Bob Monkhouse

Bob Monkhouse

Date of birth: 01-06-1928

Bob Monkhouse was one of Britain's most enduring performers, with a career spanning more than half a century.

His American-style approach, often derided as smarmy, won him much criticism, but his professionalism, hard work and photographic memory for gags gave him a longevity many would envy.

Heir to a custard empire, he decided he'd rather write comedy than take over the family business, and started off sending strip cartoons to every comic in Britain at the age of 12, while still a pupil at Dulwich College. By the age of 15 was making a regular income from it.

His started his broadcasting career on radio in 1949, and worked as a stand-up comic - but hit the big time as a gag writer with partner, Denis Goodwin.

They wrote jokes for the likes of Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis - and reportedly sold American comics' lines back to British acts.

In 1952, Monkhouse and Goodwin were given their own TV sketch comedy, Fast And Loose, which only served to show up Goodwin's failings as a performer, and the partnership soon collapsed. Goodwin ended up committing suicide in 1975.

Much of Monkhouse's later fame stemmed from game shows, hosting the likes of The Golden Shot, Celebrity Squares, Family Fortune including The $64,000 Question, Opportunity Knocks and more.

However, his autobiography Crying With Laughter and his televised stand-up show An Audience With revived his reputation as a comic, rather than just an entertainer, in the mid-1990s.

He was also awarded the OBE in 1993, and in 1995 he won a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards.

Twice married (to Elizabeth from 1949 to 1972, and Jacqueline from 1972 until his death)he outlived two of his three children: his estranged son Simon died of a heroin overdose in a Bangkok hotel in 2001 and Gary, a cerebral palsy sufferer, died in 1992. He also had a daughter, Abigail.

 

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Another series for Vic & Bob’s Big Night Out

BBC Four commission for Reeves and Mortimer

Vic & Bob’s Big Night Out is to return to TV.

BBC Four has commissioned another four episodes of the show, having aired a successful run last year.

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer will again be joined by Vaun Earl Norman for the new series, which also promises a return of Judge Nutmeg’s Wheel of Justice, The Free Runners and Mostly UnHaunted  –  and Novelty Island.

In a statement, Vic and Bob said: ‘We’ve had so much fun writing this series, the chemistry between us has never been so explosive and we can’t wait to get going - for our writing to make it on screen and see how it all works out.’

And Shane Allen, the BBC’s controller of comedy commissioning, added: ‘Vic and Bob continue to pioneer, dazzle and reduce audiences to helpless laughter. Who knows what inventive brilliance is in store, it’s not like the scripts will give us much of a clue. They return at the height of their comedy powers with more audience love than ever.’

Vic & Bob’s Big Night Out was revived by BBC Two for a one-off in 2017 before last year’s run of four episodes was commissioned by BBC Four.

The hugely influential show was originally broadcast by Channel 4 over two series from 1990 – then credited just as Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out and based on the stage shows the pair used to perform at Goldsmiths Tavern in South London.

The revival started when they brought back many of the show’s creations, including The Man With The Stick, Judge Nutmeg, and The Stotts for their 2015-2016 live tour Poignant Moments, their first in more than  20 years. 

Big Night Out production credits

Made by: BBC Studios for BBC Four
Producer:  Lisa Clark
Executive producer: Ben Caudell
Studio director: Mat Whitecross
Commissioning editor: Alex Moody for the BBC

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Published: 23 May 2019

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