receive it. On 20 November 1993, he made his first TV appearance since his crash in the Royal Variety Performance, appearing alongside Cilla Black. On stage, he announced that he had just started to write an autobiography. Entitled The Bonus of Laughter, it was published in the autumn of 1994. Crowther retired from show business on 4 November 1994, accepting that "I wouldn't be able to do things I've done the way I would want to, and the way my fans would expect". He also said that he was considering starting a new career as a writer. As he later acknowledged, his mind was still sharp but his body had slowed down. Five days after retiring, he appeared as the subject on This Is Your Life for the second time, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel during a book-signing session in Selfridges on London's Oxford Street. He had previously been honoured by This Is Your Life in March 1973 when Eamonn Andrews surprised him at an antiques fair at Earls Court in London. Crowther's final television appearance was in March 1995, as a guest on June Whitfield's This Is Your Life episode. Personal life Like his father, Crowther was an alcoholic and this problem continued throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. On 14 November 1983, Crowther was arrested for drink-driving. Two weeks later, he was fined, and banned from driving for nine months. In October 1988, Crowther arrived drunk at a gala in Glastonbury. This made him realise that he had a serious problem and needed help. Unlike five years earlier, his alcohol addiction received much publicity. From 5 February to 17 March 1989, Crowther was a resident in Clouds House, a drug and alcohol treatment centre near Shaftesbury. He never drank alcohol again. Crowther married Jean Elizabeth Stone (12 May 1931 – 10 December 2017) on 27 March 1954. They had five children, including twins born on 9 December 1954; one of the twins, his daughter, Liz, is an actress. His other daughter, Caroline, was married to the musician Phil Lynott. Crowther's youngest child, his son Nick, works in radio, presenting traffic and travel bulletins for AA Roadwatch based in Stanmore. Death Leslie Crowther died from heart failure at 5am on 29 September 1996 in the Royal United Hospital in Bath, at the age of 63, with his wife Jean and family at his side. He had lived