Benny Hill was 'on verge of stardom' when he came to Blackpool Palace Theatre

All those performers had their names "above the title" but we are being selective. I've chosen 20 from my book Blackpool's Century of Stars and this week we look at Tony Hancock and Benny Hill.

When he first came to the resort as a penniless young comic at the old Feldman's Theatre in April, 1949, he could hardly have imagined the fame that lay ahead in his persona of Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock - "the lad 'imself" - of Railway Cuttings, East Cheam.

Nor could he have imagined that it would be in Blackpool that he would throw it all away and doom himself to ridicule and suicide.

In 1954, Hancock (1926-68) did a Blackpool summer season at the Opera House in a show topped by comedian Jimmy Edwards and vocalist Joan Turner.

In his legendary run of Hancock's Half Hour on radio and TV he successively dismissed his supporting actors - Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams - and then his brilliant writers, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.

The comedian actually became the character he had been portraying; a faintly superior anarchist who poured scorn on all and sundry.

Who hasn't seen the clip from his Blood Donor episode. "How much? That's nearly an armful!"

By 1966 Tony's career was sinking but he was thrown a lifeline as compere of a season of televised Sunday night variety shows from Blackpool's ABC Theatre.

But he twice failed to turn up for the run-through and was unfit to appear in half the series.

Could the anarchist in him have objected to his role of introducing other stars?

Any opinions, doc?

In 196 Hancock ended it all by taking an overdose in Australia, where he had been booked for TV shows.

Another showbiz oddball, Benny Hill (1926-92) was on the verge of TV stardom when he made two appearances in weekly variety at Blackpool's old Palace Theatre, in 1953 and 54.

Benny didn't top the bill but my excuse for including him here is that he achieved the rare feat among comedians of leaving a fortune of eight million. And that was 30 years ago.

And it's nice to picture his mischievous grin and hear his hit record about Ernie, the fastest milkman in the West.

Any TV comic would have been chuffed to score five Blackpool summer seasons and that's what Arthur Haynes did.

With a regular spot in Charlie Chester's post-war radio series Stand Easy, Arthur appeared in Charlie's very successful Blackpool Opera House summer seasons of 1948 and 49.

With an ITV series as a know-it-all tramp named Oscar, Arthur was second top to singer David Whitfield in the 1958 Opera House summer season.

Arthur (1910-66) had his own summer show at the Winter Gardens Pavilion in 1962 and 1966 with his TV show partners Dermot Kelly and Rita Webb.

Next week is the turn of Rex Harrison, Anita Harris and Keith Harris.