Bob Holness
Bob Holness (born 12 November 1928) is an English actor and presenter. He was born in Ashford, Kent, where he worked for a printing company before emigrating to South Africa. In 1955 he got his first job as a radio presenter.
Broadcasting career
Holness was one of the first actors to portray James Bond, in a 1956 South African radio adaptation of Casino Royale. He subsequently presented a regular show on Radio Luxembourg, but he is perhaps better known as a British game show presenter.
Holness joined the BBC as a presenter on Late Night Extra, initially on the BBC Light Programme and later on BBC Radio 1 & 2, presenting alongside people like Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson & 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 AM Programme on London's LBC radio station. He originally joined the station as an airborne traffic reporter.
Between 1985 & 1997, he returned to Radio 2 presenting many shows including Bob Holness Requests the Pleasure and Bob Holness & Friends, as well as covering various weekday shows for holidaying presenters. Until 1998 he also presented the request programme Anything Goes on 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. 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 in the 1980s and early 1990s he presented the British version of Blockbusters, for which he is probably most famous.
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.