Stuart G. G. Francis (born 30 January 1948 in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England) is a British comedian with a camp style of delivery who achieved celebrity as lead presenter on the children's television programme '' Crackerjack'' (1980–1984). His principal "co hosts" were initially

the Krankies The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo who enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and making pop records. Since this period, they have also regularly appeared in pant ...

and later, on alternating editions,

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and

The Great Soprendo Geoffrey Durham (born 22 July 1949) is a British comedy magician and actor who was known for many years as "the Great Soprendo". Early life Durham was born in East Molesey, Surrey, England. At the age of ten, he developed an interest in mag ...

. He went on to host ''Ultra Quiz'' in 1985 and Border TV's ''Crush a Grape'' in 1987, a children's game and variety show in a similar vein, if not carbon copy, to his era of ''Crackerjack''. He also released a single in 1983 (rereleased in 1985) called "Ooh! I could crush a grape".Parsons, Tony (1985) "Singles", ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', 2 February 1985, p. 14 After attending Brownlow Fold Junior School and Smithills Base School, both in Bolton, he worked as a bluecoat entertaining guests at holiday camps. He then switched to comedy and appeared in summer seasons at clubs and in theatres.

Catchphrases

Francis had numerous catchphrases on ''Crackerjack'', mostly based on his prolific "Ooh! I could crush a grape!!". Other variations included: "I could pop a balloon", "I could rip a tissue", "I could jump off a doll's house", "I could wrestle an action man", "I could duff a daffodil", "I could test drive a

Tonka Tonka is an American producer of toy trucks. The company is known for making steel toy models of construction type trucks and machinery. Maisto International, which makes diecast vehicles, acquired the rights to use the Tonka name in a line of ...

", "I could pummel a peach", and "I could eat a whole sausage roll". Another catchphrase was "There's points to be won, and there are penalties to pay!" used on ''Crackerjack's'' final game ''Take A Chance'', where the "penalty" was a gunging to either an unfortunate celebrity and/or to Francis himself.

Television

Television appearances include: * '' Jokers Wild'' * ''Ultra Quiz'' (1985) * ''

Live from Her Majesty's ''Live from...'' was a Sunday night live entertainment variety show, variety television show that aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 January 1983 to 27 November 1988 and was hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck. It was broadcast live from a theatre in ...

'' (1985) * '' The Comedians'' (1971) * '' Crackerjack'' hosted 1980-1984, guest 2020 * ''

Cheggers Plays Pop ''Cheggers Plays Pop'' is a British children's game show broadcast on BBC1 from 10 April 1978 to 7 November 1986 hosted by Keith Chegwin Keith Chegwin (17 January 1957 – 11 December 2017) was an English television presenter and actor, ap ...

'' (1983) episode 6.7 * ''

CiTV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

'' (1983) Presenter (1983–1985) * ''

The Keith Harris Show The Keith Harris Show was a comedy variety show on BBC TV featuring Keith Harris and Orville the Duck Orville the Duck was the most famous puppet often used by the ventriloquist Keith Harris (1947–2015) and was named after Orville Wright ...

'' (1986) episode 3.5 * ''Stupid Punts'' (2004) * ''Our Survey Says: The Ultimate Game Show Moments'' (2005) * ''

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in 1955, with the ...

'' (2013) Series 2, episode 14 “Cow Capers”

References

External links

*
Interview with Stu
1951 births Living people people from Bolton English male comedians English television presenters {{UK-comedian-stub