Bob Monkhouse

Bob Monkhouse
Presenting Celebrity Squares (Image copyright British Film Institute)
Born	Robert Allen Monkhouse (1928-06-01)June 1, 1928 Beckenham, Kent
Died	December 29, 2003(2003-12-29) (aged 75) Eggington, Bedfordshire
Cause of death	Prostate cancer
Nationality	British
Occupation(s)	Comedian, Actor, TV Presenter

Robert Allen Monkhouse OBE (June 1, 1928 – December 29, 2003) was a British entertainer in the traditional sense, though primarily known as a comedian and game show host.

Biography

Monkhouse was born in Beckenham, Kent, the son of a prosperous Methodist businessman who owned a business firm (Monk and Glass) that made custard. He was educated at Dulwich College, from which he was expelled, then worked briefly as an animator before his required national service. On leaving the RAF in 1948, he was one of the first comedians to be given a contract by the BBC.

His career began when he was employed as a scriptwriter for radio comedy in a partnership with Denis Goodwin, who also attended Dulwich College and with whom he also compered the Smash Hits program on Radio Luxembourg. Monkhouse gradually moved over to television, hosting such programmes as Candid Camera in the early 1960s. In addition to this he had an income as a gag-writer for many visiting American comedians (including Bob Hope) when they wanted topical jokes for their British tours. He appeared in many comedy films, including the first movie of the Carry On film series, Carry On Sergeant. One of his biggest television successes was as the host of The Golden Shot during the late 1960s. He went on to host several quiz shows, including Celebrity Squares, Bob's Full House, Family Fortunes and Wipeout. In 1979 he starred in a sketch comedy television series called Bonkers! with the Hudson Brothers. In the late 1980s he hosted two of the series of the revival of the talent show Opportunity Knocks which aired as Bob Says Opportunity Knocks.

An expert on the history of the silent cinema and a keen movie collector, he presented Mad Movies in 1966, in which he presented clips from comic silent movies, some of which he had helped to recover and restore. His film collection was the cause of a court case at the Old Bailey in 1979 after he was charged with attempting to defraud film distributors, but he was ultimately acquitted.

A genius at ad-lib, Bob Monkhouse also became an exceptionally sought after various dinner and other functions and various events.

Monkhouse became a favourite with impressionists, and, as his style of comedy fell out of favour, was often mocked for his slickness and he was accused of insincerity. He came back into fashion during the 1990s, and appearances such as guesting on Have I Got News For You restored his popularity. In July 1995, Monkhouse was in the headlines when he appealed for the safe return of his joke book which had been lost or stolen. The book, which contained notes on sketches and one-liners, for which Monkhouse was most famous, was eventually returned to its owner. He was appointed an OBE in 1993. In 1996 he presented the National Lottery show on Saturday evenings on BBC One. The opening to each show would see him deliver several minutes of topical jokes to camera, and on one occasion where his autocue failed, he managed to improvise an entire new (and still topical) routine. This talent was also used in Bob Monkhouse On The Spot, a return to pure television comedy, in which audience members suggested topics, and Monkhouse would instantly come up with a relevant routine.

Monkhouse married twice, to Elizabeth in 1949 (divorced in 1972), and then to Jacqueline in 1973, for the rest of his life. He had three children from his first marriage, but only his daughter Abigail survived him. His son Gary, who had cerebral palsy, died in 1992, while his son Simon, from whom he had been estranged for almost a decade, died of a heroin overdose in a Bangkok hotel in 2001.

In a 2005 poll to find The Comedians' Comedian, he was voted amongst the best 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

Posthumous advertisement

On 12 June 2007, Monkhouse appeared posthumously on a British TV advert promoting awareness of prostate cancer for Male Cancer Awareness Week. In the commercial, Monkhouse is seen in a graveyard next to his own gravestone talking about the disease seriously, combined with a humorous side to the advert which includes his trademark one-liners, like "What killed me kills one man per hour in Britain. That's even more than my wife's cooking". He ends the advert by saying "As a comedian, I've died many deaths. Prostate cancer, I don't recommend. I'd have paid good money to stay out of here. What's it worth to you?" before walking away from his grave, and disappearing. The advert was created by using computer technology, by using archive footage of Bob Monkhouse, combined with a body-double who appears looking at the grave and walking around the graveyard, and a "sound-a-like" voice-over actor who voiced the script. The advert was made with the full support of Monkhouse's family, and was supported by a series of poster campaigns.

Partial Career Summary

TV

As a performer

• Bob's Your Uncle UK 1990s
• Fast And Loose UK 1954
• Christmas Box UK 1955
• The Bob Monkhouse Show UK 1956
• Beat Up The Town UK 1957
• My Pal Bob UK 1957
• The Bob Monkhouse Hour UK 1958
• The Big Noise UK 1964
• Mad Movies UK 1966
• Friends In High Places UK 1969
• The Bob Monkhouse Comedy Hour UK 1972
• I'm Bob, He's Dickie UK 1977
• Bonkers! UK 1979
• The Bob Monkhouse Show UK 1983
• An Audience With Bob Monkhouse UK 1994
• Bob Monkhouse On The Spot UK 1995
• Bob Monkhouse - Over The Limit UK 1998
• Bob Monkhouse On Campus UK 1998
• Rex the Runt (1998, cameo)
• BBC New Comedy Awards UK 1999
• Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show UK/Canada 2001
• $64,000 Question (UK version of The 64,000 Dollar Question)
• All or Nothing
• Celebrity Squares (UK version of Hollywood Squares)
• Family Fortunes (UK version of Family Feud)
• The Golden Shot UK 1967
• Wipeout (1998-2003)
• Bob's Full House (Later remade as Lucky Numbers in the UK and Trump Card in the US)
• Opportunity Knocks

As a writer

• Fast And Loose UK 1954
• Cyril's Saga UK 1957
• Early To Braden UK 1957
• My Pal Bob UK 1957
• The Bob Monkhouse Hour UK 1958
• The Big Noise UK 1964
• The Bob Monkhouse Comedy Hour UK 1972
• I'm Bob, He's Dickie UK 1977
• Marti UK 1977
• Bonkers! UK 1979
• An Audience With Bob Monkhouse UK 1994
• Bob Monkhouse On The Spot UK 1995
• Bob Monkhouse - Over The Limit UK 1998

As an author

• Book of Days, 1981, ISBN 0099271508
• Crying with Laughter: My Life Story 1994 ISBN 0099255812
• Over the Limit: My Secret Diaries 1993-98, ISBN-10: 0099799812, 1999
• The World of Jonathan Creek with Steve Clark, 1999, ISBN 0563551356
• Just Say a Few Words 2004 ISBN 0753509083

As a singer

• You Rang, M'Lord? 1988

As a voice actor

• Rex the Runt 1998 (Johnny Saveloy in "Johnny Saveloy's Undoing")
• "Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show 2001" (Mr. Hell in all 13 episodes)

Films

• Carry On Sergeant 1958
• The Secret People 1952
• Dentist in the Chair 1960
• Dentist on the Job 1961
• A Weekend with Lulu 1962
• She'll Have to Go 1962
• Thunderbirds 1966
• The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom 1968
• Simon Simon 1970

Quotes

• "Dulwich College takes me back after seventy years: My Mum must have written one hell of a sick note!"
• "They laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian. They're not laughing now."
• "Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?"
• "Silence is not only golden, it is seldom misquoted."
• "Marriage is an investment which pays dividends if you pay interest."
• "I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my father. Not screaming and terrified like his passengers."
• "Bernie.... the bolt!" - catchphrase on The Golden Shot.
• "Growing old is compulsory - growing up is optional."
• "As a comic, you need every wrinkle. Having a facelift would be like asking a tap dancer to have his feet lopped off."
• "I came home and found that my son was taking drugs - my very best ones too!" (on Have I Got News For You)
• "I'm rather relaxed about death. From quite an early age I've regarded it as part of the deal, the unwritten guarantee that comes with your birth certificate."
• "Bingo numbers clickety-clicks its time for us to mix the six"- catchphrase on Bob's Full House.
• "So you are half Welsh and half Hungarian, that means you are well-hung!" (on V Graham Norton)
• (on stage as a veteran comic)"You'll be glad to hear, I'm still having sex"
• "I can remember when safe sex meant a padded headboard."
• "It got up to 94 degrees today - that's pretty good at my age."
• "Should you wish to piss...." (an infamous blooper when presenting The $64,000 Question in which he mispronounced the word "pass") [1]

External links

• Bob Monkhouse at IMDb
• Template:Find A Grave
• BBC Obituary for Bob Monkhouse
• Television Heaven
• Give a few Bob for the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation
• Bob Monkhouse on Chortle