LONDON – Bob Holness, best known as the genial host of hit quiz Blockbusters, died yesterday aged 83. His family said he “passed away peacefully in his sleep”.
Holness, who suffered a number of strokes and had been in a nursing home, leaves his wife Mary, three children and seven grandchildren.
His family said: “Iconic television host and broadcaster Bob Holness passed away peacefully in his sleep during the early hours of the morning, aged 83, after his health deteriorated following a number of minor strokes over the past few years.
Holness was born in Natal, South Africa, but grew up in Kent after his family moved back to England.
He returned to South Africa as a young man but came back to England again in 1961 and became a familiar face on television, but it was roles as chairman of BBC1's Call My Bluffand host of Blockbustersthat made him a household name.
The quiz, which ended in 1993, featured student contestants answering a series of trivia questions based on the letters of the alphabet.
A regular feature of the show saw Holness trying to keep a straight face despite facing sniggering students asking him: “Can I have a P please Bob?” – a question he claimed never to be fed up with hearing.
He said: “People say ‘Don’t you ever get fed up with it?’ but I didn’t. I loved everything to do with the show so it always got a very positive reception from me, however many times I heard it.”
The arrival of dance drug ecstasy on the rave scene also saw Holness regularly asked for an E by his student contestants. – (PA)