Bob Grant (actor)

Bob Grant
Bob Grant as Jack Harper in On the Buses
Born	Robert St Clair Grant (1932-04-21)21 April 1932 Hammersmith, London, England
Died	8 November 2003(2003-11-08) (aged 71) Twyning, Gloucestershire, England
Cause of death	Suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning
Occupation	Actor, comedian, writer
Years active	1959–1996
Spouse(s)	Jean Hyett (1954-????, divorced) Christine Sally Kemp (1962-????, divorced) Kim Benwell (m. 1971–2003, his death)
Children	2

Robert St Clair "Bob" Grant (21 April 1932 – 8 November 2003) was an English actor, comedian and writer, best known for playing bus conductor Jack Harper in the television sitcom On the Buses, as well as its film spin-offs and stage version.

Early life

He was born in Hammersmith, West London, the son of Albert George Grant (1909-1985) and Florence Grant (née Burston) (born 1910).

Early career

Grant trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, working in his spare time as a frozen food salesman and also (coincidentally, in view of his later career) as a bus driver. After doing national service in the Royal Artillery, he made his stage debut in 1952 as Sydney in Worm's Eye View at the Court Royal, Horsham. In 1954, he married Jean Hyett; the marriage would end in divorce.

Grant's first London appearance was in The Good Soldier Schweik at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1956, and he spent several years at the Theatre Royal Stratford East before getting the lead role in the musical Blitz! at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End for two years. In 1962, he married a second time to Christine Sally Kemp and they then later divorced. In 1964 he appeared at the Piccadilly Theatre in Instant Marriage, a musical farce, for which he wrote book and lyrics, with music by Laurie Holloway.

He had by now started to make film appearances, including Sparrows Can’t Sing (1963), the screen version of a play written by his future On the Buses co-star Stephen Lewis in which he had previously acted on stage, and the film version of Till Death Us Do Part (1969). He returned to the Theatre Royal, Stratford, in 1967, and starred in the satirical play Mrs Wilson’s Diary as George Brown, the Foreign Secretary in Harold Wilson’s Labour government – this play later transferred to the West End. When the real-life Brown resigned in 1968, Grant was so concerned that his unflattering portrayal of him as a drunk may have contributed to his resignation that he offered to stand down from the part, but reluctantly continued.

On the Buses

Grant is perhaps best remembered as the lecherous bus conductor Jack Harper in the television comedy On the Buses, which ran for 74 episodes between 1969 and 1973; he co-wrote 12 episodes with co-star Stephen Lewis (the Inspector). Although some critics thought the show was unfunny and vulgar, it was an instant success with the viewers, and led to three feature films On the Buses (1971), Mutiny on the Buses (1972) and Holiday on the Buses (1973). The series was the peak of his career; when Grant married for the third time in 1971 there were huge crowds outside the register office and the couple had to abandon their hired Rolls-Royce and walk to the reception. A double-decker bus had been provided for the guests, but they had to walk as well.

Later years

When On the Buses finished, Grant found himself heavily typecast as Jack Harper and struggled to get other parts. He toured Australia in the farce No Sex Please, We're British, and continued to appear in musicals and pantomimes. In 1975 he starred in a one-off pilot Milk-O, an attempt to reinvigorate his career by means of a similar character, a milkman who spent his time fighting off amorous housewives he was delivering to. However, this did not lead to a series, and Grant never acted for television again. In 1981 he appeared in a touring production of the once-controversial revue Oh! Calcutta!, accompanied by a chorus line of naked men and women less than half his age.^[1]

In the 1980s he suffered from bipolar disorder and other mental health problems, because of a lack of work and his vast debts. In 1987 he disappeared from his home in Leicestershire for five days; it later emerged that he had taken the ferry to Dublin intending to kill himself. He returned only after a public appeal from his wife. In 1995 he attempted suicide again, and was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after being found slumped over the wheel of a car filled with exhaust fumes.

His last acting role was in the West End in Hobson's Choice early in 1996.^[2] Grant then moved with his wife to Church End Twyning, about a mile south of Twyning, near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. He lived very reclusively and neighbours would see him only when he was trimming his hedge.^[3]

In 2003 Grant was found dead in his garage inside his fume-filled car with a hose attached to the exhaust pipe.^[4] He was 71 years old.

Filmography

• Sparrows Can't Sing (1963) - Perce
• Help! (1965) - Cameo (uncredited)
• Till Death Us Do Part (1968) - Man in Pub
• On the Buses (1971) - Jack Harper, Stan's Conductor
• Mutiny on the Buses (1972) - Jack Harper, Stan's Conductor
• Holiday on the Buses (1973) - Jack Harper, Stan's Conductor

References

• Hayward, Anthony "Bob Grant (obituary)", 21 Nov. 2003. Accessed 14 Apr. 2007.

External links

• Bob Grant at the Internet Movie Database