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Bob Holness
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Robert Wentworth John Holness (born 12 November 1928 in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa) is an English actor and presenter.
Shortly after his birth in South Africa, he moved to Ashford, Kent, in the UK with his parents. After attending The Norton Knatchbull School and Maidstone College of Art and spending some time at Eastbourne College, he then worked for a printing company before returning to South Africa. In 1955, he received his first job as a radio presenter.
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Robert Wentworth John Holness (born 12 November 1928 in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa) is an English actor and presenter.
Shortly after his birth in South Africa, he moved to Ashford, Kent, in the UK with his parents. After attending The Norton Knatchbull School and Maidstone College of Art and spending some time at Eastbourne College, he then worked for a printing company before returning to South Africa. In 1955, he received his first job as a radio presenter. His daughter, Ros, was a member of the band Toto Coelo.
Broadcasting career
In 1956, he starred in a South African radio adaptation of Moonraker, making him the second actor to portray James Bond (Barry Nelson played Bond in a 1954 adaptation of Casino Royale). He subsequently presented a regular show on Radio Luxembourg.
Holness joined the BBC as a presenter on Late Night Extra, initially on the BBC Light Programme and later on BBC Radio 1 and 2, presenting alongside people like Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson and Keith Fordyce. From 1971, the show was broadcast solely on Radio 2.
Between 1975 and 1985, he was co-presenter with Douglas Cameron of the breakfast-time AM Programme on London's LBC radio station. He originally joined the station as an airborne traffic reporter. He won the Variety Club Award for 'Joint Independent Radio Personality of the Year' in both 1979 and 1984.
Between 1985 and 1997, he 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. Until 1998, he also presented the request programme Anything Goes on the BBC World Service.
Holness was the subject of an urban myth, initiated by broadcaster Stuart Maconie who, while writing for the New Musical Express, claimed that Holness played the saxophone solo on Gerry Rafferty's song "Baker Street". The true performer was Raphael Ravenscroft. Maconie may have been inspired by the fact that Blockbusters 1987 American incarnation was hosted by Bill Rafferty. The story clearly appealed to Holness' sense of humour as he has often played along with the myth, and has also at various times jokingly claimed to be the lead guitarist on Derek and the Dominoes' Layla and the mysterious individual putting Elvis Presley off his stride on the famous 'laughing' version of Are You Lonesome Tonight?.
Television career
In 1961, Holness became the host of UK game show Take a Letter, and from 1983 until 1995, he presented the British version of Blockbusters, for which he is most famous.
In 2007, Holness returned to Blockbusters and hosted and starred on WeDigTV
In autumn 1995, he hosted Yorkshire Television's big-budget gameshow flop Raise the Roof before becoming the chairman of a revived Call My Bluff on the BBC.
During his spell on Call My Bluff, Holness sometimes appeared confused or distracted. In 2002, he suffered a major stroke, following which a brain scan revealed he had previously suffered a number of transient ischaemic attacks over several years. He also suffered from hearing loss but did not get a hearing aid until 2003.
He 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. He appeared to be losing his memory whilst presenting, but it was just a joke as part of the act.
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