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Frank
was the original smoothie sports presenter in the mould of Des Lynam(at
least before Des jumped ship to ITV!).
For
30 years he graced our screens, mainly presenting much of the BBC's
sport output, but also fronting the popular magazine programmes
of the day, such as Nationwide, and numerous TV award ceremonies.
But
the beginning of the end came in the late 1980s with lurid newspaper
reports of Frank's involvement in bizarre and kinky goings-on with
- ahem - 'ladies of the night'.
His
career prospects were not enhanced by his admission(again in a newspaper)
that he was addicted to cocaine.
These
days such 'revelations' are commonplace, but in the late 1980s,
this was career suicide.
Sadly,
even today Frank is best-known for his extra-curricular activities,
and not for his remarkable 30 year career in broadcasting.
Born
in Stoke in January 1933, Frank's family moved to Oswestry in search
of work. At Oswestry Boys' School, Frank excelled at sport and drama,
passing the entrance exam to Merton College, Oxford.
He
also represented Oxford at centre half in the annual fixture against
Cambridge at Wembley.
Frank
then looked set for a distinguished career with ICI, marrying Nesta,
who he met at Park Hall Camp.
But
it was while he did his national service with the Royal Tank Regiment
that he held a microphone for the first time.
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Frank
as we'd like to remember him in the good old days...
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One
day he had a call from Gerald Sinstandt, then a British forces radio
broadcaster, but better known these days as a football commentator.
Sinstadt asked Frank to help him commentate on a forces football
match.
National
Service over, Frank went back to his job at ICI - but he'd been
bitten by the broadcasting bug and it wasn't long before he'd landed
a BBC sport commentator's job.
That
was to be the start of a glittering career. Frank quickly got into
TV, presenting the short-lived regional show 'Home at Six', before
switching to presenting Grandstand from 1964 onwards.
In
the same year he landed the job of presenting the BBC's Sports Personality
of the Year programme and made it his own, guiding the show for
a record 18 years.
After
eight years on sport programmes he moved to current affairs with
Nationwide, where his calm, friendly and efficient handling of a
complex programme earned him admirers.
But
then it would, as Nationwide's viewers were subjected to a decade
of 'light-hearted' so-called news stories such as the (infamous)
skateboarding duck, a parachuting bagpiper, presenters being attacked
by pigs and, of course, Boozy the alcoholic snail, who died on air
half way through a demonstration of his drinking prowess.
When
the BBC lauched Breakfast Television in 1983, he was the natural
choice to host the programme, and, with Selina Scott, he introduced
Britain to its first taste of regular early morning viewing.
After
presenting the Holiday programme, Frank left the BBC in 1988, and
headed off to the newly-launched Sky.
In
1990 he left Sky to join London Weekend Television, most memorably
hosting a couple of those Telethon fundraisers with Judith Chalmers.
There was also a return to sports presenting with the Rugby World
Cup in 1991, and some breakfast TV with TV-am.
Frank(and
Nesta) re-surfaced to do the odd bit of travel reporting for the
BBC's Holiday programme, as well as a show on radio station LBC.
But
apart from a one-off appearance on Shooting Stars and a 40th anniversary
reunion Grandstand show in 1998, nothing much has been seen of him
since then.
However,
a quick search on the internet reveals that Frank still has an agent,
so presumably he's still available...
Oh,
and he's the only one of our Great Salopian nominees whose name
has become official rhyming slag. As in: "I'm Frank Bough."
Translation: "I'm off."
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