Actors can get the biopic treatment (Chaplin, Monroe & Garland), but singers get it even more (Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Freddie Mercury, Johnny Cash). Here are some people who would be more interesting subjects, but the Oscar bait doesn’t have the lure for these biopics.

Benny Hill

Britain’s favourite television comedian for decades. Benny was a complex man behind the scenes. Frugal to the point of mental illness, insecure about going to America and a workaholic to the point that he lived walking distance from the studio. Benny’s rise and fall is a tale of fascination as a failed stand-up comedian who turned into the most successful television personality and sketch show creator of his time.
Why won’t they make it? I suspect it is because Benny Hill has a contradiction. Some of his comedy would be what they call ‘problematic’, but Benny was not known to be a bad person, either. So there is no hero or villain here. There is complexity. Watch a documentary here and decide.

Bernard Manning

Imagine a movie about the most controversial comedian in UK history. Manning is the subject matter on par with Dustin Hoffman playing Lenny Bruce. He worked his way up and refused to change the subject matter of his comedy, which was everywhere from racist, homophobic and sexist.
Why won’t they make it? It would contain jokes that won’t fly today. Plus, like Hill, he wasn’t a bad man outside of his comedy persona. He was a loving husband and father. No personal controversy so they would be unable to bury him. But they can’t champion him either.

Biopics only have a few select actors to play our real people. We profile them here.

Jeremy Brett

Love, success, madness and Sherlock Holmes. Jeremy Brett was a brilliant actor but with a disturbed mind that took him into hospital more than a few times in the mid-80s. Jeremy Brett was more than just a Sherlock Holmes actor. He was someone just as fascinating as the great fictional detective.
Why won’t they make it? I suspect that any biopic might have to delve into his romantic life, which had troubles. A marriage and divorce from actress Anna Massey to love affairs with actors Gary Bond to Paul Shenar (of Scarface fame), and finally his second marriage to Joan Wilson, which only ended after Wilson passed away tragically from cancer in 1985. This is movie-worthy but uncomfortable at times. I am sure Brett would have hated his life being examined like this. However, how fitting would it be if the king of the biopic, Benedict Cumberbatch (a Holmes actor) played Brett?