COMEDIAN'S SUICIDE

Evening Star, Issue 21722, 17 May 1934, Page 9

COMEDIAN'S SUICIDE

DEATH OF NORMAN CLAPHAM Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, May IC. (Received May 17, at 11.35 a.m.) At tho inquest on Norman Clapham a verdict was returned of suicide while of unsound mind. [A previous message stated that the comedian Norman Clapham, known as John Henry, was found dead at his home in London. Ho was recently sued for maintenance by his wife, who alleged that while he was in Australia and New Zealand he sent her nothing. He was found dead with his head in a gas oven at Kensington, with six letters nearby. It was a pathetic end for a man who was the first comedian to mould his personality’ to suit the microphone. He became famous overnight as the man who makes millions laugh. Recently ho had done more music hall work than broadcasting, but ho staged a promising comeback in broadcasting early in the year. Finally, frightened by the publicity arising from court proceedings by bis wife, he decided to commit suicide. His troubles were accentuated by the death, a few weeks ago, of Miss Gladys Horridge, with whom he toured Australia.!