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Character: This gentle giant of the comedy world was famed for wearing a red fez, hopeless jokes, exquisitely bad timing and muddled magic.

Appearances: After years on stage developing his act as the conjuror whose tricks never succeeded he debuted on BBC talent show New to You in March 1948. He worked with Thames Television from 1968 to 1980 on shows incluing The Tommy Cooper Hour, The Plank and collaborated with Eric Sykes.

Standout moment: The whole of Cooper's careers was pretty exceptional, but we especially like the story of when he met the Queen after a Royal Variety Performance. "Do you like football?" he asked her. "Well, not really," she replied. To which he said: "Can I have your Cup Final tickets then?"

Lowest ebb: Suffering a fatal heart attack on stage while the audience laughed thinking it was part of his act.

Catchphrase: "Just like that!" "Spoon, jar, jar, spoon!" "I slept like a log last night. I woke up in the fireplace!"

Factoid: Despite being famed for his hapless magic tricks Cooper was an accomplished magician and a member of the Magic Circle.