Charlie Hartill, one of most entertaining and intelligent people I ever knew, died while I was away in the States.

In Edinburgh last year he drunkenly told me that the reason that I was funny on stage was that my face moved faster than the human eye could register, which I think is a remarkable compliment.

I also vividly remember standing at the ADC Theatre bar in Cambridge with him one evening and apropos of nothing he said that if he died he'd want everyone to be really happy at his funeral and dance around on his grave. Sadly, I suspect that won't happen.

(*From The Man Who Crucified Himself, Charlie's one-man show about eccentrics that he wrote on the day of the first performance after he lost all his notes.)

James Casey says:
I don't think I ever met Charlie Hartill, but I've known who he was for the best part of a decade and was discussing him with people who knew him only last week. It's unbelievable.
posted by James Casey on 28 January, 2004
 

DW says:
He was a wonderfully funny and clever guy. I can't believe it.
posted by DW on 28 January, 2004
 

Molly says:
I have a hilarious photo of him standing outside the main gate at Trinity, looking like an evil genius. How very, very sad this is.
posted by Molly on 29 January, 2004
 

Rory says:
How startling. It's bad enough when the older generation goes, but when it's ours... Goodbye, Charlie. Earth, Wind and Lemsip forever.
posted by Rory on 29 January, 2004
 

Madeline says:
Charlie will be greatly missed by many, and I don't think he realized how much he effected others. Its all really sad.
posted by Madeline on 31 January, 2004
 

Maria Ferran says:
When I first met Charlie, he was this intimidating, intellectual, eccentric man. But he was an honest person who touched so many people and was integral to their lives. Every moment from last year is still fresh in my mind, he shared a wedding, parties and Edinburgh. It was every moment rolled into one and I can't believe he won't be part of that world anymore. How will it work without him? I miss you, Charlie.
posted by Maria Ferran on 3 February, 2004
 

Sian Harris says:
Before I met Charlie I had always heard of the archetypal "English Eccentric" but I had never met one. Charlie changed all that! He was a wonderful man who in the heightened atmosphere of the Edinburgh Festival was immensly patient and gracious when I persisted in throwing daft questions in his general direction. He shall be sorely missed by all who knew him for I daresay we shall never see his like again
posted by Sian Harris on 4 February, 2004
 

David (Charlie's Dad) says:
Thank you all for these kind remarks. I have now be able to arrange Charlie's funeral for 2.15 pm on Fri 20th Feb at the West Chapel of the Cambridge Crematorium (A14 West bound), so do come if you want to. Best Wishes, David
posted by David (Charlie's Dad) on 11 February, 2004
 

Ian Shuttleworth says:
I've only just heard. I've no idea how to express my shock. I knew Charlie for several years; it took time for me to realise that his superficial spikiness was a defensive persona, and in a lot of ways I never properly penetrated beyond that, but I came to see a little of the person behind and to value his intelligence and wit in a whole range of areas. I knew him principally through Edinburgh, so it may only be come August, when I walk into Brooke's Club and feel the Charlie-shaped hole there, that I'll realise just how much I'll miss him.
posted by Ian Shuttleworth on 12 February, 2004
 

Chris Winchester says:
I'm really shocked. I just popped into James's blog on an idle afternoon and this news was so unexpected. I didn't know Charlie very well, but he always struck me as a remarkable person. I was fortunate enough to see his first one man show at the ADC in Cambridge where he exuded a peculiar confidence and a sort of wry inner amusement as he spun out his eccentric tales. But my enduring memory of him will be from Earth, Wind and Lemsip as he raved around the auditorium screaming "Are you Irish? I'll shite in your fucking underpants!" A unique man.
posted by Chris Winchester on 12 February, 2004
 

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