Tony Hancock

Hancock is a would-be gentleman of East Cheam who considers himself a cut above his surroundings and never lets the evidence contradict him. Pompous, easily wounded, and endlessly convinced that fame, class, and respect are just around the corner, he blusters through petty schemes and grand delusions with wounded dignity intact.

The genius is in the self-deception: Hancock never plays for a laugh, he plays for justification, which is funnier. Tony Hancock's own gift was making grandiosity and self-pity feel completely sincere, so every deflation lands like a small tragedy rather than a gag, which is why the character still feels startlingly modern.