William G Stewart
HE BEGAN his television career behind the camera, but found his forte in front of it.
William G Stewart, who has died aged 84, was born in Habrough, near Immingham in Lincolnshire, in 1933. He was best known for hosting the Channel 4 general knowledge quiz
which he also produced. He fronted the show, dubbed one of the toughest quizzes on TV, from its inception in 1988 until 2003. The series was revamped in 2013 for a celebrity special hosted by comedian Adam Hills, and in 2014 returned for a new series with Sandi Toksvig as presenter.
Stewart was also known for being the producer and director on game shows and and sitcom among others. He began his career in the 1950s as a Butlins redcoat. In the 1960s he also worked as private secretary to Labour MP Tom Driberg, about whom he later made a documentary. His 15 years on the
programme saw him make 2,265 episodes, meet 34,000 contestants and present at least 350,000 questions.
“I’ve always thought that what made the institution it became was its intelligence,” Stewart said in 2014.
“That’s what people liked about the show – the questions were properly tough and if you were playing along at home, you needed to have your wits about you.”
He also caused controversy by claiming he was refused a role in the 2010
for being “too old”. The BBC denied the claim. He was married three times – to Audrey Harrison (1960–1976), to actress Sally Geeson (1976–1986) who appeared in and to Laura Calland (1997–2017), a voice-over artist for
He had five children.