section_path: Personal life and death
section_name: Personal life and death
paragraph_text: Personal life and death
  
  In the mid-1990s, after leaving Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Slattery suffered what he described as a " midlife crisis ", triggered by cocaine use and excessive drinking. Slattery said he did not remember how much he had spent on cocaine but "would not be surprised" if media reports that he spent £4,000 per week on the drug were accurate.
  
  In 1996, Slattery's crisis culminated with a six-month period as a recluse, during which he did not answer his door or telephone, "or open bills, or wash... I just sat." Eventually, one of his friends broke down the door of his flat and persuaded him to go to hospital. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He discussed this period and his subsequent living with the disorder in a documentary made by Stephen Fry, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in 2006; Slattery said that he spent time living in a warehouse and "throwing furniture into the Thames."
  
  He said: "I'm happily described as gay", and was in a relationship with the actor Mark Michael Hutchinson from 1986 until his death.
  
  In September 2020, Slattery signed a publishing deal to write his memoirs, but the autobiography did not materialise.
  
  Slattery died aged 65 on 14 January 2025, having suffered a heart attack two days previously. His friend Sir Stephen Fry led a tribute on BBC Radio 4's obituary series Last Word. A fundraising campaign, to cover the costs of his funeral, exceeded its £8,000 target.
  
  In the mid-1990s, after leaving Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Slattery suffered what he described as a " midlife crisis ", triggered by cocaine use and excessive drinking. Slattery said he did not remember how much he had spent on cocaine but "would not be surprised" if media reports that he spent £4,000 per week on the drug were accurate.
  
  In 1996, Slattery's crisis culminated with a six-month period as a recluse, during which he did not answer his door or telephone, "or open bills, or wash... I just sat." Eventually, one of his friends broke down the door of his flat and persuaded him to go to hospital. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He discussed this period and his subsequent living with the disorder in a documentary made by Stephen Fry, The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive, in 2006; Slattery said that he spent time living in a warehouse and "throwing furniture into the Thames."
  
  He said: "I'm happily described as gay", and was in a relationship with the actor Mark Michael Hutchinson from 1986 until his death.
  
  In September 2020, Slattery signed a publishing deal to write his memoirs, but the autobiography did not materialise.
  
  Slattery died aged 65 on 14 January 2025, having suffered a heart attack two days previously. His friend Sir Stephen Fry led a tribute on BBC Radio 4's obituary series Last Word. A fundraising campaign, to cover the costs of his funeral, exceeded its £8,000 target.