Tributes have been paid to former BBC broadcaster Frank Bough, the Grandstand host who became the first voice heard on British Breakfast TV, after his death at the age of 87.
Bough, who for much of his career was one of the most famous and highly paid personalities on UK television screens, died in a care home last Wednesday, a family friend revealed.
Fellow broadcaster Michael Parkinson once said of Bough: ‘If my life depended on the smooth handling of a TV show, Bough would be my first choice to be in charge.’
The TV sports personality died on Wednesday in a care home, a family friend told the BBC. Pictured in 2001
Bough fronted the team who launched the BBC’s Breakfast Time, revolutionising the UK television landscape in January 1983.
After the news of his death last night, current breakfast presenter Piers Morgan called him ‘one of the great live TV presenters’, but added that his career had been ‘ruined by scandal’.
That was a reference to a 1988 News Of The World expose in which he confessed to taking cocaine with prostitutes. He was sacked from his £200,000-a-year contract by the BBC but would later return to presenting on outlets including Sky and London’s LBC.
Before the revelations about his private life, he had been known for his squeaky-clean image and passion for sport.
Born into a family in a two-up, two-down terraced house in Stoke-on-Trent in 1933, Bough would later tell Desert Island Discs that he enjoyed ‘very happy days’ growing up with his sister.
Frank is credited with pioneering breakfast television, launching BBC’s Breakfast Time in 1983, alongside Selina Scott (pictured together) and Nick Ross
The presenter, adored by viewers, became known for his smooth, unflappable and in control broadcast style
At 18 he became the first member of his family to attend university when he won an all-rounder scholarship to Merton College, Oxford.
He won a football Blue and grew to be a talented sportsman, but opted for broadcasting for a career working at first in BBC regional news then national sports programmes Sportsview and Grandstand.
He anchored six football World Cups, six Olympics and at least 12 of rugby’s Five Nations Championships for the corporation.
But it was in Breakfast TV that his fame was its greatest. As he welcomed viewers to Breakfast Time, he and fellow presenters Selina Scott and Nick Ross spoke of how they hoped the informal format would be as popular in the UK as it was abroad.
It was – and made stars of many of the people who appeared on it.
Last night the show’s astrologer, Russel Grant, was among those paying tribute.
‘I am deeply saddened at the loss of an old television friend,’ he Tweeted. ‘Frank Bough was a great man to work with. We launched #BBCBreakfastTime in January 1983.
‘Always there for advice and support. “They” said we wouldn’t get on but we absolutely did – chalk n cheese! See you, Frank.’
Frank married Nesta Howells (pictured together) in 1959 after he left the army, the couple had three sons together – David, Stephen and Andrew. Pictured: Nesta and Frank in 1993
Frank Bough and Chris Bonnington in a group picture from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment
Frank Bough and his wife Nesta at a dinner in London
Soccer Saturday host Jeff Stelling said Bough was “one of the very best in the business” and had always been “helpful and generous with his time”.
Andrea Jenkyns MP, said her father Clifford “spoke highly” of him when reminiscing about time served together in the Tank Regiment during conscription.
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill said simply “RIP Frank indeed.”
Former Labour MP George Galloway called Bough “peerless” as a presenter, adding: “The BBC have no one like him now.”
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘Frank excelled as a live presenter with the BBC for many years and we are very sorry to hear of his passing.
‘We send our condolences to his family and friends.’
Early start: The first episode of Breakfast Time, pictured in 1983, included a champagne celebration. Bough is pictured centre, surrounded by his team
Talented: Frank Bough delivers a segment on the Breakfast programme
Co-hosts: Bough pictured with co-hosts Debbie Rix, left, and Selina Scott, right, in 1983
Frank Bough and Selina Scott, the hosts of Breakfast Time
Bough retired from broadcasting in 1998, a decade after the News of the World scandal that tarnished his reputation.
Speaking about it years later, Bough said: ‘I’m not a wicked man, nor do I mean any harm or evil to people. I’ve made mistakes, but everyone’s entitled to do that. No one suffered but my wife, my family and myself.
‘It was a brief but appalling period in my life. Don’t condemn my entire career for a brief episode I regret.’
He claimed a therapist had cured him of his cocaine habit and his ‘other life’ – ‘for good’.
Television Presenter and former Beauty Queen Debbie Greenwood with Frank Bough at BBC TV Breakfast Xmas Party
Grandstand presenters (left to right) Steve Ryder, David Coleman, Peter Dimmock, Des Lynam and Frank Bough during a celebration transmission to mark the 40th anniversary of the sports programme
Frank fronting a special exhibition stand at Waterloo Station in London where commuters were given a glimpse of programmes on offer from Sky Television, the satellite broadcasting station
After retirement, Bough lived in relative obscurity with wife Nesta Howells. The couple married in 1959 after he left the army – where he did his national service in the Royal Tank Regiment – and they had three sons together; David, Stephen and Andrew.
In 2001, he had to undergo a liver transplant after doctors found a cancer – though he has been involved in no other public health battles since.
In 2006, he turned down a chance to appear on a special BBC show celebrating Breakfast’s 25th anniversary, the BBC said.
But viewers long remembered Bough’s unflappable style and the calm, friendly manner that won him legions of fans in his career’s 1970s and 80s heyday.