Caerphilly-born entertainer Tommy Cooper would have been 97-years old this year and his birthday was celebrated ‘just like that’.
The Tommy Cooper Society organised a birthday lunch at the Scholars’ Restaurant on the Ystrad Mynach campus of Coleg y Cwmoedd.
The magician’s supporters have been holding a birthday lunch for the past 14 years.
The society’s supporters, some of whom had travelled from the West Country, all wore fezzes.
This year, in addition to celebrating Tommy’s anniversary, they drank a toast to the memory of the late Sir Ken Dodd because of the connections the society has had in the past.
The guest speaker was Alan Wightman from Newport who spoke about some of his experiences as a comedy scriptwriter.
This included being present at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London, as a writer for Jimmy Tarbuck in 1984 when Tommy collapsed on live television.
Alan and his wife, Mary, also ceremoniously cut the fez-shaped birthday cake.
The society’s chairman, Tudor Jones, reported that ten heart defibrillators had been donated as part of their ‘Tommy’s Ticker’ campaign and hoped funds would be raised for more of the life-saving units to be installed in public places.
