Robert Henry Robinson (17 December 1927 – 12 August 2011) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host, journalist and author.

Biography and career

Robinson was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, the son of an accountant father, and educated at Raynes Park Grammar School in south London and Exeter College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He then became a journalist for the '' Sunday Chronicle'' (TV columnist), the ''

Sunday Graphic The ''Sunday Graphic'' was an English tabloid newspaper published in Fleet Street. The newspaper was founded in 1915 as the ''Sunday Herald'' and was later renamed the ''Illustrated Sunday Herald''. In 1927 it changed its name to the ''Sunday ...

'' (film and theatre columnist), the '' Sunday Times'' (radio critic and editor of ''Atticus'') and ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid ...

'' (film critic). He began working on television as a journalist in 1955. During the 1960s and 1970s, he presented the series '' Open House'', ''Picture Parade'', '' Points of View'', the leading literary quiz ''Take it or Leave it'', '' Ask the Family'', '' BBC-3'' – including the discussion during which Kenneth Tynan became the first person to say "

fuck ''Fuck'' is an English-language expletive. It often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to ar ...

" on British television (Robinson told Tynan that this was "an easy way to make history") – and '' Call My Bluff''. In 1967, Robinson presented the edition of ''The Look of the Week'' in which classical musicologist Hans Keller was brought face to face with the young

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

. He wrote and presented ''The Fifties'' on BBC1. Robinson was the presenter of ''The Book Programme'' on BBC2 from 1973–80 and a number of spin-off documentaries, such as '' B. Traven – A Mystery Solved'' (1979). He wrote and presented several

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

documentaries under the title ''Robinson's Travels'', among them ''The

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into se ...

Trail'' (1976), ''Cruising'' and ''Indian Journey''. In 1986 he wrote and presented ''The Magic Rectangle'', one of the BBC documentaries marking the 50th anniversary of television. On radio, he presented '' Today'',

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

's flagship morning news show, and '' Stop The Week'', a fiercely competitive talk programme. Robinson fronted '' Brain of Britain'' on BBC Radio 4 for many years, but was replaced by Russell Davies during the 2004 series owing to illness. He returned to host the new series in 2005 until handing over the reins to Peter Snow in 2007. In September 2008 Robinson chaired the special ''Brain of Brains'' and ''Top Brain'' editions of the quiz and returned to host the series in 2008; Davies then replaced him for the 2009 shows. In August 2010 it was announced that Robinson was to step down permanently from ''Brain of Britain'' to be replaced by Davies. '' Private Eye'' used to lampoon Robinson under the nickname 'Smuggins'. In a sketch on the BBC's '' Not the Nine O'Clock News'' he was impersonated by an actor wearing a cricket box over his forehead. Robinson was also the subject of a sketch by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in the second series of '' A Bit of Fry and Laurie'', and Fry occasionally did an affectionate impression of Robinson when hosting the quiz show '' QI''. He was also lampooned by comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb in the second series of '' That Mitchell and Webb Look'', where he was shown as the presenter of an early version of their fictional gameshow ''Numberwang''. He appeared in a ''

Viz comic ''Viz'' is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'', but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour a ...

'' strip under the name Robin Robertson. He was the father of the actress Lucy Robinson. Robinson was famed for his comb-over hairstyle.

Personal life

Robinson married actress Josephine Richard, whom he had met in 1958 while a student at

. They had three children. The couple remained together for more than fifty years, until Robert's death, aged 83. He died in St Mary's Hospital,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

on 12 August 2011 after a long period of ill health.

Books

*''Inside Robert Robinson'' (journalism) *''The Dog Chairman'' (journalism) *''Prescriptions of a Pox Doctor's Clerk'' (journalism) *''Landscape with Dead Dons'' (1956) (mystery novel) *''The Conspiracy'' (1968) (novel) *''Bad Dreams'' (1989) (novel) *''The Club'' (2000) (novel) *''The Everyman Book of Light Verse'' (1984) (as editor) *''Skip All That'' (1997) (autobiography)

References

External links

* *
Broadcaster Robert Robinson dies at 83
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Robert 1927 births 2011 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford BBC radio presenters BBC television presenters English game show hosts English male journalists English radio personalities English television presenters Broadcast mass media people from Liverpool People educated at Raynes Park County Grammar School Radio critics English male novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers