988. He was the first rookie to lead the team in receptions, another feat accomplished by Keith Jackson. DeSean Jackson also set the team record for receptions with 62.
Jackson caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb that gave McNabb his 200th career touchdown and 30,000th career passing yards on October 26 against the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football. He also scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 67-yard reverse. Jackson injured his right foot during the game and had an x-ray during halftime, but returned to play during the third quarter. He was later named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
In a week 11 matchup on Sunday Night Football against the Chicago Bears, Jackson caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown as the Eagles won a close game, 24-20. On November 29 against the Redskins, Jackson had to leave the game after sustaining a concussion after a helmet-to-helmet hit by linebacker London Fletcher. Jackson recorded two receptions, including a 35-yard touchdown. Jackson missed the next game due to his concussion, but returned on December 13 against the New York Giants. Jackson had a career day, as he caught six passes for 178 yards including a 60-yard touchdown pass from McNabb and a 72 yard punt return for a touchdown (combined for 261 all purpose yards). The game would also put him at eight touchdowns of over 50 yards in a single season, tying an NFL record shared only by Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch and Devin Hester. For his performance against the Giants, Jackson was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
The following week against the San Francisco 49ers, Jackson went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with 140 receiving yards, including a 19-yard touchdown reception as the Eagles clinched a playoff berth. On December 27, he had four catches for 33 yards and a two-yard touchdown, his shortest touchdown of the season, in a win against the Denver Broncos.
Jackson was nearly shut down by the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season finale, with only two passes for 36 yards in a 24–0 rout of the Eagles. In a rematch the following week on January 3, 2010 against the Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card Game, he was held by Dallas to three catches for 14 yards, including a six-yard touchdown pass in the 34–14 loss.
Jackson ended the season as the Eagles' leading receiver with 1,167 yards. He was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl as a starting wide receiver and a kick returner, the first time in Pro Bowl history that a player was selected at two different positions. At the Pro Bowl, Jackson caught six passes for a team-high 101 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from McNabb. He was selected to the Sporting News' All-Pro team as a punt returner for the 2009 season, averaging 15.2 yards per punt return in 2009 as the league leader.
In a 35–32 victory over the Detroit Lions, Jackson had 135 receiving yards and a 45-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass. The following week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jackson caught a 61-yard touchdown and finished the game with five receptions for 153 yards. On October 3 and 10 however, Jackson only caught five passes for 43 total yards. He scored a pair of touchdowns on October 17 against the Atlanta Falcons, one on a 31-yard run and the second on a 34-yard reception from Kevin Kolb. During the game he sustained a severe concussion after a collision with Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson, with both players assisted from the field. Jackson returned to play on November 7 against the Indianapolis Colts.
On November 15, Jackson caught a then career best 88-yard touchdown pass from Michael Vick on the first play from scrimmage in 59-28 a Monday Night Football victory against the Washington Redskins. He surpassed this on December 12 when he had a 91-yard touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys and also finished the game with a personal best 210 receiving yards.
On December 19, Jackson returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown to lead the Eagles to a win against the New York Giants in the final 14 seconds of the game. The Eagles had trailed 31-10 with under 8 minutes to play but had come back with three unanswered touchdowns. With 14 seconds left, the game was tied at 31-31 and Jackson received the punt. He fumbled at first, but then picked it up and ran 65 yards for the score, running across the goal line when he reached it in order to wind out the time. This punt return is the first and thus far only game-winning punt return on the final play from scrimmage in the history of the NFL.
Jackson was featured on the cover of the PlayStation 2 version of NCAA Football 09.
Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:African American players of American football Category:American football return specialists Category:American football wide receivers Category:California Golden Bears football players
Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players Category:People from Long Beach, California Category:Philadelphia Eagles players Category:Players of American football from California Category:U.S. Army All-American football players
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| Name | Benny Hill |
|---|---|
| Caption | Benny Hill |
| Birth name | Alfred Hawthorne Hill |
| Birth date | January 21, 1924 |
| Birth place | Southampton, Hampshire, England |
| Death date | April 20, 1992 |
| Death place | Teddington, Middlesex, England |
| Occupation | Actor, singer & comedian |
| Years active | 1940–1992 |
Benny Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English actor and comedian, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
The most common running gag in Benny Hill's shows was the closing sequence, The 'run-off', which was literally a "running gag" in that it featured various members of the cast chasing Hill and usually featured scantily-clad women as part of the chase, along with other stock comedy characters, such as policemen, vicars, old ladies, and so on. This was commonly filmed using stop motion and time-lapse techniques for comic effect, and included other comic devices such as characters running off one side of the screen and reappearing running on from the other. The tune used in all the chases, "Yakety Sax", is commonly referred to as "The Benny Hill Theme". It has been used as a form of parody in many ways by television shows and a small number of films. The Wachowskis used the same style (and musical theme) in a scene in the film V for Vendetta (2006). It also appears in the cult movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Towards the start of the eighties the show featured a troupe of attractive young women, known collectively as 'Hills Angels' . They would appear either on their own in a dance sequence, or in character as foils against Hill. Sue Upton, one of the longest serving members of the Angels, said of Hill, "He was one of the nicest, kindest, most gentle of men to work with". But the sexual content of the routines contributed in the 1980s to feminist accusations of sexism.Reflecting such changing currents of opinions, the 1980s alternative comedian Ben Elton denounced Hill as a "dirty old man, tearing the clothes off nubile girls". But a writer in The Independent newspaper opined that Elton's assault was "like watching an elderly uncle being kicked to death by young thugs". Elton later claimed his comment was taken out of context, and he appeared in an affectionate parody for Harry Enfield and Chums, The Benny Elton Show, where Elton ends up being chased by angry women, accompanied by the Yakety Sax theme, after trying to force them to be more feminist rather than letting them make their own decisions.
In response to the accusations of sexism, defenders of Hill have said the show used traditional comic stereotypes to reflect universal human truths in a way that was unmalicious and fundamentally harmless. Hill's close friend and producer Dennis Kirkland said it was the women who chased Hill in anger for undressing them, all of which was done accidentally by some ridiculous means. An article on 27 May 2006 in The Independent quoted Hill and Dennis Kirkland as saying they believed this misrepresentation demonstrated critics could not have watched his programmes.
In a documentary on Benny Hill, John Howard Davies, the former head of entertainment at Thames Television who had canceled the show, stated there were three reasons why he did so: "...the audiences were going down, the programme was costing a vast amount of money, and he (Hill) was looking tired." The loss of his show totally devastated Hill (or, as one former supporting player put it, "He started to die from there"), and what followed was a self-inflicted decline in his health. in 1990 a new show was produced complete with Hill and his usual team, called Benny Hill's World Tour. In February 1992 Thames Television, which received a steady stream of requests from viewers for 'The Benny Hill Show' repeats, finally gave in and put together a number of re-edited shows. They tore straight into the top twenty. Hill died on 20 April 1992, the same day that a new contract arrived in the post from Central Independent Television, for which he was to have started making a series of specials. Hill turned down competing offers from Carlton and Thames.
Radio and TV show host Adam Carolla claimed that he was a fan of Benny Hill and that he considered Hill "as American as the Beatles." Indeed, during an episode of The Man Show, Carolla performed in what was billed as a tribute to "our favourite Englishman, Sir Benny Hill" in a more risqué takeoff of the sketches that Hill popularised. (Note: Hill was never knighted.) Carolla played a rude and lecherous waiter; a role Hill essayed numerous times in his shows—and the sketch featured many of the staples of Hill's shows, including a Jackie Wright-esque bald man, as well as the usual scantily-clad women.
Michael Jackson was a big Benny Hill fan: "I just love your Benny Hill!" the young Jackson told a bemused English music-press critic during a 1970s tour. "He's so funny!". During Benny Hill's decline in health he was visited by Michael Jackson who was in the UK at the time.
In Benny Hill: The World's Favourite Clown, filmed shortly before his death, celebrities such as Burt Reynolds, Michael Caine, John Mortimer, Mickey Rooney, and Walter Cronkite, among others, expressed their appreciation of and admiration for Hill and his humour (and in Reynolds' case, the appreciation extended to the "Hill's Angels" as well). More surprisingly, perhaps, the cerebral novelist Anthony Burgess made no secret of his admiration for Hill. Burgess, whose novels were often comic, relished language, wordplay and dialect, admired the verbal and comedic skill that underlay Hill's success. Reviewing a biography of Hill, Saucy Boy, in the Guardian in 1990, Burgess described Hill as "a comic genius steeped in the British music-hall tradition" and "one of the great artists of our age". A meeting between the two men was described in a newspaper article by Burgess and recalled in the Telegraph newspaper by the satirist Craig Brown.
In 2006, broadcaster and critic Garry Bushell launched a campaign to erect a statue of Hill in Southampton, with the support of Barbara Windsor, Brian Conley and other British comedy favourites. Those taking part in the first fundraising concert included Neville Staple, Right Said Fred and Rick Wakeman.
Hill was buried at Hollybrook Cemetery near his birthplace in Southampton on 26 April 1992. In October 1992, following rumours that he was buried with large amounts of gold jewellery, an attempt was made by thieves to exhume his body. However, when authorities looked into his open coffin the following morning, there was no treasure. Consequently, it is not generally known whether anything valuable was inside. Hill was reburied with a new coffin lid and a solid slab across the top of the grave.
Hill's fortune was estimated at £200 million. His only will, however, dated from 1961 and left his entire estate to his parents, both of whom had since died. Next in line were his brother Leonard and sister Diana, both of whom were also dead. This left his seven nieces and nephews, among whom the money was divided. Allegedly a note was found among his belongings assigning huge sums of money to his close friends and £60 million to his long time maid, it was signed, but because there was no witness the note had no legal standing.
In 1998 Channel 4 featured Hill in one of its "Heroes Of Comedy" programmes.
On 28 December 2006, Channel 4 broadcast the documentary Is Benny Hill Still Funny?. The programme featured an audience that comprised a cross-section of young adults who had little or no knowledge of Hill's comedy style, to discover whether or not the alternative comedians' criticism of Hill was valid to a generation that enjoyed the likes of Little Britain, The Catherine Tate Show and Borat. The participants were asked to watch a 30-minute compilation that included examples of Hill's humour from both his BBC and ITV shows. The responses and results demonstrated that none of the sample of viewers took offence at any of the sketches shown.
Hill's silent "Wishing Well" sketch was discovered to be the most popular. The alternative comedian Ben Elton, who had criticised Hill for sexism, was interviewed in the programme. Elton said he still had reservations about certain aspects of Hill's sketches, but claimed to be an admirer of Hill's talent and abilities as a comic performer.
On January 1st, 2011, "Antenna TV" was launched on digital channels in the United States which re-runs the Benny Hill Show along with other older sit-coms and movies. The schedule for Antenna TV can be found at http://antennatv.tv which shows at what times the Benny Hill show is aired.
Category:English comedians Category:English film actors Category:English comedy musicians Category:People from Southampton Category:1924 births Category:1992 deaths Category:Alumni of Bournemouth School Category:Pye Records artists
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