Stuart G. G. Francis (born 30 January 1948 in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England) is a British comedian with a camp style of delivery who achieved celebrity as lead presenter on the children's television programme '' Crackerjack'' (1980–1984). His principal "co hosts" were initially

the Krankies The Krankies are a Scottish comedy duo who enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s, featuring in their own television shows and making pop records. Since this period, they have also regularly appeared in pan ...

and later, on alternating editions,

Basil Brush Basil Brush is a fictional fox best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts, books, annuals and comic strips. The char ...

and The Great Soprendo. He went on to host ''Ultra Quiz'' in 1985 and Border TV's ''Crush a Grape'' in 1987, a children's game and variety show in a similar vein, if not carbon copy, to his era of ''Crackerjack''. He also released a single in 1983 (rereleased in 1985) called "Ooh! I could crush a grape".Parsons, Tony (1985) "Singles", ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', 2 February 1985, p. 14 After attending Brownlow Fold Junior School and Smithills Base School, both in Bolton, he worked as a bluecoat entertaining guests at

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. It was acquired by Britannia Hotels in 2011. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment at reso ...

holiday camps. He then switched to comedy and appeared in summer seasons at clubs and in theatres.

Catchphrases

Francis had numerous catchphrases on ''Crackerjack'', mostly based on his prolific "Ooh! I could crush a grape!!". Other variations included: "I could pop a balloon", "I could rip a tissue", "I could jump off a doll's house", "I could wrestle an action man", "I could duff a daffodil", "I could test drive a

Tonka Tonka is an American brand and former manufacturer of toy trucks. The company was founded in 1946 and operated as an independent manufacturer of popular steel toy construction type trucks and machinery, until its sale to Hasbro in 1991. Histor ...

", "I could pummel a peach", and "I could eat a whole sausage roll". Another catchphrase was "There's points to be won, and there are penalties to pay!" used on ''Crackerjack's'' final game ''Take A Chance'', where the "penalty" was a gunging to either an unfortunate celebrity and/or to Francis himself.

Television

Television appearances include: * '' Jokers Wild'' * ''Ultra Quiz'' (1985) * ''

Live from Her Majesty's ''Live from Her Majesty's'', ''Live from the Piccadilly'' and ''Live from the Palladium'' were Sunday night live entertainment variety television shows that aired on ITV from 16 January 1983 to 27 November 1988 and were hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck ...

'' (1985) * '' The Comedians'' (1971) * '' Crackerjack'' hosted 1980–1984, guest 2020 * ''

Cheggers Plays Pop ''Cheggers Plays Pop'' is a British children's game show broadcast on BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flag ...

'' (1983) episode 6.7 * ''

CiTV CITV is a British children's morning programming block on ITV2 and formerly a free-to-air channel owned by ITV plc. CITV, then Children's ITV, launched on 3 January 1983 as a late afternoon programming block on the ITV network for children aged ...

'' (1983) Presenter (1983–1985) * '' The Keith Harris Show'' 1985 Ultra Quiz 85 (1986) episode 3.5 * ''Stupid Punts'' (2004) * ''Our Survey Says: The Ultimate Game Show Moments'' (2005) * ''

Sooty Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in '' The Sooty ...

'' (2013) Series 2, episode 14 “Cow Capers” * ‘’wheeltapper and shunters club, episode 27 (1075)

References

External links

*
Interview with Stu
1951 births Living people Entertainers from Bolton English male comedians English television presenters Comedians from Lancashire {{UK-comedian-stub