Tony Slattery

[jacksonmaine]

To hope that Tony Slattery will be back on the TV again soon.

Terrible article. Very cruel.

Not at all. It was beautifully written and sympathetic. Hope Tony gets some work from it and that he can cope.

Googling young Tony Slattery I randomly found this. Older actor. You'll never guess who...

Another one here who thought it was a sensitive and carefully written article. He was so talented and lovely years ago, and I feel so shocked that things turned out badly for him. It brought a tear to my eye that of all his friends, it is Richard Vranch who is still there for him. So touching. Glad his partner has stood by him and that must be be a totally different story from his point of view.

He wasn't in Blackadder...

I think it was a very sad but dignified article. I hope he finds some peace (and money!) soon.

He did two different shows in Edinburgh last year and clearly had people around him who help a lot. I got the impression that two people producing the shows ere fans from way back.

I saw him live ‘in conversation’ and it made me feel a bit sad. The tics and gurning, the distracted air, and the inability to concentrate are either the product of medication or brain damage after years of addiction, or both. It reminded me of someone I lost to alcoholism. Bloody awful illness.

Adrian Dunbar morris?

I agree we shouldn’t judge his ‘luvvie’ ‘friends’. Many work friends drift apart once the shared bond of work ends even without the added complication of mental illness.

When my DP was seriously mentally ill a lot of his friends drifted away, not because they were unkind or uncaring but because he was a defensive, withdrawn nightmare who actively rejected them, it was all part of his illness. We were very touched by how many of them were willing to forgive and forget and take up the bonds of friendship again as he recovered, with no apparent ill will or resentment for the way he had behaved.

I thought it was a poignant piece, written with sympathy but honesty.

I was shocked by the accompanying picture; he looks so much older than his fellow Footlights alumni and on first glance I didn’t recognise him at all. I felt enormous sadness for him at how his life has turned out, and I wish him well.

morries thats john slattery

If you think the article is sad, check out his talk to the Cambridge Union, i think earlier this year, available on YouTube. I couldn't watch after about 5 minutes.

Also, I do feel slightly that accusing your friends of deserting you when you have no money left is disingenuous, Tony. You're an intelligent man, I am sure your chances of recovery would be greatly enhanced if you were a bit more honest with yourself.

@Fazackerly & @MorrisZapp, massive fanny gallops for John Slattery. Then & now.

MorrisZapp - oh, just ignore me, I can't tell my Tony from my elbow..

Sorry, thelastgoldeneagle

Tony had a lot of input into the atricle, I've been twittering him! he is just so lovely

I thought it was an incredibly sad article. I hope he gets back on his feet.

Lol, yes my handsome actor is John Slattery, of Mad Men fame! He's a darling.

I like Hadley Freeman's writing. I worried a bit about how it might affect him to read it (not that I know him but I did absolutely adore him as a teenager). I didn't think it was deliberately cruel, I thought it was very compassionate.

In terms of how he looks, it's hardly fair to compare him to how he looked thirty years ago. Of course he's older and he's not been well but he's hardly a freak of nature. I don't think he looks any worse than Stephen Fry for example. We're too used to seeing celebs resist ageing.

Basically I still love him and it is good to have him back

• check out his talk to the Cambridge Union, i think earlier this year, available on YouTube. I couldn't watch after about 5 minutes.

Also, I do feel slightly that accusing your friend*

Yes very sad.

Such an honest and sincere interview, I admire him and wish him nothing but good days ahead.

I see nothing but differences between Tony Slattery and Sean Hughes, though they were both on telly a lot in the 90s, and massive differences their treatment by the Guardian. The “I knew him years ago, let me tell you what I think even though I really am not in any position to do so” hatchet job on Sean Hughes (after his death but before his funeral) by a “freelance for hire” hack breached the editorial code.

www.theguardian.com/info/2019/jan/11/the-review-panel-x-rp-decision

glad The Guardian got their knuckles rapped for breaching the code re. Sean Hughes. I thought the interview with Tony Slattery lacked something engaging from Hadley, so to me it came across a bit cold. Still, it offers good information for bi-polar condition.

p.s. also loved "Whose Line is It" and the article brings back happy memories. The participants were often breathtakingly brilliant.

Sometimes I think that level of mental activity/excitement can bring its own difficulties for some, and bi-polar on top obviously makes it 10 x worse.

I was at Cambridge a few years after Tony Slattery and his reputation in college was legendary. One of my extremely hard to please/ amuse supervisors talked about him with great admiration and affection. I found the article a very difficult and moving read - I think Hadley Freeman can, when the subject demands it, write very well.