Brucie has died.
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Oh man, I shouldn't have laughed at that vision, but...
At the risk of continuing to jam a different Brucie catchphrase into every single post, he was my favourite. What a career: over 70 years in entertainment, and generations after generations of fans. I grew up on his second iteration of The Generation Game, and to see him still presenting Strictly in his late 70s and 80s with the same effervescent showbiz sparkle was a joy. RIP.
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RIP to the man: an outstanding career in showbiz, whose longevity in entertainment (going hand in hand with his popularity) was something to behold. Sadly, I was never a fan, having found him a grating presence who wore a loud veneer of self-satisfaction that was rarely funny. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but whatever charms and appeal he had didn't exactly work their magic on me. God rest him, though.
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Some people just have a natural smoothness on TV, but Bruce also had the slow burns to camera and the ability to improvise, such as when introducing the competitors on The Generation Game. Bob Hope at his peak might be a parallel. His defection to ITV was a big loss because he had to front some froth that was vastly inferior to the GG and other stuff he could have done.
He was also far gentler on the (desperate to be on telly) competitors than the far nastier presenters who came along later like Barrymore.
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- Mar 2008
- 29880
- An oasis in the middle of Somerset
- Bath City FC; Porthcawl RFC;Wales in most things.
- Fig roll - deal with it.
He was the sort of presenter that you don't see anymore and, in the ever-atomising world of TV, probably will never see again. Arguably, the only ones that have any residual link to that genre are Ant and Dec and, much as I like them, that says a lot.
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Originally posted by Guy Profumo View Post<off topic>
Bruce Forsythe once said to me, and I quote :
"Do you know, I think you're the most opinionated man I've ever met"
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The Generation Game, along with Dr Who, watched after Grandstand or if it was home game after getting home, was one of the rituals of my childhood. It is also somewhat comforting that he seemed a decent enough man given that a few of the men from that era turned out to be such utter bastards.
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Aside from anything, the American and indeed global success of the Dancing With The Stars franchise might mean that he was worth a mention in American media, given that it's a rebranded Strictly and a Forsyth-less version of the original would arguably have made far less impact nor sparked a worldwide phenomenon.
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I refer you to the perfunctory obituary in the New York Times.
Mr. Forsyth’s success in England did not translate to the United States. When he appeared on Broadway in a one-man show in 1979, Mel Gussow, reviewing it in The New York Times, dismissed him as a performer who would “do almost anything for a laugh.” He suggested that two hours of Mr. Forsyth was “a bit much by anyone’s standards.”
The show closed after five performances.
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Originally posted by Guy Profumo View Post<off topic>
Bruce Forsythe once said to me, and I quote :
"Do you know, I think you're the most opinionated man I've ever met"
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Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View PostHis death was reported in the US so he was known by some. His act referenced US influences to a large extent, such as Sammy Davis Jr, and the dancing shows may have been watched by US tourists in London, say.
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