Tony Slattery laid bare his struggles with addiction and mental health before tragic death
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Late comedian Tony Slattery laid his soul bare in soul six years ago as he began to embark on a comeback. The 65-year-old spoke openly about his drug and alcohol addictions during a talk in Belfast and recalled hitting rock bottom during one serious mental health crisis.
The British star, known for Channel 4 ’s comedy improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and comedy shows Just A Minute and Have I Got News For You, died on Tuesday aged 65 following a heart attack, his partner, the actor Mark Michael Hutchinson previously announced.
In 2020, Slattery– who regularly spoke openly about his bipolar disorder – revealed he went bankrupt following a battle with substance abuse and mental health issues. He told the Radio Times that his "fiscal illiteracy and general innumeracy" as well as his "misplaced trust in people" had also contributed to his money problems.
Slattery released the BBC Two Horizon documentary What’s The Matter With Tony Slattery? in the same year, which saw him and Hutchinson visit leading experts on mood disorders and addiction. He had previously appeared in 2006 BBC Two programme The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive to speak about his condition.
He said: "I rented a huge warehouse by the River Thames. I just stayed in there on my own, didn’t open the mail or answer the phone for months and months and months. I was just in a pool of despair and mania." He added how he wasn't in the financial situation to pay for the subsequent clean-up.
Speaking as a guest of the Belfast of the CinePunked organisation, who meet to discuss movies and mental health, Slattery shared how treatment for mental health issues like his own at the time was "a post-code lottery". At the event in Belfast, the late comic also revealed how his parents were originally from Connemara but move to England in search of a better life. However, upon moving to the U.K, Slattery remembers how his late parents experiences anti-Irish prejudice.
