The son of Tommy Cooper’s mistress previously opened up about the comedian’s spooky yet tragic on-stage death in 1984.
Tommy died at age 63 and shared two children, son Thomas Henty and daughter Vicky Cooper, with his wife Gwen Henty. The pair got married in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1947. Gwen died nearly two decades after Tommy’s death in 2002.
From 1967 until his death, Tommy, referred to as the King of Comedy in the 1970s, was also in a relationship with his assistant Mary Kay.
Tommy died on stage in 1984 (Credit: YouTube)
Tommy Cooper on-stage death
Before passing away, Tommy gave his last-ever performance at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London. 12 million viewers tuned in, including his wife Gwen.
Detailing the horrific night 20 years later in 2014, his mistress’s son, Tony Kay, recalled the moment he had a sudden heart attack on stage.
“When he collapsed and everyone was laughing she knew there was something wrong,” he told the Mirror.
Tony revealed that Tommy had told Mary that he “believed he was going to die on stage”.
“Mum was distraught. She never got over the death of Tommy,” he said.
At age 83, Mary died in 2011. Before her death, she was left with a negative reputation. “After Tommy died they called her Mad Mary and made out like she was some kind of stalker,” Tony recalled.
He believed his mother had a relationship with Tommy “that I don’t think he had with Gwen”. Describing their relationship, Tony insisted Mary was “naive” but also “useful to him”.
“Maybe, in his own way, he did love her. But she was besotted by him.”
Tony stated that Tommy’s wife Gwen later acted as if she knew nothing about their relationship. However, he insisted she did.
Tommy had a relationship with his assistant while married to his wife (Credit: YouTube)
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