Frank Muir
Shows
Call My Bluff (team captain)
My Music (team captain)
My Word! (team captain)
One Minute Please (regular guest)
Biography
Comedy writer and raconteur, born 1920. Together with Denis Norden, he wrote scripts for the comedian Jimmy Edwards, including the radio show Take It From Here and the TV sitcom Whack-O!. He also served as the BBC's assistant head of light entertainment for a time, during which he was responsible for discovering the American format Call My Bluff, in which he would be a popular performer for many years. In that show, he was especially well-known for the pink bow-tie that he invariably sported (Robert Robinson frequently introduced him as 'The man with the revolving bow-tie' and his excellent rapport with the opposing captains, especially the 'Stuttering Baron', Patrick Campbell, and Arthur Marshall, who was always chuckling, apparently because he found Muir one of the funniest people around.
His books include "The Frank Muir Book" of literary quotations which eschewed the familiar quotations already published in countless anthologies in favour of items more "off the beaten track", and the "What-a-Mess" story books for children.
He died in 1998, aged 77.
Trivia
He served as Rector of the University of St Andrews from 1976 to 1979. His predecessor in the post was Alan Coren and his successor was Tim Brooke-Taylor.
His autobiography is entitled "A Kentish Lad".
