Tommy Cooper said "Always leave them laughing." He is regarded as one of the greatest British comedians ever.
Biographers say that in his earliest days, Tommy Cooper was so nervous that he made unintentional mistakes, he soon saw that if he could recreate these accidents then he would have people rolling in the aisles.
Tommy's earliest trick was with a milk bottle. During the course of the trick he was supposed to turn it up-side-down, but when he did the trick, the milk came pouring out along with the audiences laughter. That got Tommy Cooper thinking, I can get applause through making tricks go wrong - deliberately. 'Always leave them laughing'.
Tommy Cooper was born in Caerphilly, Wales on March 19, 1921. He was born 2 months prematurely and the doctors warned he might not make it through infancy, but he did survive and grew to be a impressive presence of 6” 4 inches.
At the age of 8 an aunt bought Tommy a magic set and he would spend hours perfecting all the tricks. By the age of 16, he got a job as magician on a boat.
His first performance was a disaster. Due to stage fright all his tricks went wrong, people started laughing and he ran away in tears.
Know more about the life and career of Tommy Cooper by reading the following from links below:
Guy-Sports.com
BiographyOnline.net
Check out Martin Chilton's picks on Tommy Cooper's best 25 gags, featured on The Telegraph.