Tom O'Connor | |
|---|---|
 O'Connor inCrosswits 1997 | |
| Born | Thomas Patrick O'Connor (1939-10-31)31 October 1939 |
| Died | 18 July 2021(2021-07-18) (aged 81) |
| Notable work | Winner ofOpportunity Knocks Star ofThe Comedians andCrosswits onITV |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 1971–2018 |
| Website | http://www.tomoconnor.co.uk/ |
Thomas Patrick O'Connor (31 October 1939 – 18 July 2021) was a British comedian, television presenter, and actor. Originally a comedian inworking men's clubs, he progressed to hosting TV game shows such asCrosswits,The Zodiac Game,Name That Tune,Password andGambit.
O'Connor was born inBootle, and attendedSt Mary's College, Crosby,[1] andSaint Mary's College,Twickenham.[2] He became a mathematics and music teacher at the St Joan of Arc School, Bootle, and was also assistant headmaster.[3] After work he appeared as a comedian inworking men's clubs.
His television debut came when he appeared onThe Comedians,[4] and had a minor acting role in the Granada TV play,Roll on Four O'Clock, but it was talent showOpportunity Knocks that shot him to national fame; he won the show three times.[5][6] During the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the most popular faces on British TV. He was a subject of the television programmeThis Is Your Life in 1977 when he was surprised byEamonn Andrews.
He continued to host many shows includingName that Tune,Wednesday at 8,[7]The Tom O'Connor Show,Gambit,Crosswits and many more, includingThe Tom O'Connor Road Show for the BBC. This show ran daily at lunch times and was watched by over 12 million viewers each day, but was an expensive show to mount because it came live from a different town each week, requiring the production team to move weekly. The show had several young producers who were overseen by executive producer Steve Weddel, and came out of the now defunct BBCPebble Mill Studios. The script was written by O'Connor and writer Barry Faulkner, who had worked with O'Connor on his previous shows, with up-to-the-minute changes being made just before broadcast. In 1988 he was reported to have fallen in love with an 18-year-old prostitute, which challenged his clean-cut image.[3] Within a year, he'd lost all but one of his shows,Crosswits.[8]
In 2000, O'Connor made his television acting debut as Father Tom (a Catholic priest) in theBBC seriesDoctors.[9] On 24 February 2006, he was given an award for having appeared as a guest on the TV programmeCountdown 100 times.[10] O'Connor wonCelebrity Come Dine with Me, scoring a record-breaking 29/30, on 14 March 2010.[11]
In 2011, O'Connor appeared onPointless Celebrities, a celebrity edition of theBBC One gameshow with his daughter-in-lawDenise Lewis (the gold-medal-winning Olympic heptathlete). They reached the final, eventually winning £500 for charity.[12]
His stage acting debut was as Pike inThe Perils of the Pond at thePlayhouse,Weston-super-Mare, in 1991.[4] O'Connor also appeared insummer stock theatre,cabaret tours andpantomimes.
O'Connor married Patricia Finan in 1962, and they had four children.[3] He was Catholic.[13] O'Connor was diagnosed withParkinson's disease in 2007 and withbowel cancer in 2013.[3] He died from pneumonia in hospital inSlough on 18 July 2021, aged 81.[3][6]
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