Frank Bough

Francis Joseph Bough (/ˈbɒf/; 15 January 1933 – 21 October 2020) was an English television presenter. He was best known as the host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including Grandstand, Nationwide and Breakfast Time, which he launched alongside Selina Scott and Nick Ross.

Over his broadcasting career, Bough became known for his smooth, relaxed and professional approach to live broadcasts, once being described as "the most unassailable performer on British television". In 1987, Michael Parkinson said, "If my life depended on the smooth handling of a TV show, Bough would be my first choice to be in charge." In 1988, Bough was sacked by the BBC following revelations that he had taken cocaine and used prostitutes. He later presented programmes on London Weekend Television, ITV, Sky TV and on LBC radio in London before his retirement in 1998.

Francis Joseph Bough was born on 15 January 1933 at his parents' terraced house in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, son of Austin Joseph Bough (died 1963) and Annie Tyrer, née Moulton. The family later moved to Oswestry, Shropshire. His father was a furniture upholsterer and his mother painted pots in a pottery factory, and also made curtains and cushions.

After passing his eleven-plus exam, Bough was educated at Oswestry Boys' High School (a Shropshire County Council secular grammar school), and at Merton College, Oxford, where he studied history and was a soccer blue. He played football for the university against Cambridge, entered the employment of ICI at Billingham-on-Tees, and did his national service in the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, serving in West Germany. He first broadcast for British Forces Radio, commenting on an army cup game football match between two regiments.

Bough joined the BBC as a presenter and reporter, presenting a new Newcastle upon Tyne-based show called Home at Six, soon renamed North at Six and then in 1963 becoming BBC Look North. Between 1964 and 1968, he was the presenter of Sportsview and in 1964 became the presenter of the BBC Sports Review of the Year, which he hosted for 18 years. Between 1968 and 1983, he was a regular host of the BBC's flagship Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand.

Bough was one of the BBC's football commentators for the 1966 World Cup in England and covered the match at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough where North Korea defeated Italy 1–0, in a game regarded as one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history. Bough went on to present the early evening magazine programme Nationwide. This made him one of the most familiar faces on British television throughout the 1970s. For Nationwide, he covered the Watergate scandal that brought down President Nixon and, for both Nationwide and Breakfast Time, he covered five UK general elections between 1974 and 1987 and four US presidential elections between 1972 and 1984.^{[citation needed]}

Bough was twice a surprise guest on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas special, in 1977 performing a song and dance routine in a sailor's outfit with other television personalities, including the film critic Barry Norman, the presenter Michael Aspel and the rugby league commentator Eddie Waring. The programme's 21.3 million viewers remains one of the highest recorded viewing figures for UK Christmas viewing. Bough later said that he had to give Waring dancing lessons before the sketch, which was based on a comic version of the song "There is Nothing Like a Dame" from the musical South Pacific. The same year Bough received the Richard Dimbleby Award for outstanding contribution to factual television.

Bough was the main presenter of the BBC's coverage of the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina.