Cannon and Ball star Tommy Cannon reduced to tears with sentimental find
A TV comedy legend was brought to tears as he discovered a precious personal find that he thought had been lost forever.
Tommy Cannon, part of the hugely successful TV comedy duo Cannon and Ball, who consistently attracted 20 million viewers to their prime-time Saturday night TV show across a ten-year period came across the sentimental find recently when work was being carried out on his home near York.
The Cannon and Ball Show first appeared across the ITV network from 1979 and it featured sketches, music and a host of the biggest names from the world of show business that would jet in from all corners of the globe to be part of the fun with the pair.
When the hugely successful series ended in 1988, the comedy pair were presented with compilation memory albums reflecting the memorable TV decade at a special ITV tribute dinner in the West End of London.
The album was somehow lost over time and had been a constant thought in the mind of Tommy – until it was recently unearthed.
Tommy’s partner for almost 60 years Bobby Ball, sadly passed away almost four years ago after contracting coronavirus.
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Tommy is set to head out on his very first UK theatre solo theatre tour at the age of 86 this October and November - to recall the fascinating journey of Tommy and Bobby together.
He said: “The photo album and words inside meant so much to myself and Bobby and I can’t tell you the mix of emotions myself, wife Hazel and the family have gone through since it turned up, buried somehow in the corner of the loft as we were having work done on the home.
“The loss had caused lots of frustration and pain for years as it is probably the most special part of our career that documents our amazing journey together.
“We all sat around at home to take it all in, with tears flowing as we recalled so many magical times being with Bobby.”
He added that the saddest part was seeing some photos of the pair’s final rehearsal day at London Weekend Television.
He said: “The album is an endless stream of the very biggest names and I will for sure be highlighting it on my first solo tour that starts in October.
“We were a couple of welders earning twenty quid a week as these stars were major headliners.
“The saddest photo is the final wave goodbye to the ITV cameras – you can almost see the tears in my eyes welling up.
“It will be forever in the family heritage and history to be passed down through the proceeding years. The only thing that would have made it even more special would have been to be able to turn the pages with Bobby in 2024 and to relive the times we shared together with those huge worldwide starsand the millions of TVviewers across the UK.
“I know for a fact thatBobbywould be urging me on and to drive forward with the up-and-coming theatre tour and I’m really excited about it.
“Our TV theme ‘Together we’ll be OK’ will be part of it so that really will set my emotions away again.
Rock on Tommy plays the Marine Hall on Saturday, October 19, at 7:30 pm
Tickets are available HERE.