Bob Monkhouse OBE (1928-2003) entertainer/comedian

was one of British televisions most popular and prolific performers master of all trades absolutely not jack of all trades master of all trades the quintessential TV game show host bob was also a respected writer and stand-up comedian it was such a shock I went to see him in cabaret and he was really blue I said am I the first man who ever made love to you she said you know you could be your face is familiar from somewhere my ladies I mean he didn't have any shortest look nice people loved kiss annually for a very affectionate yeah very he'd flirt with men but success and fame meant his private life suffered dad's work came first and family you know his family refitted round that when Bob had sadness he just went on and performed he's difficult for you and someone close to you dies cuz you don't live the problem upwards of little pressure before it could be very biting in his comedy but technically superb I mean on a comedian I hate having to explain that but I do sometimes Robert Allen Monkhouse was born in 1928 in Beckenham Kent grandpa was the great Monkhouse who teamed up with a man called Glasscock to form monk and glass the custard powder and that really was where the family fortune was was based on that so it was a it was quite a nice more than middle-class background he came from although it was a comfortable upbringing Bob's relationship with his parents was strained I was treated with the great affection by my father when I was small he grew less affectionate as I grew up because I didn't laugh so much of his at his jokes my mother was very gifted she had inherited her father's ability as an artist and I think she loved me very much but she couldn't express it but I didn't feel I had the right to demand it nor would that of them was successful I think in 1942 bob was enrolled as a pupil at dulwich college but spent his school days bored and unhappy taking refuge in drawing cartoons dad at you know when he was detained holiday Jobs would we go to the Beano or the dandy and fill in for cartoonists who on holiday I mean he was a fantastic cartoonist I think one of the amazing finds after he died and I was clearing the house was finding this exercise book when he was about 16 years old extraordinary cartoon amazing color a phenomenal skill everywhere bob was there was a doodle there was a drawing I've even found him on chocolate wrappers sweet wrappers he was on the telephone and there would always be a piece of paper with the doodle but the young bob monk has his real passion was for writing gags I asked her about it once he said oh gosh really young he had this urge to write jokes and one-liners and things and hanging around stage doors and trying to get them to comedians so it was in him from a very early age leaving dulwich college at 17 Bob began to perform his own material but from the beginning found himself something of an outsider and at that time all the comedians on the variety stage were working-class yes so I wasn't terribly welcomed by a lot of other comics the hostility was there yeah Leon Errol I'm probably the only tool we'll talk about ourselves be hickory used to explain Shakespeare of the masses and he said to me you've got no right to be in this business you're trying away a very nice job for Organ class glad we don't know who he is he could be suffering in 1949 Bob left home and married girlfriend Elizabeth disapproving of a bride she believed had no prospects Bob's mother wore black to the wedding and encouraged her husband to join her in disowning their son Bob Monkhouse meanwhile Bob's career received an unexpected boost when he was signed up by the BBC becoming one of their most popular radio personalities the only only sean radio were the people on stage outnumber the people in the audience as a schoolboy listen to Emma I was addicted to radio and Bob was a huge radio stir Bob Murchison Denis Goodwin a few weeks after his wedding bob teamed up with fellow comedy writer Dennis Goodwin and the pair went on to write over 2000 scripts for comedy plays and sketches throughout the 1950s money script a told us some good minds oh I'm thinking of some beautiful laughs really who's the script for Diana Dors Diana Dors can I make some suggestions and I'm sorry all the suggestions are coming from me hi when I was about 19 or 20 I was doing a lot of shows for the BBC radio and was taken to their office which was wall-to-wall scripts it was it looked very Dickensian actually but every single detail I was perfect for each script have a date for there to discuss it tonight a day I've heard about your technique with women it's nothing really that's what I heard they're sharp and witty style of writing led to Bob and Dennis working for visiting American comics which put them squarely on the comedy map they had a good reputation at the BBC and that's where they really met up with Bob Hope and of course the moment he starts to write for Bob Hope they were in you know number one lead remember by the way I didn't pay you last job and I thought even more thrilled that you remember that you are a quit what are you waiting for change Bob's slick American style of comedy was ideally suited to the new medium of television Springs of God you know he actually said that yourself you should love the wise Americans worked and there was no be ivory doing it at the time here yet Ted Wright not saying there weren't great comics of brilliant comics but they didn't have that slickness that the American said and Bob saw that and thought yeah I could have ducked that and then I'll have some of that and and that's what same apartment buddy else somebody had a very clinical approach to comedy the very wording the immaculate construction of a sentence and everything he was very conscious of that I think he almost trained himself to be a comedian rather than being instinctive one I'm a television fan you know I really have because I think it's wonderful if they show you dancers who dance everything and singers who sing everything and show girls who show an acrobat while Stevie highlighted Bob strengths it wasn't so kind to his comedy partner Dennis Goodwin and it soon became clear that when it came to performing talent the double act was one-sided thank you very much indeed Dennis was tall and gentle and rather shy and very self-conscious Dennis was in the shadow rather of Bob I think business partners they're worse than wives all the nagging and none of the advantages this is certainly a wonderful day for both of us Dennis if this is a wonderful day that I'm a monkey's uncle I'll forget your family worries unfortunately when you're standing next to a performer as consummate owners at ease and in control of situation as Bob that two-shot looks particularly awkward teamworks a wonderful thing it's terribly important in show business ladies and gentlemen for teams to stick together to know each other's work and to be the best of friends in it that's really the way we can describe the artists we're going to introduce now more calm and wise and when seen alongside two of the Great's the awkwardness was even more acute 214 years together it was Goodwin who broke up the partnership to write for Bob Hope but things didn't work out his career went into freefall and 13 years later he took his own life it was 1962 and for a newly solo Bob Monkhouse it was time to step back out into the spotlight this time why it's mr. monk house oh you can call me Bob or even better you can call me after 6 o'clock during the early 60s Bob monk has focused on establishing himself as a multi-talented solo performer he done musicals he did Neil Simon play and he did one or two straight roles here huge Polly Mouse I think this he was probably milling around thinking should I just settle down and decide what I want to do but he was too good at too many things Felixstowe they stow so much away and our Vince come open and leave dogs must be judgmental as Bob climbed the showbusiness ladder he quickly discovered that married or not being a handsome rising star had its perks it's reported that bunk house doesn't want to see any more beauty contests he's making the most of this one you like the ladies I mean he was very charming he was very handsome and like Diana Dors and most gorgeous birds I mean he didn't have any no shortage blue eyes he loved his girls didn't he I mean he loved girls anyway . absolutely yeah women that was it loved glamour and I loved kiss annually for very affectionate yeah very he'd flirt with men anybody not that I would ever be unfaithful to my wife with a very simple reason I happen to love my house because my first marriage was not particularly happy I was somewhat promiscuous I think I would I wanted to be monogamous I think it was only because I found myself apparently not being able to satisfy in my masculine endeavors one person that I went looking for someone who could satisfy and one of the applause maybe well the three words you want to hear when you're enjoying sex with a partner very simply English I love you the three words you do not want to hear during sex are darling I'm home although the monk asses family life was presented as happy and harmonious behind-the-scenes the marriage was under strain by the early 60s Bob and wife Elizabeth had three children sons Gary and Simon and adopted daughter Abigail eldest son Gary was severely disabled having been born with cerebral palsy and the family shielded him from media attention Gary I'd odd and he was a my hero in life really just an amazing soul he was the cleverest child I think I've ever known he could build Lego with his toes and he could draw he couldn't he could tell the time and yet he could never hear Bob was great with him they had this rapport where Bob knew exactly what Gary wanted and was thinking and vice versa coming up now our next telephone contestant did it tweet yes it did hello who's calling the golden shot in 1967 Bob landed the job as host of a live and chaotic new game show that would turn him into one of televisions most recognizable faces and changed the course of his career it's really good to be back well the golden shot was a a game show and it had crossbows and bolts and there was Bernie the bolt who used to load the crossbow and then the people would either stand at the crossbow and fire themselves or it would be done remotely I thank you whoever you are who are you Bob used to keep control of the show very well he was absolutely a stickler for everything being just served once again we need confirmation from an Aston and he always knew exactly what she was going to do which is why he made it look so effortless and you've received Bob you know even as a kid I used to watch him sometimes when blimey you know what was he gonna do next because it was live he was flying by the seat of his pants he was at dinner with the public or nervous someone that Sally and all my golden and Bob ad-libbing his head off every week realize how what a hair-trigger that is although we did Bob's increasing TV workload meant he was spending more and more time away from home next week we hope that you will too yes because dad worked as much as he did the best way for me to see him was to go and see him in his shows not so much that I wanted to to go and see the shows I just wanted to see dad and so it was easiest to go and catch up with him between shots and stuff bob was always working there was always a job to do and wasn't really the hands-on father that maybe Abagail you would have liked but that was okay because her dad was Bob Monkhouse and she knew that was what he did for a living I can't lie dad's work came first and family you know his family refitted round that he was a face people recognized whenever we were out I don't think I managed probably one dinner with him without somebody coming up and asking for his autograph and that's fine you know that there's a there's a time for that and I accept that that's part of his job so yes things could have been a lot worse Bob had hit upon a form of television that perfectly suited his personality and it was as a smooth wisecracking gameshow hosts that he became best known over the following 35 years he was one of the great hosts of game shows I mean it fell to him so easily was no effort hello our celebrities he was the best game show host there was you know there was no one to tell if it was anybody touching on that he had a wonderful rapport with the people who were playing in the games and he made everybody feel comfortable and he was extremely good at it at that time in the 60s 70s game shows were frowned upon to a certain extent I do enjoy coming here to do this show I really do people say to me don't you get tired of quizzes I never get tired of quizzes I love him he saw them as a performance opportunity you could be on TV and perform your comedy I played quizzes at home in my house we have quizzes at breakfast my wife asked me questions like where the hell are you till three o'clock is when we go to bed she calls a Trivial Pursuit as Bob's career went from strength to strength his family life was more turbulent having divorced his first wife Elizabeth in 1973 he married his former secretary Jackie Harding a move that would cause problems for his children our second son Simon had difficulty in coming to terms with the situation at Herman and then with the divorce it's a curious thing that the pattern of my estrangement with my parents and Simon's decision to to be persuaded that I was the author of all his misfortunes and therefore he didn't want to have anything to do with me well that was always to my daily regret I think the thing is that when Bob had sadness he just went on and performed and working helped him considerably live throughout the 70s and 80s there were two Bob Monkhouse is at work one was the model of mainstream TV acceptability whilst the other performed live stand-up in nightclubs unhindered by the restrictions of primetime his club act was a totally different thing to television because he could be himself there on television he had to actually work a different audience you know it was a different thing and he could get away with murder the house that Laskin is just beginning to work upstairs clothes off into bed starts sending out those little signals that all your married girls come to recognize oh god he's after it again tonight oh sellout but my house owner was a sellout and we're not talking for one night were talking for from open on a Sunday a closing we could be rude as you like no effing and blinding that wasn't his style but rude oh yeah object to some of the silly things they say on planes let me say in the in the event of an emergency put your head between your legs I think God if I could do that I'd never leave the house I think when people went to see dad in cabaret they were always a bit surprised how blue he was but he didn't swear and he and he always felt that if it was a good joke it didn't need to be he had a swear word in it I remember taking my parents to see the show and I thought oh dear you know he's a little bit blue and then all of a sudden he said oh we said in Aniston's in the audience the old golden shot you remember little a nasty she did the scoring on it couldn't do it couldn't keep school couldn't do mental arithmetic she was the score it made no sense good mad up couldn't shoot subtract I did take a sweater off the counter - she was used I thought oh my goodness my father will go mad and my father was sitting there going good delivery very very good delivery I mean comics you say calm watch him how to deliver a gag I like to say Martin I like to have a mirror in the bedroom and I make love to my wife have a mirror in the bedroom yeah stick it under her nose see if she's still breathing even though he had been at the top for more than 20 years Bob Monkhouse was about to win himself a brand new audience by the 1980s Bob Monkhouse was everywhere but he'd been on our TV screens continuously for over two decades and the charm for some was starting to wear thin tell me a bit about the image you mean to portray on your new show you got to be the slick smoothy Bob Monkhouse we've all come to hate I mean love love having made his name as this suave host of countless game shows in 1981 the BBC gave Bob his own chat show but the critics weren't kind accusing him of being over enthusiastic and insincere with his guests the funniest men this country has produced it's a bit like saying the Queen's a member of the royal family you know adjectives are superfluous he doesn't need them when people criticize that I think what I if I felt in a defensive mood I might just say well you go and see him in cabaret and then come back to me but I knew you just you just can't let that bother you you just just move on and if they can't beam you they don't like it then fine then you don't watch fine the biggest problem for me is that my admiration for my guests because they were all comedians is so considerable that I can't disguise it I can't hide it and therefore it's possible to appear obsequious and over enthusiastic about a guest when that is a genuine emotion and that's been criticized I noticed yes well I should develop the same contempt that you obviously have for yoga bob was a very sensitive person so when he was described as smarmy and smooth it hurt him but he'd always been criticized all through his career you can't please them all I mean you know you can divide an audience you can say someone eise's seven miserable is sin I would say that it's the people that are miserable as sin that says insincere you know the cliche he was Marmite people either like him I couldn't stand him and he used to talk about this very funnily but wistfully he III don't think television is a place for me to show my genuine emotions I think it's a place I I would rather I much happier Joan Rivers when she was when you interviewed the other week so so excellently said that the cabaret stage was a psychiatrist but she regarded her job is to entertain to get laughs that's the way I feel I mean I I've I came into the business in 1845 in order to get love but that meant inventing the persona offering something which it's not necessarily me it's an invention it's a construction I think all criticism hurts artists they can face up to it they can handle it Bob could handle it but of course he was never happy with it do you think that being honest or showing honest emotions on television is not a good idea if they can be misinterpreted I don't I don't really want to go know exposing myself on the screen it's not my idea of fun flashing I it's got nothing to do with anybody but me and my nearest and dearest what's what's what I have what I have is mine what I want to offer an audience is something else it's something that I manufacture they if they want to buy it if it sells a ticket that's enough lovely thank you from the outset Bob valued his privacy and surrounded himself with people who respected it in private he could be very quiet and I mean this affectionately not the life and soul of the party he could almost be sitting in the corner of a room it would have had a lot of people in it and you wouldn't necessarily have noticed him he didn't have that sort of charisma offstage not an easy man to get to know the book wasn't open he was quite shy in many ways getting to know people and all that but if he liked you as a friend you're a friend in charge of shielding Bob from unwelcome attention was second wife Jackie a highly influential figure in his life albeit the long-suffering punchline of a thousand monk house jokes Jackie was the butt end of so much of it well his wife you know he'd always go my wife my wife has actually made me hire a cook and a chauffeur and I said to her you learn how to make meals I can fire the cook she said you'd learn how to make love you can fire the chauffeur as well but he's got tagged a thief they've stuck him with a thing that prevents him going out the house I married one of them my wife has got to die oh my god I forgot at the Opera last week and nobody would leave until she sang well she was my best friend and she was the sister I never had she was she didn't suffer fools gladly and she would say it as it was Jackie was a very tall of significant figure which I guess was the first thing that attracted Bob to her she was a strident woman very strong very powerful she could be terrifying as she terrified producers she terrified other agencies she terrified other performers but I think that was her way of protecting Bob well he can be he can be put upon by people and I feel you can be put upon so so so much and then someone's got to draw the line and he's too nice and he's too kind to do it so I do it so if people don't like me Jackie was pretty much the messenger for him a lot which was a bit you know a bit unfair I guess so she would always be the one that would say sort of you know not today to people I think one thing I could saved of Jackie is she adored my father and no question about that at all and with that came a huge protectiveness and because he was so busy and because he shared himself but with so many people and work-wise then she did want him to herself I think a bit so it was you that came big challenging at times I would have liked have seen him a bit more I would have liked her to have been a bit more family orientated but you can't make someone you're different than they are so you just just have to go along with it the one place where gob could let his guard down was their home on the island of Barbados Barbados was the retreat he'd been going to that island for thirty years long before it became a trendy celeb hotspot he suited him perfectly he could feel relaxed not many people stayed in this house I was one of the very privileged few I arrived I can say now he had a hat on he had a shirt on he went hi welcome to Barbados welcome to my home and this is the real me I'm bald I'm fat he's very quiet quite a shy man and he would creep about it it was very quiet house it was like that and he would creep around he used to do the most bizarre thing and I can't really do it on camera because it's he used to come up I'm sort of tapped me on the leg out of the blue and walk away it was quite unnerving the first time he ever did it because he was very tactile very a very touchy person but even 4,000 miles from Britain Bob couldn't escape the prying eyes he would be playing Scrabble and the tourist boat would compassed once a day through the bay and he could hear him on the loudspeaker and there's Bob Monkhouse his house over there everybody wave and I had to pay for my accommodation by putting a straw hat on a pair of dark glasses and waving there's Bob way back to Bob there's Bob and he'd be writing in there laughs his socks off and here's the master of the quiz as he moved into the 1990s bobs television persona remained largely unchanged but was in need of a facelift this is what I like an audience that doesn't get out much doing a game show requires a certain talent but I'm not sure it's the most fulfilling way for somebody a consummate talent - it's a means to an end which allows you to do other things he once said to me that I think there's a whole generation hurt now I'm a comedian you know he was a funny game show host but he thought people don't know that that's actually what I do Bob small house for about six years I went back to central television - the $64,000 question and Bob's your uncle ladies and gentlemen look at me with some respect the only other man who's got away with more on adultery from British television than William Russell now in his mid-60s a newly self-aware Bob Monkhouse began to reveal an edgier side and was able to take a few more risks they called to say uncle have I got news for you how terrific unless if you sure you wanna do this oh yes what a wonderful opportunity and what an honor it's a terrific show well no it's a terrific show no no it'll be fine he loved the challenge of new new comedians he loved constantly being stretched he never ever tired of working even forgets that he's working him in tandem that the man who was described by the Guardian as a cult you'd think he'd have been a regular he had that gift of going on into a situation and looking to be belonged there brilliant at that I once tried marijuana but I was doing I was on coke at the time Mattila said that the echo was unacceptable the echo being the European currency unit well and major call is it news night you do or celebrities finally Bob had the respect he'd always longed for and was able to enjoy making fun of the image he'd spent years creating maybe I looked insincere but underneath that I was totally sincere maybe I believed that I was beginning to tell on me the signs of age a very apparent you when you find your walks into a room and you can't remember why you went in there as Bob Monkhouse approached his 70th birthday there was a brand new avenue of material to add to his encyclopedia of gags for over 50 years Bob had meticulously logged his ideas and jokes in a collection of notebooks which were among his most treasured possessions growing up I was always aware of the joke books and you know just look at the no-work they're quite normal part of my dad's work and I mean they are amazing that beautifully written yeah they weren't secret you know I was allowed to look at them Nick a few jokes for first telling my friends they didn't really become famous until they got stolen for once Bob Monkhouse didn't see the funny side today a thief has stolen two of his joke books filled with gangs and sketches from the past 25 years now the funny man says he'll pay serious money to get them back I'm devastated by it my wife's very supportive and she did point out to me they haven't lost a leg frankly even have a leg of the books back when the story broke about his joke books that disappeared everyone was laughing and joking about it and I knew there was going to be a lot of pain my joke book receiving stolen goods the answer considering what had been taken he was remarkably calm he was extraordinary I think just convinced that they would they would one day turn up because it's a bit like stealing the moon rock who can you show it to who can you sell it to eighteen months later Bob's manager Peter Pritchard received an unexpected call from someone saying they had the joke books and would return them in exchange for 15,000 pounds when these books were brought to my office I had a large sum of money ready to pay for them and also about five very strong policemen a big smile from Bob his books are back even if this one's just a stage prop the real ones are safely in police custody along with the mystery man who returned them I ran Bob and I said of how I am great I took her some good news what's that I said the babies are back I think he burnt down I am overjoyed the cow jumped over the moon I'm jumping over the car among an arrest was made but charges were dropped as bob was so relieved to have his books back in 2003 Bob was uncharacteristically lost for words when he was given a once-in-a-lifetime surprise for the second time in his life sorry about this we've postponed the transatlantic link so that I can say Bob Monkhouse OBE this is your life they pleased a new generation of comics lined up to pay tribute to an elder statesman of comedy I've always been a big admirer of yours Bob I'm still using half your act I said so the Bob once introduced me at the show by saying you can Frank Skinner a man who hasn't let success go to his clothes you really was so complimentary so supportive and flattering really so I really do appreciate that Bob tragically by this time there were two family members missing from his life Gary had died 10 years previously as a result of the cerebral palsy he'd been born with it's always dreadful for a parent to lose a child and you suffered a double blow and Simon died in 2001 he was 46 you had the sympathy of the whole country I think he kept his private thoughts very much just between him and Jackie his sadness because there was sadness Simon died of an accidental drugs overdose in 2001 having not spoken to his father for many years after a series of disagreements the effect was devastating call were to say that Salman had passed away under very tragic circumstances and said Cole I've been walking around the house like a ghost for two days I just can't put my head around anything I think the death of that son was very very instrumental in bringing Bob down a very a long way to be honest with you he was very deeply hurt the parents should go first and the child should survive I found it very difficult to deal with because I never resolved my situation with Simon we never had the reconciliation for which I was still hoping every day praying for it in as much as I pray he was really really hurt but then again he was a pro and he said Peter I don't want to sit and worry about something let me go out and entertain as a frail-looking Bob Monkhouse began to make appearances rumors of his ill health started to circulate I feel great I feel wonderful and I don't what are two things in the newspapers were rather discouraging about me about my health but I am well you know people believe anything I passed our local Undertaker's and they have my picture in the window that coming soon as it turned out Bob had been concerned about his health and had consulted a specialist who told him he had prostate cancer so I said well what did they say he said they've given me two years to live and I said that's not funny he said it isn't a joke so I said right so what are we gonna do Bob he said what we're gonna do is work he said all I want you to do is to try and keep the secret about the obvious time limit he said we just say I'm very ill but I'm gonna recover and I'm doing fine thank you very much indeed that patter of indifference and they say I'm still enjoying sex at 74 I live at number 76 is no disc dan was extraordinary in dealing with the cancer he he had injections he he just kept going he said we've got lots of shows to do we've always hit deadlines in the past now we've got a very hard deadline to meet we've got to do some stuff between now and then he had that drive which a lot of old pros have you know they can be ill fear rotten but the moment the light goes on they're back to themselves still at it so to speak ladies gentlemen Bob no cows he kept it a secret until he couldn't keep it a secret any longer but then he turned that to an advantage he used this prostate cancer as a a device for comedy which I thought was incredibly brave oh I didn't know I had cancer for about a year I think I just got constipated is what happened to me and the doctor said no no are you familiar with the term fecal impaction and I said I think I saw that with Glenn Close a comic never retires they have to keep working and keep having that communication with an audience it's it's a wonderful thing to be able to keep going onstage and and get that magic you know it's typically Bob Arnot most painful of subjects would get the joke out of it Oh joke here about cancer not to offend anyone who is struggling with cancer but I find it but there are two ways of looking at these I can't stop the cancer that's that's incurable but I can control the way I look at the cancer there's no pretend snow subterfuge yes that is a situation I'll talk about it and being Bob what jokes can I do I said how long have I got to live he said ten I said what months weeks he said nine when I sat in the audience that day and it was a bit of a stab it was it just that kind of reminder of reality sometimes because dad coped with it so well it was easy to forget he had cancer I'm not scared of dying anyway because they know death is a terrible thing that well the trouble is the next day is a bloody stiff he just looked normal on the outside and and yet do you know that the clock was ticking away towards the end of 2003 it was clear that Bob's health was deteriorating but he was so brave and he was so positive and for a while we really did think he'd beaten it but sadly it all came back hmm saw him just the week before and as lovely as ever oh you're said goodbyes I thought that was pretty powerful stuff to to have us over and how strong that Jackie was I spoke to him shortly before he died and he came on buoyant on the phone so he must have been able to do that say for 10 minutes with the suffering and the pain he was going through obviously and he was Jimbo I said hey Roberts how are you a couple of gags bang-bang-bang which can't obviously it can't have been easy I remember sitting on the page with Bob I get up I give him a hug he said remember one thing you've looked after me beautifully but this is one deal you won't be able to get me out of it gave me a kiss and that was the last time I saw him dad died 29th of December and he filled every single newspaper just pages upon pages and and it ran and ran I think he'd have been proud of that actually yeah but four years after his death Bob Monkhouse made a surprise return to our screens just when you thought it was safe to turn on your TV again Here I am the Monkhouse estate gave permission for a high-profile ad campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer which ingeniously edited late 90s archive footage to make it look as if Bob had returned from the grave what killed me kills one man per hour in Britain that's even more than my watch cooking very mixed feelings yeah I mean it was I think I had a migraine the whole week because it was a shock but dad would have been thrilled that it was successful as it was screaming terrified like his passengers I was sitting in cinema and it knocked me sick in fact I walked out of the cinema I hated it hated every minute of it it unnerved me it was Bob's sense of humor he loved that McCobb type of comedy he would have been delighted with it he really would even after his death Bob Monkhouse was dividing the audience making people laugh and ensuring that his name will never be forgotten I used to annoy in our first workshop I used to do things deliberately to annoy her I just miss him I just miss him in the mornings I'd wake up God she hated that I always think of him but when I watched the rover I see him and things like that you think he should be walking on now you can't be involved with someone of such a giant personality and not have them resonating through the rest of your life he was a quite incredible person his voice I loved his voice and I could say ours listened to even now if I hear on the television or CD I automatic turn around because I'm expecting him to be there ready to answer him thank you I hope dad's always remembered for for making people laugh I think a lot of people can remember and recall a Bob Monkhouse and joke it may not be the right one but they'll attribute to him and as long as it's funny he'd be happy with that everybody laughed when I first said I wanted to be a comedian

Channel: George Pollen

Views: 11,264

Keywords: Bob Monkhouse

Id: rQ2NUUILNmA

Length: 46min 0sec (2760 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2017