Andrée Melly

Andrée Melly
Andrée Melly (15 September 1932 – 31 January 2020)

Andrée Melly was born on 15 September 1932 in Liverpool, and was educated in Liverpool and in Switzerland. Her mother and father were Edith and Francis Melly and her brother is jazz legend, George Melly.

Andrée began her career at the New Theatre, Bromley alongside such stars as Robin Bailey, Leslie Phillips and Arthur Lowe. Moira Lister had played Tony's girlfriend in the first series of 'Hancock's Half Hour', and Andrée took over for the second and third series, appearing in a total of 32 episodes.

Perhaps most noticeable about her first three appearances in the series was that she played alongside Harry Secombe, while Hancock was absent. She was (re)introduced into the series when Hancock and Bill smuggled her back to East Cheam from Paris, where they had ended up after setting out for Southend!

In the early years of the long-running BBC radio comedy 'Just a Minute' she was a regular panellist. Along with Sheila Hancock, she was one of the most regular female contestants, appearing in fifty-four episodes between 1967 and 1976. In 1972, she chaired an episode. She was the first panellist to win points for talking for the prescribed 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

She also appeared in several episodes of the 'Benny Hill Show'. She continued to appear on British television until 1991.

She was the last surviving regular cast member of Hancock's Half Hour. She died in January 2020 at the age of 87

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