Frank Bough | |
|---|---|
 Bough, while broadcastingNationwide | |
| Born | Francis Joseph Bough (1933-01-15)15 January 1933 |
| Died | 21 October 2020(2020-10-21) (aged 87)[1] |
| Education | Oswestry Boys' High School |
| Alma mater | Merton College, Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist,newsreader,television presenter,sports commentator |
| Years active | 1959–1998 |
| Known for | Grandstand,Nationwide,Breakfast Time |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Francis Joseph Bough (/ˈbɒf/; 15 January 1933 – 21 October 2020) was an English television presenter. He was best known as the host ofBBC sports and current affairs shows includingGrandstand,Nationwide andBreakfast Time, which he launched alongsideSelina Scott andNick Ross.
Over his broadcasting career, Bough became known for his smooth, relaxed and professional approach to live broadcasts, once being described as "the most unassailable performer on British television".[2] In 1987,Michael Parkinson said, "If my life depended on the smooth handling of a TV show, Bough would be my first choice to be in charge."[2] In 1988, Bough was sacked by the BBC following revelations that he had takencocaine and used prostitutes.[3] He later presented programmes onLondon Weekend Television,ITV,Sky TV and onLBC radio in London before his retirement in 1998.
Francis Joseph Bough was born on 15 January 1933 at his parents' terraced house inFenton,Stoke-on-Trent,Staffordshire, son of Austin Joseph Bough (died 1963) and Annie Tyrer, née Moulton. The family later moved toOswestry,Shropshire.[4] His father was a furniture upholsterer and his mother painted pots in a pottery factory, and also made curtains and cushions.[5]
After passing hiseleven-plus exam, Bough was educated atOswestry Boys' High School (aShropshire County Council secular grammar school), and atMerton College, Oxford, where he studied history[6] and was a soccerblue.[4][7] He playedfootball for the university againstCambridge, entered the employment ofICI atBillingham-on-Tees, and did hisnational service in the2nd Royal Tank Regiment, serving inWest Germany. He first broadcast for British Forces Radio, commenting on an army cup game football match between two regiments.[8]
Bough joined the BBC as a presenter and reporter, presenting a newNewcastle upon Tyne-based show calledHome at Six, soon renamedNorth at Six and then in 1963 becomingBBC Look North. Between 1964 and 1968, he was the presenter ofSportsview and in 1964 became the presenter of theBBC Sports Review of the Year, which he hosted for 18 years. Between 1968 and 1983, he was a regular host of the BBC's flagship Saturday afternoon sports programme,Grandstand.
Bough was one of the BBC's football commentators for the1966 World Cup in England and covered the match atAyresome Park inMiddlesbrough where North Korea defeated Italy 1–0,[9] in a game regarded as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history.[10] Bough went on to present the early evening magazine programmeNationwide. This made him one of the most familiar faces on British television throughout the 1970s. ForNationwide, he covered theWatergate scandal that brought downPresident Nixon and, for bothNationwide andBreakfast Time, he covered five UK general elections between 1974 and 1987 and four US presidential elections between 1972 and 1984.[citation needed]
Bough was twice a surprise guest on theMorecambe and Wise Christmas special, in 1977 performing a song and dance routine in a sailor's outfit with other television personalities, including the film criticBarry Norman, the presenterMichael Aspel and therugby league commentatorEddie Waring. The programme's 21.3 million viewers remains one of the highest recorded viewing figures for UK Christmas viewing. Bough later said that he had to give Waring dancing lessons before the sketch, which was based on a comic version of the song "There is Nothing Like a Dame" from the musicalSouth Pacific.[11] The same year Bough received theRichard Dimbleby Award for outstanding contribution to factual television.[8]
Bough was the main presenter of the BBC's coverage of the1978 World Cup finals in Argentina.[12]
Bough's prominence increased in January 1983 when he became the first presenter of the BBC's inaugural breakfast television programme,Breakfast Time along withSelina Scott andNick Ross. Bough was chosen byRon Neil for his experience of presenting three hours of live television every week onGrandstand. As fellow presenter Ross recounted:
None of us had remotely the experience of long, unscripted slabs of live TV that Frank had from his sports broadcasting. He brought a sense of serenity and reassurance. His unruffled composure made us feel this had all been done before, and on the first morning, as the last minutes ticked down to our opening transmission, when hearts were thumping and nerves were jangling, he clapped his hands and—addressing the producers and the technicians as much as Selina and me—gently and firmly said, "Calm down." We did.[13]
Scott later said that Bough would deliberately undermine her by interrupting mid-question and in other ways. When she attempted to complain she said that senior management simply was not interested. "They seemed to have noemotional intelligence, and they let men like Frank Bough roam the BBC without any check on them." She said that there was a very sexist atmosphere at the BBC, "this malevolence".[14] The presenterFern Britton found Bough equally difficult to work with. In her autobiography, published in 2008, she wrote early in their professional relationship, Bough asked her, "Well, young lady, I wonder how long it will be before I'm having an affair with you." He was dismissive of Britton at pre-programme briefings: "Oh, hers can wait. Now back to mine." Britton felt too junior to be able to complain.[15]
Bough left breakfast television at the end of 1987 to concentrate on theHoliday programme where, having been a roving holidaymaker, he took over as the main presenter whenCliff Michelmore left the series in 1986.
In February 1989, Bough was hired bySky News to present theFrank Bough Interview forSky TV for two series. In September 1989, he also joinedLondon Weekend Television where he frontedSix O'Clock Live until it was axed in summer 1992. In between his news duties he presentedITV's coverage of the 1991Rugby World Cup tournament.
On 13 June 1988, Bough left the BBC for a rest[16] before being sacked, after theNews of the World reported he had takencocaine and wornlingerie at parties involving prostitutes.[17] The newspaper's former deputy editor,Paul Connew, later said of the scandal, "It caused a sensation at the time, given Bough's public image as the squeaky clean front man of breakfast and sports television."[18]
Roy Greenslade, professor of journalism atCity University London, said that Bough made a "terrible mistake" by agreeing to speak to newspapers before publication of personal allegations, worsening the story.[19]
In August 1992, Bough was reported to have been involved in a dungeon orgy.[20] The press published photographs of him leaving the flat of a prostitute who specialised insadomasochism.[21] Bough later spoke of his regret over his actions, saying his behaviour had been "exceedingly stupid".[1] He said in a television interview, "Everybody, when they have difficulties with their marriage or sexuality, surely has the right to sort out these things in the privacy of their own home."[22] His role as a rugby presenter ended after this second scandal.[1]
In 1993, after his activities were regularly ridiculed inmonologues onHave I Got News for You byAngus Deayton (who himself was later dismissed from the show following cocaine and prostitute use), Bough agreed to appear as a guest on the programme. In the early 1990s, he was a presenter onLBC radio in London,[23] staying on for the launch ofLondon News Talk and moving to the News 97.3 service where he remained until 1996. He then presentedTravel Live for the cable channelTravel.
In 2009, he contributed to a programme looking back onNationwide, broadcast onBBC Four.
Bough met Nesta Howells, a physiotherapist, while he was undertaking his national service in Park Hall camp at Oswestry,[8] and they married after he left the army in 1959. They had three sons: David, Stephen and Andrew. Nesta stayed in the relationship after the exposés that affected Bough's later career.[22]
From 1994, he was a regular member of aWindsor-based choir, the Royal Free Singers. Bough had a liver transplant in 2001 aftercancer was found, and later lived in retirement inHolyport,Berkshire.
Bough died on 21 October 2020, aged 87.[1]
| Preceded by | Regular Host ofSportsview 1964–1968 | Succeeded by David Coleman (renamedSportsnight) |
| Preceded by | Regular Host ofGrandstand 1968–1983 | Succeeded by |
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