Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on television as a presenter and game show host.

Biography

Monkhouse was married twice; firstly to Elizabeth Thompson on 5 November 1949. The couple separated in 1967 and divorced in 1972. His second marriage was to Jacqueline Harding (b. 1936 d. in Barbados 28 March 2008) from 4 October 1973 until his death. He had three children from his first marriage, but only his adopted daughter Abigail survived him. His eldest son Gary Alan, who had cerebral palsy, died in Braintree, Essex, in 1992, aged 40; Monkhouse was an avid campaigner for the disabled. His other son Simon, a talented stand-up poet, from whom he had been estranged for thirteen years, died aged 46 of a heroin overdose in a hotel in northern Thailand in April 2001.

Monkhouse lived in a house called Claridges at Eggington, near Leighton Buzzard, had a flat in London and a holiday home in Barbados.

In his autobiography, he admitted to hundreds of sexual liaisons and affairs, including one with a transsexual, but claimed he only undertook this course of action because his first wife was unfaithful. His lovers before his second marriage included the actress Diana Dors, about whose parties he later commented after her death: "The awkward part about an orgy, is that afterwards you're not too sure who to thank."

For most of his career Monkhouse had jotted down jokes, odd facts, one-liners, sketches and ideas in a series of ring binders, which he took with him everywhere. In July 1995, two were stolen and Monkhouse offered a £15,000 reward. They were returned after 18 months, but the thief, although arrested, was never charged. On Monkhouse's death, the books were bequeathed to Colin Edmonds.

Monkhouse was a vocal supporter of the Conservative Party for some years. He later told his friend Colin Edmonds that this may have been a mistake but that he wanted to be associated with a winner and he knew Margaret Thatcher could not lose the 1987 General Election. He was appointed an OBE in 1993. He died of prostate cancer on 29 December 2003.