Graham Skidmore, the veteran Blind Date announcer, has died at the age of 90.
Skidmore was known as “Our Graham” by Cilla Black, the host of the long-running dating program, which was originally aired between 1985 and 2003.
Skidmore died in December, PA News reports, and his death only came to light after he was included as an in memoriam in the latest Equity actor’s union magazine.
Although he was often heard and rarely seen, his daughter Catherine Johnson, 52, told the Sun he was a “wonderful man” who made sure others were taken care of.
“He was very modest. He wasn’t a theatrical “look at me” person. He never wanted his face to be seen; that’s why he liked to do the voices off, ”Johnson said.
Born in 1931, Skidmore had dreams of becoming a doctor, but missed his final exams due to an ear infection, which also prevented him from fighting in the Korean War. Skidmore began theater and voice-over work, and had a corner shop, a laundromat, and developed properties.
In addition to making voiceovers for BBC Two’s Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer’s Shooting Stars, Johnson said his father appeared in a St Trinian film and was seen in the background of the film Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
“He was a fantastic father and husband to us and the family. He had an amazing celebrity voice,” her 54-year-old son Neil told the PA news agency.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
“[It] he was coming to the end of his career he had a blind date, so he loved it. He had been doing it [voice work] his whole career like, I think he started with modeling, theater, he did some musical work, and then he did a lot of … a kind of background artist and all that kind of stuff.
“It was great to get it and he loved it and did it for years. And then, from that, he also got Shooting Stars, which was a lot of fun.”
Skidmore had vascular dementia during the last decade of his life and spent his last years living in Kent, reports the BBC. He is survived by three children and five grandchildren.
An ITV spokesman said: “As the voice behind Blind Date for nearly two decades, Graham was at the heart of the show, and alongside Cilla Black, much of the show’s enduring success among the audience. Our thoughts and our deepest condolences are to his family and friends. “