Bob Monkhouse

I was really pleased to catch up at long last with The Secret Life of Bob Monkhouse, as my brother had often told me what an extraordinary person he (Monkhouse) was, and on the strength of the BBC programme, I absolutely agree. Unlike Frankie Howerd, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Tony Hancock, who could make people laugh even before they opened their mouth, he did not have a natural comic persona. This meant that every time he went on stage he had to, as it were, start from scratch and dazzle his audience by his extraordinary wit, quick wittedness and comic timing. To this extent, he is closer to the wisecracking American tradition of Bob Hope, but even Hope developed a comic personality of his own: the boastful coward. Bob Monkhouse was unique in the sense that mention of his name fails to conjure up an image of a particular type or character.

In spite of the many qualities of the programme, I felt that I was no nearer to reaching an understanding of him by the end. How, for example, was he appreciated by his fellow comedians? Did they like him? Were they afraid of him? And what did he himself think of them? Was he jealous of their success? Was he a generous man? My brother says he did a lot to help those who had fallen on hard times, but no mention of this was made of the programme.