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Frank Muir

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'''Francis Herbert (Frank) Muir''' (5 February, 1920 - 2 January, 1998) was an England English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur.

Birth and early life
Born and brought up in his grandmother's pub, ''The Derby Arms'', Ramsgate[http://www.shepherd-neame.co.uk/news/release.php?id=509 Shepherd Neame], Kent, he spent part of his childhood in the London E10 E.10 district of London. In later years, whenever his dignified speech patterns caused listeners to assume that he had received a public-school education, Muir would demur: "I was educated in E.10, not Eton."

Early career
Frank Muir joined the Royal Air Force during World War II and became a photographic technician, being posted to Iceland. While there he became involved with the forces radio station. While serving in Iceland, he sustained a medical condition which required the surgical removal of one testicle: an incident which he later described in detail in his autobiography. Despite the loss, he later fathered two children.

Writing for radio
Upon his return be began to write comedy for BBC Radio, soon forming a partnership with Denis Norden which was to last for most of his career. Muir and Norden became principal writers for ''Take It From Here'', starring Jimmy Edwards. They created one of the most popular segments from the show, "The Glums". He and Norden continued to write for Edwards when he moved to television with the series ''Whack-O''. The pair were also invited to appear on the newly-formed humorous literary radio quiz ''My Word!''. A feature of the show was the final round, in which Muir and Norden would each tell a long-winded story inspired by a well-known phrase provided by the quizmaster and ending in a terrible pun on the phrase in question. Frank Muir was also a contestant on the My Word spinoff ''My Music'' (as was Norden). As a television personality, Muir's unofficial trademark was a crisply knotted bowtie. He was well-known to television audiences as a team captain on the long-running BBC2 series, ''Call My Bluff'', and did voice-overs for advertisements, notably Cadbury's Fruit & Nut chocolate, Batchelor's Savoury Rice ''("every grain will drive them insane!")'' and a coffee advert in which he coined the phrase ''"impending doom"'', and the Unigate milk ''Humphreys''. In 1954 he founded the amateur dramatic society "Thorpe players". He was a writer and presenter on many shows including the 1960s satire programmes, ''That Was The Week That Was'' and ''The Frost Report''. His pets, which prompted many an anecdote on ''My Word!'', included Afghan Hounds and Burmese (cat) Burmese cats. The hounds were also the inspiration for a series of picture books about an accident-prone Afghan puppy called "What-a-Mess". Other shows he was associated with include ''Take It From Here'', ''Whacko!'',''Call My Bluff'' and ''Brothers in Law''. In the 1960s Frank Muir was Assistant Head of Light Entertainment at the BBC and in 1969 joined London Weekend Television as Head of Entertainment. His magnum opus, ''The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose'', was published in 1990. He married in 1949 and had two children. His wife, Polly, died on 27 October 2004. In 1997, his autobiography, ''A Kentish Lad'', was published.

References

External link

- The Official Frank Muir Tribute Page Category:1920 births Muir, Frank Category:1998 deaths Muir, Frank Category:English aviators Muir, Frank Category:English comedians Muir, Frank Category:English radio personalities Muir, Frank Category:Famous bow tie wearers Muir, Frank Category:Natives of Kent Muir, Frank Category:Royal Air Force airmen Muir, Frank Category:Television personalities Muir, Frank

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