- 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 / gr-home@pacbell.net
- 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.
- 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.
- His filmed role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) ended up on the cutting room floor.
- Unlike most people in show business, it has been said that Bob Monkhouse always treated his own staff with the utmost respect.
- Two of his three children had predeceased him. His son Gary, who had cerebral palsy, died in 1992. His other son, Simon, died in a Bangkok hotel room from a heroin overdose in 2001. Father and son had been estranged for almost a decade.
- 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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