Who is Bob Monkhouse?

Who is Bob Monkhouse?

Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on television as a presenter and game show host.

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 prank show "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 (1965)), Family Fortunes (1980), "The $64,000 Question", Opportunity Knocks (1956), The National Lottery (1994), and many others.

Bob Monkhouse was one of Britain's most prolific and best-known entertainers with a career that lasted over 50 years, and included work as a cartoonist, comedian, actor, writer and TV presenter. Master of the slick one-liner, with a collection of jokes second to none, he was also much sought-after as an after-dinner speaker. Although criticized by some for what they saw as his smooth and insincere on-screen persona, complete with permanent suntan and fake smile, no-one could ever question the professionalism and sheer hard work that went into all he did.

Bob married his first wife Elizabeth, a Belfast nurse, in 1949. His parents were strongly opposed to the marriage: his mother wore mourning black to the wedding and they didn't speak for 20 years. The marriage quickly went sour, due largely to his constant sex affairs, including one with the sexy actress Diana Dors. However, the couple stayed together until 1966, mostly for the sake of their son Gary, who was born severely disabled with cerebral palsy. They had a second son, Simon, and later adopted a daughter, Abigail.

He fell in love with his secretary, Jackie, and they were married in 1972 after he and Elizabeth eventually divorced. With Jackie's encouragement he was reconciled with his mother shortly before her death, although she had prevented him from seeing his father when he was dying. Unfortunately the family estrangements did not end there. He had a difficult relationship with his brother John in adult life, fuelled to some extent by their mother. His younger son Simon, a teacher who had long suffered from depression, died from a heroin overdose in a Thai guesthouse in 2001. They had not spoken for 13 years. His older son Gary had died in 1992.

Monkhouse died in 2003 of prostate cancer.

For more British Comedy information, please check out my Youtube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/ComedySuperstarsuk