Bob Holness

2025-11-01T14:22:35Z

2A00:23C7:AE3F:5D01:891F:59E1:4977:D27B: /* Early life */

{{Short description|English-South African broadcaster (1928–2012)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Bob Holness.jpg
| caption = Holness in 1989
| name = Bob Holness
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|11|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Vryheid]], [[Natal Province|Natal]], South Africa
| birth_name = Robert Wentworth John Holness
| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|1|6|1928|11|12|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Pinner]], London, England<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary_bob_holness_unflappable_and_always_dapper_host_of_student_daytime_quiz_favourite_blockbusters_1_2044215|title=Obituary: Bob Holness, unflappable and always dapper host of student daytime quiz favourite Blockbusters|work=The Scotsman|date=9 January 2012|access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref>
| occupation = Television and [[radio presenter]], actor
| years_active= 1955–2006
| nationality = [[British nationality law|British]]
| education = [[The Norton Knatchbull School|Ashford Grammar School]]
| alma_mater = [[Maidstone College of Art]]
| television = ''[[Take a Letter (British game show)|Take a Letter]]''<br/>''[[Blockbusters (British game show)|Blockbusters]]''<br/>''[[Raise the Roof (game show)|Raise the Roof]]''<br/>''[[Call My Bluff]]''
| spouse = {{marriage|Mary Rose Clifford|1955}}
| children = 3; including [[Nancy Nova|Carol]]
}}

'''Robert Wentworth John Holness''' (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012)<ref name="guardian-obituary" /> was an English-South African radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of ''[[Blockbusters (British game show)|Blockbusters]]''.

==Early life==
Holness was born in [[Vryheid]], [[Natal Province|Natal]], South Africa. His grandfather had been a mining engineer and prospector; Holness's father succeeded him in these mining interests, "and regularly drove across Natal, paying out the wages at the mines, and returning with lumps of gold that had been discovered".<ref name=guardian-obituary>{{cite news|author=Dennis Barker|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/06/bob-holness|title=Bob Holness obituary|work=The Guardian|date=6 January 2012|access-date=13 June 2012|location=London, UK}}</ref> When he was seven,<ref name="Tel obit"/> his family moved to England, initially to [[Herne Bay, Kent]], where his grandfather Nathaniel had been brought up, then later to [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]], [[Kent]]. After attending [[The Norton Knatchbull School|Ashford Grammar School]] and briefly [[Eastbourne College]], Holness went on to [[Maidstone College of Art]] (now the [[University for the Creative Arts]]).<ref>Obituary, [[The Times]] p. 78; 7 January 2012.</ref> He then returned to South Africa and worked for a printing company.<ref name="guardian-obituary" />

==Career==
After moving back to South Africa in the 1950s, Holness took a printing job but gave it up after only two months to join a British [[repertory theatre|repertory company]] in [[Durban]].<ref name="guardian-obituary" /><ref name="Tel obit"/>

=== Radio career ===
In 1955 Holness took his first job as a radio presenter and a year later became the second actor to portray [[James Bond]] (after [[Barry Nelson]] in the 1954 television special [[Casino Royale (Climax!)|''Casino Royale'']]) in a radio production of ''[[Moonraker (novel)|Moonraker]]'' for the [[South African Broadcasting Corporation|SABC]]'s [[Springbok Radio]].<ref name="guardian-obituary" /><ref name="Tel obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8998513/Bob-Holness.html|title=Bob Holness|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=6 January 2012|access-date=13 June 2012|location=London, UK}}</ref><ref name="bbcdeath" />

Holness joined the [[BBC]] as a presenter on ''Late Night Extra'', initially on the [[BBC Light Programme]] and later on [[BBC Radio 1|Radio 1]] and [[BBC Radio 2|Radio 2]], presenting alongside [[Terry Wogan]], [[Michael Parkinson]] and [[Keith Fordyce]]. From 1971, the show was broadcast solely on Radio 2. He moved to independent radio and co-presented the award-winning breakfast-time ''AM Programme'' alongside [[Douglas Cameron (broadcaster)|Douglas Cameron]] on London's [[LBC]] radio station between 1975 and 1985. Holness originally joined the station as an airborne traffic reporter, later progressing to reading networked news bulletins for [[Independent Radio News|IRN]]. He won the [[Variety Club]] Award for 'Joint Independent Radio Personality of the Year' in both 1979 and 1984.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hayward|first1=Anthony|title=Bob Holness: Broadcaster and actor treasured for his role as the avuncular host of 'Blockbusters'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bob-holness-broadcaster-and-actor-treasured-for-his-role-as-the-avuncular-host-of-blockbusters-6286257.html|website=The Independent|location=London|access-date=16 October 2015|date=6 January 2012}}</ref>

From 1985 to 1997, Holness returned to Radio 2, presenting many shows including ''Bob Holness Requests the Pleasure'' and ''Bob Holness and Friends'', as well as covering various weekday shows for holidaying presenters. From the late 1960s until 1998, he presented the request programme ''Anything Goes'' on the [[BBC World Service]].<ref name="guardian-obituary" />

=== Television career ===
In 1962, Holness became the host of UK game show ''[[Take a Letter (British game show)|Take a Letter]]'', and relief host of [[Thames Television]]'s magazine programme ''Today'' in 1968. From 1983 until 1995 he presented the British version of ''[[Blockbusters (British game show)|Blockbusters]]'', for which he is probably best known.{{cn|date=April 2024}} Holness starred in a [[Catchphrase (British game show)|celebrity special of ''Catchphrase'']] in 1988, and later appeared again with his daughter, Carol, in a Christmas version of ''Family Catchphrase'', he was also on the 1988 Christmas edition of [[Bullseye (British game show)|Bullseye]] partnered with [[Eric Bristow]]. In 1990 he was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 April 1990 |title=Douglas Cameron |pages=26 |work=Daily Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109000273/douglas-cameron/ |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref>

Holness hosted [[Yorkshire Television]]'s big-budget game show flop ''[[Raise the Roof (game show)|Raise the Roof]]'', in 1995, before becoming the chairman of a revived ''[[Call My Bluff]]'' for the BBC. Holness appeared on one episode of ''[[Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway]]'' in 2004, when he presented the last round of [[Ant and Dec]]'s ''Blockbusters'', with Ant as a contestant.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tarley|first1=Rachel|title=Blockbusters host Bob Holness dies 'peacefully in his sleep', aged 83|url=http://metro.co.uk/2012/01/06/blockbusters-host-bob-holness-dies-peacefully-in-his-sleep-aged-83-276139/|access-date=16 October 2015|work=Metro|date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016183304/http://metro.co.uk/2012/01/06/blockbusters-host-bob-holness-dies-peacefully-in-his-sleep-aged-83-276139/|archive-date=16 October 2015|location=wayback machine}}</ref>

Aside from presenting, Holness had an occasional acting career in television shows including ''[[Thriller (British TV series)|Thriller]]'', ''[[Rex the Runt]]'' and ''[[The Impressionable Jon Culshaw]]''.

=="Baker Street"==
Holness was the subject of an [[urban myth]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Lester |first=Paul |date=5 January 2011 |title=Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street: Booze, promiscuity and punk spirit |work=The Guardian|location=London, UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2011/jan/05/gerry-rafferty-baker-street |access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 May 2009 |title=Comedy Blog: HIGNFY Guest interview: Stuart Maconie |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2009/05/hignfy-guest-interview-stuart-maconie.shtml |access-date=13 June 2012 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> claimed to have been initiated in the 1980s by broadcaster [[Stuart Maconie]] who, writing for the ''[[New Musical Express]]'' in a section called 'Believe It or Not', said that Holness had played the [[saxophone]] riff on [[Gerry Rafferty]]'s 1978 song "[[Baker Street (song)|Baker Street]]".<ref name="Cider">{{cite book |last=Maconie |first=Stuart |title=Cider With Roadies |publisher=Random House |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-09-189115-2 |edition=1st |location=London, UK |page=256}}</ref> The actual performer was [[Raphael Ravenscroft]]. [[Tommy Boyd]] has disputed Maconie's claim to authorship of the rumour, however, saying he was the first to make the claim, while a DJ on London's [[LBC]], looking for false stories for a quiz.<ref>{{cite news |date=5 January 2011 |title=Why do we think Bob Holness was the Baker Street saxophonist? |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12120809 |access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Holness met his wife, former actress Mary Rose Clifford, in repertory theatre in South Africa. The couple married in 1955 before they returned to England in 1961, originally living with Mary's family in London, before moving to Manchester. Three years later, the family relocated to north-west London, settling in [[Pinner]]. The pair had three children: a son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Carol Ann (aka [[Nancy Nova]]) and Ros, singers and members of the band [[Toto Coelo]].<ref name="guardian-obituary" />

Holness gave his support to many charities, including the children's charities [[Teenage Cancer Trust]], [[Young People's Trust for the Environment]] and [[Action for Children|National Children's Home]] (now Action for Children), of which he was vice-president from 1994.<ref>{{cite news|author=Dennis Barker|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/06/bob-holness|title=Bob Holness obituary|work=The Guardian|date=6 January 2012|access-date=23 July 2013|location=London, UK}}</ref>

On 24 November 2002, Holness suffered a major [[stroke]], following which a brain scan revealed he had previously suffered a number of [[transient ischaemic attack]]s over several years. He also suffered from hearing loss. Holness was diagnosed with [[coeliac disease]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13960343|title=Obituary: Bob Holness|publisher=BBC News|date=6 January 2012|access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref> In the last few years of his life he suffered from [[vascular dementia]] and was cared for by his family at their home in Pinner until the last two weeks of his life when he entered [[Denville Hall]] nursing home.<ref>{{cite web|author= daughter Ros|url=http://pinner.harrowobserver.co.uk/2012/01/bob-holness-dies-peacefully-ag.html|title=Bob Holness dies peacefully aged 83|publisher=Pinner.harrowobserver.co.uk|access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref> On 6 January 2012, Holness' family announced that he had died earlier that day, in his sleep, at the age of 83.<ref name="bbcdeath">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16443263|title=Bob Holness, former Blockbusters host, dies aged 83|publisher=BBC News|date=6 January 2012|access-date=13 June 2012}}</ref> His wife died on 26 June 2020 in Pinner, London.<ref>''England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2021'' [database on-line]. ''GreyPower Deceased Data''. compiled by Wilmington Millennium, West Yorkshire.</ref> He had seven grandchildren.<ref name="bbcdeath" />

==See also==
* [[List of people diagnosed with coeliac disease]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0392223|Bob Holness}}
* [http://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio1/bob_holness.htm Profile at Radiorewind.co.uk]
*[https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/bob-holness Interview at the British Entertainment History Project]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holness, Bob}}
[[Category:South African people of English descent]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University for the Creative Arts]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 2 presenters]]
[[Category:British game show hosts]]
[[Category:South African emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British radio DJs]]
[[Category:British radio personalities]]
[[Category:British male voice actors]]
[[Category:People educated at The Norton Knatchbull School]]
[[Category:People from Pinner]]
[[Category:Actors from Ashford, Kent]]
[[Category:LBC radio presenters]]
[[Category:White South African people]]
[[Category:Male actors from Kent]]
[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Harrow]]
[[Category:Deaths from dementia in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from vascular dementia]]

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Bob Holness