The Muir the merrier
We look back at how a winning way with words made Frank Muir a comedy favourite
DEBONAIR comedy writer and broadcaster Frank Muir brought his own sense of style to radio and television. Famous for his pink bow-ties, moustache and distinctive voice, he cut a striking figure on game shows such as Call My Bluff, My Word! and The Name’s The Same.
His career also saw him named Pipe Man of The Year in 1973 and he was the face of Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut Chocolate advertising campaign in the 1970s telling viewers “Everyone’s a fruit and nut case”.
He also warned the nation to beware of the stealthy milk-guzzling Humphreys as part of the Unigate Milk commercials.
Frank was born 100 years ago on February 5, 1920, in Ramsgate and served with the RAF during the Second World War.
He met future writing partner Denis Norden in 1947 and they created Take It From Here. The radio hit was broadcast by the BBC between 1948 and 1960 and starred Jimmy Edwards, Joy Nichols, June Whitfield and Dick Bentley.
He and Norden wrote the line “Infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me,” for the show, which later turned up in British comedy movie Carry On Cleo. Frank later revealed in his autobiography, A Kentish Lad, how disappointed they were that they were never credited for the line.
“Wit is a weapon,” Frank once said. “Jokes are a masculine way of inflicting superiority. But humour is the pursuit of a gentle grin, usually in solitude.”
He became a team captain on BBC2’s word quiz Call My Bluff in 1965 and it became one of the Beeb’s longest running game shows.
Frank appeared until 1988 and the programme saw the rival teams trying to guess the correct definition of a word from three options – two of them outright lies.
His career also saw him as the BBC’s assistant head of light entertainment and later London Weekend Television’s head of entertainment.
Frank, who passed away in 1998 at the age of 77, was the master of quick wit and once pointed out: “The speeches to be wary of are those that begin with ‘I’m just going to say a few words ...’”
Wit is a weapon. Jokes are a masculine way of inflicting superiority Frank Muir