Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson CBE (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series Sunday Night at the London Palladium. He went on to host several game shows, including The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right, The Price Is Right and You Bet!. He co-presented Strictly Come Dancing from 2004 to 2013.[1] In 2012, Guinness World Records recognised Forsyth as having the longest television career for a male entertainer.[2]
Early life
Forsyth was born on Victoria Road in Edmonton, Middlesex, on 22 February 1928,[3] the son of Florence Ada (née Pocknell) and John Thomas Forsyth-Johnson.[4] His family owned a car repair garage and, as members of the Salvation Army, his parents played brass instruments; his mother was a singer.[5]
His great-grandfather Joseph Forsyth Johnson was a landscape architect who worked in multiple countries,[6] and great-great-great-great-grandfather William Forsyth (1737–1804) was a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society and the namesake of the plant genus Forsythia.[7]
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Forsyth was evacuated to Clacton-on-Sea. Shortly after he arrived, Forsyth's parents allowed him to return to London as a result of his feeling homesick.[8] In 1943, Forsyth's older brother John, who served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was killed during a training exercise at RAF Turnberry.[9][10] Forsyth attended the Latymer School. After watching Fred Astaire in films at the age of eight, he trained in dance in Tottenham and then Brixton.[5]
Career
Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom
Forsyth started his live public performances aged 14, with a song, dance and accordion act called Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom.[11] His first appearance was at the Theatre Royal in Bilston, with The Great Marzo at the top of the bill.[5] He had made his television debut in 1939 as a child, singing and dancing on BBC talent show Come and Be Televised, broadcast from Radiolympia and introduced by Jasmine Bligh.[11][12]
Post-war work
After the war, with the goal of joining Moss Empires theatres, he spent years on stage with little success and travelled the UK working seven days a week, doing summer seasons, pantomimes and circuses, where he became renowned for his strong-man act.[13] His act was interrupted by national service when he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force at the age of 19, which he later reflected taught him "respect and discipline".[14]
In 1958, an appearance with the comedian Dickie Henderson led to his being offered the job of compère of Val Parnell's weekly TV variety show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium.[15] He hosted the show for two years, followed by a year's break, then returned for another year.[16] His schedule of stage performances, which continued throughout the 1960s, forced him to give up the job of host.
Forsyth appeared in the London production of Little Me, along with Avril Angers in 1964.[17] In the musical film Star! (1968), a biopic of stage actress Gertrude Lawrence, he played alongside lead performer Julie Andrews as Lawrence's father.[18]
In January 1968 Pye Records issued as a single "I'm Backing Britain", supporting the campaign of the same name, written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent, and sung by Forsyth.[19] The chorus included "The feeling is growing, so let's keep it going, the good times are blowing our way". All involved in making the single took cuts in their fees or royalties so that the single sold for 5s. instead of the going rate of 7s. 4½d. Forsyth happily endorsed the campaign, saying "The country has always done its best when it is up against the wall. If everyone realises what we are up against we can get out of trouble easily."[20] The song did not make the charts,[21] selling only 7,319 copies.[22]
On 7 October 1968, he was top of the bill on the opening night of the Golden Garter nightclub, Wythenshawe.[23] Two years later, he played Swinburne in the Disney fantasy film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.[24] In 1976, he appeared on The Muppet Show, where he took on the duo Statler and Waldorf.[25]
Game show host
During his spell of hosting Sunday Night at the London Palladium as part of the show he hosted the 15-minute game show Beat the Clock.[26] Forsyth's next success was The Generation Game (BBC1, 1971–1977, 1990–1994), which proved popular and attracted huge Saturday evening audiences.[27] It was on this show that Forsyth introduced his "The Thinker" pose, emulating Rodin's sculpture, appearing in silhouette each week after the opening titles. This pose is reminiscent of the circus strong-man attitude.[11] He also wrote and sang the theme for the show "Life is the Name of the Game."[28] Millions of viewers became familiar with the rasp of Forsyth's north London accented voice and his "distinctively pointy" chin that he emphasised in poses such as the "human question mark", with chin over raised knee.[5] He was replaced on The Generation Game by Larry Grayson.[29]
In 1977 he announced that he was leaving television to take the star role in a new musical, The Travelling Music Show, based on the songs of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse.[30] The show did reasonably well in provincial theatre, but received poor reviews when it moved to London and it closed after four months in July 1978.
London Weekend Television persuaded him to return to the screen later that year to present Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, a two-hour Saturday-night show on ITV encompassing a variety of different entertainment formats (later reduced to 90 minutes). However, the show was not a success and lasted for just one series.[31] Forsyth remained with ITV, hosting the game show Play Your Cards Right, which was the UK version of the US original Card Sharks, from 1980 to 1987, 1994 to 1999,[32] and a brief period from 2002 to 2003, before the show was cancelled mid-run due to low ratings.[33]
In 1986, he went to the United States to host a game show on ABC, Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak, which ran for 65 episodes from January to April that year.[11] Forsyth starred in the Thames Television sitcom Slinger's Day in 1986 and 1987, a sequel to Tripper's Day which had starred Leonard Rossiter, whom Forsyth replaced in the new show.[24] He was the original host of You Bet! (1988 to 1990).[34]
Forsyth fronted the third version of The Price Is Right (1995 to 2001).[32] His unsuccessful gameshows include Takeover Bid (1990 to 1991),[35] Hollywood Or Bust (1984),[36] and Didn't They Do Well! (2004).[37] During the 1970s Forsyth featured in the Stork margarine adverts on television,[38] and then during the 1980s and 1990s he appeared in an advertising campaign for the furniture retailer Courts, in which he dressed as a judge.[39]
Forsyth celebrated his 70th birthday in 1998 and appeared in a week-long run of his one-man show at the London Palladium.[24] In 2000, Forsyth hosted a revived series called Tonight at the London Palladium.[40]