Robert Henry Robinson (17 December 1927 – 12 August 2011) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host, journalist and author.

Biography and career

Robinson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, the son of an accountant father, and educated at Raynes Park Grammar School in south London and Exeter College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He then became a journalist for the ''

Sunday Chronicle The ''Sunday Chronicle'' was a newspaper in the United Kingdom, published from 1885 to 1955. The newspaper was founded in Manchester by Edward Hulton in August 1885. He was known for his sporting coverage, already publishing the ''Sporting Chro ...

'' (TV columnist), the '' Sunday Graphic'' (film and theatre columnist), the ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' (radio critic and editor of ''Atticus'') and ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

'' (film critic). He began working on television as a journalist in 1955. During the 1960s and 1970s, he presented the series '' Open House'', ''Picture Parade'', '' Points of View'', the leading literary quiz ''Take it or Leave it'', ''

Ask the Family ''Ask the Family'' is a British game show that was first broadcast on BBC1 from 12 June 1967 to 22 October 1984 hosted by Robert Robinson and then on UK Gold from 6 June to 10 October 1999 hosted by Alan Titchmarsh and from 4 April to 5 May 20 ...

'', '' BBC-3'' – including the discussion during which

Kenneth Tynan Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...

became the first person to say "

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to aro ...

" on British television (Robinson told Tynan that this was "an easy way to make history") – and ''

Call My Bluff ''Call My Bluff'' is a British panel game show based on the short-lived US version of the same name. It was originally hosted by Robin Ray and later, most notably, by Robert Robinson. Its most prominent panellist was Frank Muir. Format The g ...

''. In 1967, Robinson presented the edition of ''The Look of the Week'' in which classical musicologist

Hans Keller Hans (Heinrich) Keller (11 March 19196 November 1985) was an Austrian-born British musician and writer, who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being a commentator on such disparate fields as psychoana ...

was brought face to face with the young

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. He wrote and presented ''The Fifties'' on BBC1. Robinson was the presenter of ''The Book Programme'' on BBC2 from 1973–80 and a number of spin-off documentaries, such as ''

B. Traven B. Traven (; Bruno Traven in some accounts) was the pen name of a novelist, presumed to be German, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. One certainty about Traven's life is ...

– A Mystery Solved'' (1979). He wrote and presented several

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

documentaries under the title ''Robinson's Travels'', among them ''The

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

Trail'' (1976), ''Cruising'' and ''Indian Journey''. In 1986 he wrote and presented ''The Magic Rectangle'', one of the BBC documentaries marking the 50th anniversary of television. On radio, he presented ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'',

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's flagship morning news show, and '' Stop The Week'', a fiercely competitive talk programme. Robinson fronted ''

Brain of Britain ''Brain of Britain'' is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History It began as a slot in ''What Do You Know?'' in 1953. The main part of the show was the "Brain of Britain" quiz itself, originally called "Ask Me An ...

'' on BBC Radio 4 for many years, but was replaced by

Russell Davies Robert Russell Davies (born 5 April 1946) is a British journalist and broadcaster. Davies was born in Barmouth, North Wales. He attended Manchester Grammar School, according to his own statement on a November 2010 ''Brain of Britain'' programme ...

during the 2004 series owing to illness. He returned to host the new series in 2005 until handing over the reins to

Peter Snow Peter John Snow (born 20 April 1938) is a British radio and television presenter and historian. Between 1969 and 2005, he was an analyst of general election results, first on ITV and later for the BBC. He presented ''Newsnight'' from its laun ...

in 2007. In September 2008 Robinson chaired the special ''Brain of Brains'' and ''Top Brain'' editions of the quiz and returned to host the series in 2008; Davies then replaced him for the 2009 shows. In August 2010 it was announced that Robinson was to step down permanently from ''Brain of Britain'' to be replaced by Davies. ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

'' used to lampoon Robinson under the nickname 'Smuggins'. In a sketch on the BBC's ''

Not the Nine O'Clock News ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-cur ...

'' he was impersonated by an actor wearing a cricket box over his forehead. Robinson was also the subject of a sketch by

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...

and

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...

in the second series of ''

A Bit of Fry and Laurie ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series and t ...

'', and Fry occasionally did an affectionate impression of Robinson when hosting the quiz show '' QI''. He was also lampooned by comedy duo David Mitchell and

Robert Webb Robert Patrick Webb (born 29 September 1972) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell. Webb and Mitchell both starred in the Channel 4 sitco ...

in the second series of ''

That Mitchell and Webb Look ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'' is a British sketch comedy television show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that ran from 2006 to 2010. Many of its characters and sketches were first featured in the duo's radio show ''That Mitchell and W ...

'', where he was shown as the presenter of an early version of their fictional gameshow ''Numberwang''. He appeared in a ''

Viz comic ''Viz'' is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'', but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour a ...

'' strip under the name Robin Robertson. He was the father of the actress Lucy Robinson. Robinson was famed for his

comb-over A comb over or combover is a hairstyle commonly worn by balding men in which the hair is grown long and combed over the bald area to minimize the appearance of baldness. Sometimes the parting is lowered so that more hair can be used to cover the ...

hairstyle.

Personal life

Robinson married actress Josephine Richard, whom he had met in 1958 while a student at

. They had three children. The couple remained together for more than fifty years, until Robert's death, aged 83. He died in St Mary's Hospital,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

on 12 August 2011 after a long period of ill health.

Books

*''Inside Robert Robinson'' (journalism) *''The Dog Chairman'' (journalism) *''Prescriptions of a Pox Doctor's Clerk'' (journalism) *''Landscape with Dead Dons'' (1956) (mystery novel) *''The Conspiracy'' (1968) (novel) *''Bad Dreams'' (1989) (novel) *''The Club'' (2000) (novel) *''The Everyman Book of Light Verse'' (1984) (as editor) *''Skip All That'' (1997) (autobiography)

References

External links

* *
Broadcaster Robert Robinson dies at 83
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Robert 1927 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford BBC radio presenters BBC television presenters English game show hosts English male journalists English radio personalities English television presenters Broadcast mass media people from Liverpool People educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School Radio critics English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers