Les Dennis on Tommy Cooper dying on stage

...and not being allowed to grieve for his comedy partner Dustin Gee

comedy Les Dennis has spoken about having to go on stage as Tommy Cooper lay dying behind him – and about mourning his comedy partner, Dustin Gee, who also collapsed on stage.

The comedian, who is currently appearing in Strictly Come Dancing, recalls having to continue in pantomime the night after Gee’s death – with Bullseye host Jim Bowen parachuted into the role opposite him.

He and the rest of the Cinderella cast also had to go on stage in the evening of Gee’s funeral which he says was ‘ridiculous’ – and suggested the decision was only made because producers did not want to miss out on the box office takings.

Dennis made his comments to Kathy Burke on the latest episode of her death-themed podcast, Where There’s A Will There’s A Wake.

First they spoke about the night of April 15, 1984, when Tommy Cooper suffered a massive heart attack while appearing live on ITV's Live From Her Majesty’s.

Dennis and Gee were billed to follow him. He told Burke: ‘We were there in the wings when Tommy … I mean he was a funny man. When he fell, the audience laughed. We laughed in the wings thinking, "What's that!"

‘David Bell, the producer, said, "Is that a joke?" And it was Tommy's son who said, "No, my dad's got a bad back. He'd never be able to get up from that."

‘So, they just went "cue music, cue commercial break". We thought they'd pull the plug on the show and put a repeat of The Professionals on or something.

‘But they - [host] Jimmy Tarbuck and David Bell – said, "Are you guys ready to go on?" We had to go on after the commercial break and work round him because he was behind the big red curtain. It was crazy. I didn't want to go on stage.’

He recalled that on that night Gee told him: ‘That's the way I'd like to go. I'd like to die with my boots on.’

‘Be careful what you wish for,’ Dennis added. For less than two years later, on January 1, 1986, Gee suffered a massive heart attack at the Southport Theatre, Merseyside. He and Dennis were playing the ugly sisters in Cinderella. At the end of a scene, Gee clutched his left arm and when they reached their dressing room told Dennis" ‘I think I am dying.’, collapsed and lost consciousness. He died in hospital two days later.

But Dennis said he was talked into going on stage the next day by producers.

’At a time when I should have been grieving, I went on stage, with Jim Bowen in Dustin's costumes,’ he recalled. ‘And I did the show with the press, banks of press out there, in a point where we were ugly sisters, and the gag was that I was crying. So, of course, they get all the photos of me looking like I'm breaking down. And I shouldn't have done that.’

The 69-year-old added that he thought first marriage to Lynne Webster fell apart because he didn’t process his emotions over losing his parents properly.

‘When my mum died I went on stage. When my dad died… I was again convinced to go on stage that night and do the show as a "tribute" to my dad.

‘So, there have been times when I've not grieved. And your mental health, we know now, is so important, but at that time it was like, "the show must go on!" That's what they say.

‘So, I have regrets about that. My first marriage probably was affected by my blinkered, "just getting on [with it mentality]". I've got to get on. Dustin's gone now. I've got to get on with my career. I didn't take stock.’

Burke said the producer who insisted he perform as a tribute was a ‘fucking prick… he's thinking about his money, he's not thinking about your dad.’

Dennis added: ‘When it was Dustin's funeral, we went all the way to York where Dustin had lived. I loved Dustin Gee. He was my best friend and my comedy partner. And he was such a generous man.

‘At a time when it was like Dustin Gee in big letters and Les Dennis in little letters, he had said that he didn't want that on the poster. He wanted it changed and he wanted parity of pay. He gave me half his wages.

‘Somebody who I loved, we went to his funeral and it was in York and the great and good of showbusiness came to it. We had to, the cast of the panto, go to the funeral and then get back for an evening performance. which is ridiculous now.

‘You know? They could have at least... taken the day. You do these things and you're in you're in your grief. So, you're not making the right choices.’

On a lighter note, Dennis discussed his favourite Family Fortunes answers, after Burke said hers was: ’We asked 100 people name something messy to eat with your hands.’ To get the response: ’Soup’. I just loved it so much!

Dennis said his was in answer to: ‘Name something associated with Dracula’. What would you think?

After saying ‘garlic’ and ‘vampires’ were among the op answers he said: ‘This bloke, he was bang! Straight in. Bob Monkhouse.’

And he recalled an episode with his predecessor Max Bygraves hosting.

‘There was this lovely little old lady, she's like the lady in the Ladylillers. She was terribly posh and he said "a slang word for money" and she went, "oh um, bitch".

‘And he went, "Slang word for money?" And she said, "I'm awfully sorry I thought you said mummy".

‘So, God knows what was going on in her life and her family.’