- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRobert Alan Monkhouse
- Nickname
- The thief of bad gags.
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- One of British TV's most popular performers with a career that spanned over four decades, funny-man Bob Monkhouse started off as a radio broadcaster (1947) and stand-up comic. He earned success early on as a gag writer, partnering with Denis Goodwin.
In 1953, the duo won their own TV show called Fast and Loose (1954), which was sketch-comedy based. A nightclub comedian to boot, he also pursued films on occasion appearing in such slapstick dillies as Carry on Sergeant (1958), Dentist in the Chair (1960), Dentist on the Job (1961) and A Weekend with Lulu (1961). But TV would be his prime venue, and he moved quite easily into various parlor game and variety show hosting duties.
For Love or Money (1959) was his first, a Brit version of "Candid Camera". Along the way, he found emceeing chores with The London Palladium Show (1966), The Golden Shot (1967) (which made him a household name), Celebrity Squares (1975) (based on The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965)), Family Fortunes (1980), "The $64,000 Question", Opportunity Knocks (1956), The National Lottery (1994), and many others. Monkhouse died in 2003 of prostate cancer.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [email protected] - Born in Beckenham, Kent, the youngest of two brothers, his father was an accountant and his mother an artist. His grandfather had founded the custard firm Monk and Glass.He was educated at Dulwich College where he produced a school magazine and drew a comic strip. He teamed up with a friend and formed a double act to perform in youth club concerts. This was Dennis Gifford who became a trainee animator for Gaumont British Films at 16 and got cartoons published in popular comics and sold gags at 2/6 a time to music hall comics such as Max Miller. In July 1946 he was called up for R.A.F. service where he spent most of his time in the typing pool in the Central Medical Establishment supposedly doing medical reports bit he was actually typing out gags. He wrote a letter to the B.B.C. stating that he needed an audition for a comedy show to get rid of a fame seeking phobia which resulted in an audition for Dennis Main Wilson and a job on 'Beginners Please' followed by Variety Bandbox and Calling All Forces. When he was 23 he was invited to write gags for Max Wall, who was one of his heroes. About 1953 there was a television series, 'Fast and Loose' with June Whifield. 1954 he was voted Top TV Personality of the Year, a panelist on 'What's My Line', made his first film 'Carry on Sergeant' and was presenter on the tv series 'Candid Camera' 1962 he was in London's West End in 'Come Blow Your Horn' and 'The Boys From Syracuse'. Later he hosted television series such as 'I'm Bob, He's Dickie',(with Dickie Henderson), 'Golden Shot', 'Mad Movies, ' 'Celebrity Squares', 'Family Fortunes'- IMDb Mini Biography By: tonyman 5
- Bob was a man of many parts a comedian, an actor, a compere and a game show host amongst others. Getting Your Share (67) was a training film in which he played 10 parts including 1 as himself, Paint the Town (1956) was a BBC television film, Gold in the Sun (1966) was a film made in South Africa in which he played Tough Harris, Follow the Sun in 1961 and , a short called Flounder .- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpousesJacqueline Harding(October 4, 1973 - December 29, 2003) (his death)Elizabeth Thompson(November 5, 1949 - 1972) (divorced, 3 children)
- He owned a Sony CV-2000, one of the first video recorders, which was introduced in 1965 and he used it to capture many of his own television performances which would otherwise not exist today. Over the period from the late 1960s until his death, his collection grew to a vast library of over 150,000 hours of material. As television companies routinely wiped their own copies in those days, many shows in the Monkhouse collection are unique. Upon his death all this material, in addition to hundred of hours of personal audio copies of radio shows commencing in the 1940s, were passed to an archivist for transfer to a permanent digital record.
- His filmed role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) ended up on the cutting room floor.
- Monkhouse died of prostate cancer in 2003. Yet, in 2007, he made a "comeback", appearing in a new TV campaign advertising a prostate cancer charity. The ad, made with the blessing of his widow, blends footage of Monkhouse with that of a body double then adds CGI manipulation of his face to match what is being spoken by a sound-alike.
- He owned a vast house, and because he was an art lover, he had a cinema in his basement where he screened silent movie reels from his collection. He had a deep respect for the physical comedy of the silent stars, but was frustrated that he couldn't perform it himself. He was said to be a student of comedy, which was why he liked collecting it.
- Unlike most people in show business, it has been said that Bob Monkhouse always treated his own staff with the utmost respect.
- 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. - Birmingham Evening Mail (UK) 25 September 1993
- 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. - Birmingham Evening Mail (UK) 25 September 1993
- When I said I was going to become a comedian, they all laughed. Well, they're not laughing now.
- Next Thursday at the polls, it won't just be Bob it'll be Britain saying Opportunity Knocks (1956). And if we put Maggie (Margaret Thatcher) back in for the third time we'll all be winners. (During the 1987 general election campaign)
- Carry on Sergeant (1958) - £1,500
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