Tommy Cooper, a performer equally as loved and respected by his peers as by his fans, his child-like vulnerability and deceptively simple brand of humour made him the most loved and impersonated of comedians.
"She has spanned three centuries, been a subject of six monarchs and has seen the birth of every major invention and trend in the last 100 years.
And as one of Britain's oldest people celebrated her 109th birthday last Friday at Park House residential home in Great Yarmouth, she put her astonishing longevity down to playing the tambourine, supporting the Salvation Army and drinking fruit juice."
She said: “I do not take any pills or drugs and still play the tambourine. My favourite meals are roast dinners and chicken and I enjoy a fruit juice with my meals. I used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day but gave it up 24 years ago when I was 85.”
Britain's oldest woman is 111-year-old Florence Baldwin of Leeds.
First world war veteran Henry Allingham is the country's oldest man, also aged 111.
