Malcolm Hardee

Quick Facts

Full Name	Malcolm Hardee
Occupation	Comedian
Date Of Birth	Jan 5, 1950(1950-01-05)
Age	74
Date Of Death	2005-01-31
Birthplace	Lewisham
Country	United Kingdom
Birth City	London
Horoscope	Capricorn

Malcolm Hardee Biography

Malcolm Hardee is one of the most popular and richest Comedian who was born on January 5, 1950 in Lewisham, London, United Kingdom. Malcolm Hardee (January 1950 – January 2005) was an English comedian and author. He was also a comedy club owner, compere as well as a manager, agent, manager, and “amateur sensationalist”.

Hardee often appeared in his own shows at Edinburgh Fringe. In 1982, The Greatest Show on Legs was first performed there. His most famous confirmed stunt was 1983, when he performed at The Circuit venue. It consisted of three tents that were built in a construction site. Each tent had a different show. He became frustrated by the noise coming from Eric Bogosian’s neighboring performance tent. Hardee, naked, borrowed a tractor from a neighbor and drove it across Bogosian’s stage. This stunt is a classic example of Fringe infamy. In 1989 Hardee and Arthur Smith wrote an overwhelmingly positive 5-star review of Hardee’s Fringe show. They managed to get the review published in The Scotsman, under the headline of the newspaper’s comedy critic. The Independent reported in 1996 that Hardee attempted to undermine American ventriloquist David Strassman’s Edinburgh show. He abducted the hi-tech dummy of the act, held it hostage and sent it back to Strassman in pieces in exchange for hard cash. It was a failure.

Perhaps the most-quoted anecdote concerning Hardee was that, on 9 October 1986 his house was searched by the police – who were looking for crumbs – two days after he and others stole Freddie Mercury’s £4,000 40th birthday cake. No crumbs were found at the house as he had already by then donated the cake to a local nursing home. He used this incident as the title of his 1996 autobiography I Stole Freddie Mercury’s Birthday Cake which he wrote with John Fleming. In another encounter with the police, Hardee was once questioned by Special Branch officers after being found on the balcony outside government minister Michael Heseltine’s hotel room, wearing nothing but a pair of socks and a leather coat containing £5,200 in cash and a pack of pornographic playing cards. He had mistaken the room for that of a friend.

In 1987, as one of his many publicity stunts, Hardee stood for Parliament in the famous 1987 Greenwich by-election, as the “Rainbow Dream Ticket, Beer, Fags & Skittles Party” candidate, polling 174 votes. He stood again in the 1992 election in order to publicise his comedy club because the election rules allowed him a free mailshot to all registered voters in the constituency.

His reputation is based on his outrageous publicity stunts, and the advice he gave to British alternative comedians in their early careers. He was also the “godfather” of a generation in 1980s comic talent. Rob Newman, a fellow comic, called him “a funny, anarchic and living legend; a Falstaff millennial”, while Stewart Lee wrote that Malcolm Hardee was “a natural clown who would in any decent country be a national institution” while Arthur Smith called him a “South London Rabelais” and said that “everything else about Malcolm, except his stand-up, was original.”

Malcolm Hardee Net Worth

Malcolm Hardee is one of the richest Comedian from United Kingdom. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Malcolm Hardee 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

He was expelled from both the second and third schools. He then drifted into petty criminality, stealing Coca-Cola from the local bottling plants, burgling a Pawnbrokers, and setting fire to a Sunday school keyboard because he wanted “holy smoke”. He was sentenced to prison for cheque fraud and burglary, as well as escape custody. In 1967, he fled Gaynes Hall Borstal disguised as a monk. He was also convicted of arson. He once stole a Rolls Royce he believed belonged British cabinet minister Peter Walker. After reading the widely reported story, Walker wrote to Hardee and denied that it was his car.

Hardee was released from prison in 1977 or 1978, but sources vary. Hardee then joined Martin Soan’s The Greatest Show on Legs. At the time, it was a one-man adult Punch and Judy act. The Greatest Show on Legs was revived as a surreal sketch troupe and became a regular at Woolwich’s Tramshed venue. The Comedy Store was opened in Soho in 1979 and The Greatest Show on Legs soon became regulars there. Their breakthrough came when they performed their naked balloon dance in the late-night TV program O.T.T. with Chris Tarrant.

His most infamous venue was The Tunnel Club, which he opened in 1984 next to the southern exit from the Blackwall Tunnel in Greenwich, South East London. He would sometimes introduce inexperienced stand-ups to audiences with the nerve-jangling line: “This next act’s probably a bit shit” but, once their performance was finished, he would often comfort those he thought showed promise with backstage words of encouragement and urge them to try again. According to Stewart Lee, he would often insult you after you have finished your act while also simultaneously praising you, as a way of protecting your dignity. Lee notes, that after his first gig he did for him, Hardee said “That was Stewart Lee. Started off well, got worse, by the end he was shit”. His advice to comics who were concerned that a joke might be offensive to an audience was: “If you think it’s funny, then fuck ’em.”

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Malcolm Hardee height Not available right now. Malcolm weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Malcolm Hardee Dating?

According to our records, Malcolm Hardee is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Malcolm Hardee’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Malcolm Hardee. You may help us to build the dating records for Malcolm Hardee!

The Malcolm Hardee ‘Act Most Likely to Make a Million Quid’ Award was started in 2010

Facts & Trivia

Malcolm Ranked on the list of most popular Comedian. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United Kingdom. Malcolm Hardee celebrates birthday on January 5 of every year.

At his weekly Sunday Night at the Tunnel Palladium shows, sometimes even experienced and accomplished comedians failed to complete a whole set against the unforgiving crowd and razor-sharp heckling. When the club became established, it attracted groups of men apparently from the suburb of Eltham who Hardee referred to as ‘Herberts’. They were usually drunk and attending the Tunnel club as it offered after hours drinks on a Sunday night, a rarity back then. They usually ended the evening by fighting, fortunately usually between themselves, leaving everybody else as spectators. It was at the Tunnel Club that comedian Jim Tavare once began his act with the unwise opener, “Hello, I’m a schizophrenic” – to be met with the lightning rejoinder from a heckler in that night’s audience, “Well, you can both fuck off then!”. Julian Clary together with Fanny the Wonder dog were surprising hits at such evenings.