Graham George Skidmore (24 September 1931 – 27 December 2021) was a British voice artist, game show announcer, singer and model. He was best known for providing the

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

for the British television dating gameshow ''

Blind Date A blind date is a social engagement between two people who have not met, usually arranged by a mutual acquaintance. Structure A blind date is arranged for by a mutual acquaintance of both participants. The two people who take part in the blind ...

'' on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from 1985 until 2002, in which host

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer, actress and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her ...

referred to him as "Our Graham" and also for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

comedy panel game '' Shooting Stars''.

Early life

Skidmore was born in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

in 1931, son of a Woolworths manager. He grew up in London and carried out his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

after leaving school. Skidmore had wanted to be a physician, but he missed his final exams due to an ear infection; he was also due to fight in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, but missed this for the same reason.

Career

In 1959, after taking singing lessons, Skidmore successfully auditioned for the musical ''Marigold'' at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

in London. He could be seen in a background role in the 1960 film ''

The Pure Hell of St Trinian's ''The Pure Hell of St Trinian's'' is a 1960 British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School. Directed by Frank Launder and written by him and Sidney Gilliat, it was the third in a series of four films. Plot The St. Trinian's ...

'', and also played a minor role in the 1961 film ''

The Day the Earth Caught Fire ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961, and is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era. The film o ...

''. Skidmore was best known for being the voiceover on

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

's dating gameshow ''

'' from 1985 to 2002. Host

referred to him as "our Graham". His identity was not publicly known at the time, although Skidmore's voice was recognised by

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

. In 2002, Skidmore was sacked from ''Blind Date'' amid falling viewing numbers for the show; he was told of his sacking by letter and replaced by

Tommy Sandhu Tommy Sandhu (born 24 November 1976) is an English disc jockey remixer, record producer and television presenter. Career Sandhu's first presenting job was with Tess Daly on ''Smash Hits TV'' for Sky One. He was also the announcer – replaci ...

. Skidmore also had a similar role as a voiceover artist on the BBC comedy panel game '' Shooting Stars'' with

Vic Reeves James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. ...

and

Bob Mortimer Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, podcast presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the '' Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ...

, from 1993 to 2002, where he introduced the show's contestants. He was a background character in the 1999 film ''

Eyes Wide Shut ''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Traumnovelle'' (''Dream Story'') by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's sett ...

'', and appeared in person on ''

The Justin Lee Collins Show ''The Justin Lee Collins Show'' is a British television chat show presented by Justin Lee Collins that aired on ITV2 between 19 March 2009 and 21 May 2009. Collins has a small band on the show and a continuing theme is to mention Labi Siffre ...

'' in 2009. He found work as a photographic model and appeared on advertising posters as well as in television commercials, including as the ' Vaseline Hair Cream' man. He featured on posters for an "Unzip a banana" campaign, and with his family in adverts for P&O Travel and the

Abbey National The Abbey National Building Society was formed in 1944 by the merger of the Abbey Road and the National building societies. It was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The bank expanded throu ...

building society. He also did voiceovers in adverts for B&Q and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on British television.

Personal life and death

Skidmore married Pauline Mickleburgh in 1966. The marriage produced three children, one son and two daughters. He attended the funeral of ''Blind Date'' host Cilla Black in 2015. He suffered from vascular malignancy and

vascular dementia Vascular dementia (VaD) is dementia caused by problems in the supply of blood to the brain, typically a series of minor strokes, leading to worsening cognitive abilities, the decline occurring piecemeal. The term refers to a syndrome consisting ...

, which also affected his speech, during the last decade of his life and spent his final years living in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He died on 27 December 2021, aged 90, in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

, but his death was not widely made known until it was reported by the entertainment union

Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

in June 2022.

References

External links

*
Graham Skidmore
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Skidmore, Graham 1931 births 2021 deaths English male voice actors Deaths from dementia in England Deaths from vascular dementia Game show announcers People from West Bromwich Radio and television announcers 20th-century British male actors 21st-century British male actors