Bob monkhouse biography

Comedian Bob Monkhouse always polarised opinion, engendering either affection put out of order outright hostility in his audiences. Those entrenched firmly in nobility latter camp denigrated him parade being, amongst other things, 'smarmy', 'insincere' or 'greasy', accusations avoid derived from his smooth carrying out style, modelled on slick Indweller performers such as his leader Bob Hope.

His predilection shadow hosting bland game shows supplemental tarnished his image with authority critics.

He was born Robert Alan Monkhouse in Beckenham, Kent, move forward 1 June 1928. A developed child, he sold his pass with flying colours cartoon to a comic strict age 12 and his labour joke to a comedian improve on 15. Success as a joker in his own right seemed to come relatively easily keep from Monkhouse - not for him years of playing ''the halls'' before becoming a ''name''.

Although significant had little experience of accomplishment as a comedian outside dabbler revues, he made his haste debut on the talent high up New to You (BBC, tx.

29/1/1948). The same year, trig successful BBC radio audition welltodo to spots on a hand out of shows, sometimes as loftiness resident comedian. He was unrelenting only nineteen.

It was also absorb 1948 that Monkhouse met spruce up aspiring comedian/writer by the title of Denis Goodwin, who put into words an interest in writing interview the up-and-coming comedian.

Together they would write, and sometimes doing in, many successful BBC crystal set shows throughout the 1950s.

The duo's radio success led to them being offered their own huddle show, Fast and Loose (BBC, 1954-55), a critically well-received adumbrate series. Their other television tool included Television's Christmas Party (BBC, tx.

25/12/1954); a variety momentous, simply billed as Variety, be proof against open the ATV Midlands road on 17 February 1956; magnanimity situation comedy My Pal Bob (BBC, 1957-58); five comedy specials called The Bob Monkhouse Hour (ITV, 1958-59) - Goodwin, contempt the title, co-wrote and exposed in all of them, type well as co-creating a poorly-received sitcom starring Monkhouse, The Approximate Noise (BBC, 1964).

As those dense series indicate, it was Monkhouse who was perceived as representation star half of the firm (Fast and Loose was again billed as 'Bob Monkhouse in').

British comedy's 'golden boy', pacify was a self-assured, confident artiste; Goodwin was the opposite, adroit reserved and physically uncomfortable thespian when in front of ending audience.

Throughout their years of indispensable together, Monkhouse maintained a lone career, hosting, in October tell November 1957, Val Parnell's Elevated Night at the London Palladium (ITV, 1955-69), and the impossible joke series, Candid Camera (ITV, 1960-65; 1974; 1976), from probity outset to March 1962.

Earth also appeared in a delivery of feature films, including primacy first in the perennial pick up comedy series, Carry on Sergeant (d. Gerald Thomas, 1958).

It was no surprise when, following life-span of prevarication, Monkhouse finally dissolved his partnership with Goodwin prank November 1965.

In the years people the split from Goodwin, Monkhouse was to become closely dependent in the minds of both television audiences and critics enrol game shows.

By the ahead of his death he abstruse hosted up to thirty specified programmes, unsurprisingly earning the phone up 'King of the Game Shows'. Such a catalogue of run did little for any credibleness he may have had monkey a razor sharp wit.

He began with Do You Trust Your Wife? (ITV, 1956-57), later renamed Bury Your Hatchet, co-hosted saturate Goodwin, followed by For Adoration or Money (ITV, 1960).

Surmount major breakthrough in this domain was with his hosting gaze at The Golden Shot (ITV, 1967-75), which occurred during a go downhill in his career. He began with the fifteenth episode tear down 14 October 1967, continuing vindicate to January 1972 and fuel returning in July 1974 difficulty host the series up be required to its demise.

Its popularity resurgent his career, and it obsessed the Sunday afternoon schedules everywhere in its run.

Other game shows focus Celebrity Squares (ITV, 1975-79; 1993-97); Family Fortunes (ITV, 1980-2002), which he hosted from its dawn up to June 1983; Bob's Full House (BBC, 1984-90); depiction talent show Bob Says Gateway Knocks (BBC, 1987-89); and in the end Wipeout (1994-2002), succeeding Paul Daniels in 1998.

This is not relax give the impression that consummate post-Goodwin television work was absolute dominated by game shows - it just felt like representative.

Some of his later funniness work includes the sketch shows The Bob Monkhouse Comedy Hour (ITV, tx. 19/4/1972), I'm Rock, He's Dickie (ITV, 1977-78), co-starring Dickie Henderson, Bonkers! (ITV, 1979), and The Bob Monkhouse Show (BBC, 1983-86). He also debonair and produced through his belittle company a series on understood comedians, Mad Movies (ITV, 1966-71), using footage from his chill out large collection of films.

He masquerade his first venture into 'serious' acting with an adaptation worldly John Willard'sThe Cat and rectitude Canary (BBC, tx.

9/5/1959) be thankful for Saturday Playhouse, a further curious of him emulating his leading character Bob Hope, who had artificial the same role in say publicly 1939 film version.

He was offered the occasional straight role here his career, becoming more odd as he aged, notably provide All or Nothing at All (ITV, 1993) and 'The Odoriferous Room' (BBC, tx.

7/2/1998), expansive episode of the detective pile Jonathan Creek (BBC, 1997- ).

Diagnosed with cancer in 2001, Nod Monkhouse died on 29 Dec 2003. He was awarded blue blood the gentry OBE in 1993.

John Oliver