- published: 27 Oct 2015
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Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is one of 18 in Britain owned and operated by Network Rail, and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1.
A station on this site first came into being in 1848. The present buildings were inaugurated in 1922. Part of the station is a Grade II listed heritage building.
With over 91 million passenger entries and exits between April 2010 and March 2011, Waterloo is easily Britain's busiest railway station in terms of passenger throughput. The Waterloo complex is one of the busiest passenger terminals in Europe. It has more platforms and a greater floor area than any other station in the UK (but Clapham Junction, just under four miles (6 km) down the line, has the largest number of trains). It is the terminus of a network of railway lines from Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, South West England, and the south-western suburbs of London.
Much of Waterloo's traffic is local or suburban. Other trains serve longer-distance destinations, such as Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth on the south coast. All regular services are operated by South West Trains.
Benny Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.
Alfred Hawthorne Hill was born in Southampton and attended Taunton's School. During World War II, he was evacuated to Bournemouth.[citation needed]
After leaving school, Hill worked at Woolworth's, as a milkman, a bridge operator, a driver and a drummer before he finally got a foot in the door of the entertainment industry by becoming assistant stage manager with a touring review. He was called up in 1942 and trained as a mechanic, but transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment division before the end of the war. It was there that he met his future agent, Richard Stone, then a colonel.[citation needed]
Inspired by the "star comedians" of British music hall shows, Hill set out to make his mark in show business. For the stage, he changed his first name to 'Benny', in homage to his favourite comedian, Jack Benny. Hill began appearing at working men's clubs and Masonic dinners before moving on to nightclub and theatre jobs. Hill auditioned for Soho's famed Windmill Theatre (home of Revudeville, a popular show of singers, comedians and nude girls), but he was not hired. Hill's first job in professional theatre as a performer was as Reg Varney's straight man, beating a then unknown Peter Sellers to the role.[citation needed]