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Bruce Forsyth

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For others of this name, see Bruce Johnson (disambiguation).
Bruce Forsyth CBE
Born
Bruce Joseph Forsyth Johnson
Other names"Brucie"
Occupation(s)Television presenter,
Entertainer,
Actor,
Singer
Years active1938–present
Spouse(s)Penny Calvert (1953–1973)
Anthea Redfern (1973–1979)
Wilnelia Merced (1983—)

Bruce Forsyth, CBE (born Bruce Joseph Forsyth Johnson on 22 February 1928)[1] is a British BAFTA award-winning showman and entertainer, who achieved celebrity on the show Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and became a household name in the UK, going on to present the television shows The Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right, The Price Is Right and Strictly Come Dancing.

Biography

Bruce Joseph Forsyth Johnson was born in Edmonton, North London to John Thomas Forsyth Johnson and Florence Ada Pocknell; he had an older brother called John. His family owned a local car repair garage in Victoria Road, Edmonton, and as members of the Salvation Army his parents played brass instruments and his mother sang.[2] His great grandfather Joseph Forsyth Johnson (1840-1906) was a notable landscape architect who worked in Russia, Ireland and the United States. His great great great great grandfather William Forsyth was a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society and the namesake of the plant Forsythia[3].

"Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom"

Forsyth attended The Latymer School. After watching Fred Astaire in films at age eight and then training in dance, initially in Tottenham and then Brixton.[2] He started in show business aged 14, with a song, dance, and accordion act called "Boy Bruce, the Mighty Atom." His first appearance was at the Theatre Royal, Bilston, with The Great Marzo at the top of the bill.[2] Forsyth made his television debut in 1939 as a child, singing and dancing on a talent show introduced by Jasmine Bligh, probably an episode of Come and Be Televised (BBC, 1939), broadcast from Radiolympia.

Post WW2 theatre

Forsyth continued to perform through World War Two, even after the death of his Royal Air Force pilot brother John in 1943 over Turnberry, Scotland.[4] After the war, with the goal of joining Moss Empires theatres, he spent many years performing 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.

Forsyth became an overnight celebrity in September 1958, when 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. He hosted the show for two years, followed by a year's break, then returned for another year. His hectic schedule of stage performances, which continued throughout the 1960s, forced him to give up the job of host.

In 1968, he appeared alongside Julie Andrews in the musical movie Star!, a biopic of legendary stage actress Gertrude Lawrence.

Gameshow host

File:Pycr.jpg
Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right

Forsyth's next major success was Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game (BBC One, 1971 to 1977, 1990 to 1994) which proved extremely popular and attracted huge Saturday evening audiences. It was on this show that Forsyth first introduced his "The Thinker" pose, emulating Rodin's famous sculpture, appearing in silhouette each week before coming forward to start the show. This pose is also reminiscent of the classic circus strong-man attitude. He also wrote and sang the theme tune for the show "Life Is The Name of the Game."

In 1986, he went to the United States for a short time to host a game show on ABC, known as Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak, which ran for 65 episodes from January to April of that year. Forsyth starred in the Thames Television sitcom Slinger's Day in 1986 and 1987, taking over a role previously played by Leonard Rossiter. His television appearances since the 1960s have included many variety, comedy and light entertainment shows.

Forsyth can be seen in the audience at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, as his daughter Julie wrote the UK's entry, performed by Scott Fitzgerald, which was just pipped to the post by Swiss entrant Céline Dion. He was the original host of You Bet! (1988 to 1990) and fronted the third version of The Price Is Right (1995 to 2001). Lesser-known and comparatively unsuccessful shows include Takeover Bid (1990 to 1991), Hollywood Or Bust (1984), Bruce's Guest Night (1992 to 1993) and Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, a 1978 London Weekend Television extravaganza which is probably the only major flop of his TV career. During the 1980s and 1990s Bruce Forsyth also appeared in advertising for the now defunct furniture retailer Courts, in which he was dressed as a judge.

Forsyth celebrated his 70th birthday in 1998 and appeared in a week long run of his one-man show at the world famous London Palladium theatre, culminating in a special 90-minute edition of Sunday Night at the London Palladium being televised live on ITV. In 2000, Forsyth hosted a series called Tonight at the London Palladium, which revived the original format. However, this was not a success, owing to poor guest selection.

2000's revival

Having been forced to take a rest from television due to a lack of bookings, he continued working the theatres. Watching an episode Have I Got News for You in 2003, after his wife suggested he could do that, he rang Paul Merton and served as guest host for one episode, which parodied many of the clichés from his other programmes. Forsyth has since attributed his renewed success to his guest-presenting the show.[2] This included replacing the usual Odd One Out round with Conveyor Belt Connections, a parody of the final round of The Generation Game, in which panellists had to connect the items on the conveyor belt to a news story; and Play Your Iraqi Cards Right, using the special pack of cards given to US soldiers in Iraq, showing wanted war criminals. The episode is particularly remembered for Ian Hislop's bewilderment as the audience and other panellists enthusiastically played along with Bruce's many catchphrases and mannerisms. Hislop claimed to have never seen many of Forsyth's shows, and notably commented when asked "Higher or lower?" during Play Your Iraqi Cards Right, "I don't think this programme can get much lower".

He also took part in the Pro-Celebrity Golf television series opposite Tim Brooke-Taylor. Bruce completed four holes due to the fact he only brought a putter along to the match.

Forsyth made his return to the BBC in January 2004, by hosting a game show called Didn't They Do Well, a tribute to one of his catchphrases, "Didn't he do well?", featuring clips from earlier game shows. Forsyth has hosted the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, along with co-host Tess Daly since its first series in 2004. He was briefly joined by Natasha Kaplinsky when Tess Daly was on maternity leave.

Forsyth entered the Northern Rock All*Star Cup 2006 golf tournament, where European celebrities compete with American celebrities in a Ryder Cup style tournament. Forsyth competed for the European team partnering Chris Evans on day 1 and James Nesbitt on day 2. Forsyth had the honour of holing the winning putt for Europe. Forsyth was voted player of the tournament by the public.

In April 2007, the BBC announced that Bruce Forsyth would be appearing on a new UKTV Gold show, The Generation Game: Then Again.[5]

Tributes and honours

On 27 February 2005, the BBC screened A BAFTA Tribute to Bruce Forsyth, to mark the veteran entertainer's 60 years in show business. Forsyth had a bronze bust of himself unveiled at the London Palladium in May 2005. The sculpture was created by his son-in-law, and is on display in the theatre's Cinderella Bar.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year's Honours list.

His many showbiz awards include Variety Club Show Business Personality of the Year in 1975; TV Times Male TV Personality of the Year, in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978; and BBC TV Personality of the Year in 1991.

In December 2007, his catchphrase 'Nice to see you, to see you, nice' was revealed on TV to be the most popular UK Catchphrase, as voted by the British public.

On 24th February 2008, the BBC featured an 85 minute programme celebrating the star's 80th birthday, entitled "Happy Birthday Brucie!"

He received the 2008 Bafta Academy Fellowship Award.

Personal life

From 1953 to 1973, Forsyth was married to Penny Calvert, with whom he had three daughters: Debbie, Julie and Laura. From 1973 to 1979, he was married to Anthea Redfern, who had been the hostess on The Generation Game with whom he had two daughters: Charlotte and Louisa. Asked to judge the 1980 Miss World competition, he met and fell in love with fellow judge, the 1975 Miss World, Wilnelia Merced, with whom he has a son.[6] Forsyth is one of only two men known to have slept with two Miss Worlds, the other being George Best, who claimed to have slept with three.[7]

Admired for his fitness at his age, he does 'Tibetan stretches' for 30 mins each day, every day and keeps his strength up backstage with a flask of Complan.[2] Because of his love of golf, their main residence is on the exclusive Wentworth Estate adjacent to the golf course near Virginia Water in northwest Surrey. A childhood supporter of Arsenal thanks to his father, as the searchlights were positioned at their Highbury football stadium ground during World War Two and games moved to Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane ground, he became a supporter of both clubs.[4]

Catchphrases

Forsyth is particularly known for having employed a huge variety of catchphrases throughout his career. Below is a list of catchphrases from various TV shows. Words in italics are those shouted by the studio audience in reply.

  • Beat The Clock
    • “I’m in charge!”
    • "Can you come back next week?" (to contestants who are unable to complete their game)
  • Generation Game:
    • “Nice to see you, to see you” – Nice!
    • “Give us a twirl” (to the show’s hostess as she walks onto the set)
    • “Didn’t they do well?”
    • “Good game, good game”
    • “A cuddly toy!” – Aaw!
    • "Let's have a look at the old scoreboard:"
    • "What's on the board, Miss Ford?"
  • Strictly Come Dancing:
    • “Nice to see you, to see you” – Nice!
  • Bruce’s Price Is Right:
    • "Remember, Bruce's price is always right"
  • Play Your Cards Right:
    • “What a lovely audience, so much better than last week!” (the joke being that the show would usually have been recorded immediately after the previous week’s, with the same audience)
    • “I’m the leader of the pack, which makes me such a lucky jack, and here they are, they’re so appealing, come on Dollies, do your dealing!”
    • “You don’t get anything for a pair” – Not in this game!
    • “You win a Brucie Bonus” – Wooooo!
    • “It could still be a big night if you play your cards right”
    • “Don’t touch the pack, we’ll be right back”
    • "Play your cards right with Brucey and win that Golden Goosey!"
    • “Points make prizes – what do points make?” – Prizes! This catchphrase has been extensively parodied by Humphrey Lyttelton on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. In introductions to the round Pick Up Song, Lyttelton explains how points are scored, before using the catchphrase with something else substituted for the word "prizes". He then asks "What do points mean?", at which point the audience is usually split as to whether to reply with what Lyttelton has just said, or "Prizes!".

Selected filmography

Selected discography

  • Mr. Entertainment (2007 EMI Records, UK)
  • Both Sides of Bruce (Live) (1977 Warner Brothers Records, UK)

References

  1. ^ Why I have done so well, by Bruce Forsyth, great-grandfather, at 80 2008-02-23. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e Cooke, Rachel (2007-12-16). "Didn't he do well ..." The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  3. ^ "Family detective: Bruce Forsyth", The Telegraph, December 6, 2006
  4. ^ a b Carroll, Sue (2008-02-22). "TV legend Bruce Forsyth celebrates his 80th birthday today". Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  5. ^ BBC News (2007-04-05) "Forsyth to revive Generation Game", BBC. Retrieved on 2007-04-05
  6. ^ Bruce Forsyth - Biography
  7. ^ "Bruce Forsyth". The Observer. 2004-12-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Wikiquote has quotations related to Bruce Forsyth.
Preceded by
None
 Host of The Generation Game
1971-77 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 Host of You Bet!
1988-90 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of The Generation Game
1990-94 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Host of The Generation Game
2007-present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by Host of The Price is Right
1995-2001 		Succeeded by
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