Des O'Connor

Dodge

Didn't know he was still alive to be fair.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54950051

EricTheWeary

Ahh sad. One of those almost eternally youthful people yet I remember references to him for ever ( mostly thanks to Morecambe and Wise). Big smile, a cheery song and a corny joke - nothing wrong with that.
RIP. 

scrumhalf

His chat show in the 80s/90s brought a lot of US comedians onto British screens for the first time. He was a very good chat show host who didn't get in the way of his guests like so many nowadays. 

axisus

Sad news, he was such a genuinely lovely bloke. Top notch old school entertainer. 

tone1

Trying to explain to my Daughter who Des was, was hard.... so I showed her some clips from Morecambe & Wise  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Nqn2lnx9SbI

stickyfiddle

I was going to say I thought he'd died years ago, tbh. Always seemed a lovely bloke and classy entertainer. 

Gandalph

Ah man what a shame, I used to watch his chat show with my grandparents when I was a kid! A throwback to a saner less complicated world. 

Jimbro66

One of the best.

EricTheWeary

scrumhalf said:

His chat show in the 80s/90s brought a lot of US comedians onto British screens for the first time. He was a very good chat show host who didn't get in the way of his guests like so many nowadays. 

I remember that ( Canadian comic) Kelly Monteith was on there at least a couple of times and he was famous in the U.K. for five minutes. I went to see him live, I’m fairly sure the first live comedy I ever went to. 

Kittyfrisk

Famous for Eric & Ernie taking the piss, but a genuinely nice bloke and a proper old school all round entertainer. RIP.

phil_b

Kittyfrisk said:

Famous for Eric & Ernie taking the piss, but a genuinely nice bloke and a proper old school all round entertainer. RIP.

Eric ans Ernie were very good friends with Des and the jokes started as a bit of friendly banter and then took on a life of there own

Nitefly

scrumhalf said:

His chat show in the 80s/90s brought a lot of US comedians onto British screens for the first time. He was a very good chat show host who didn't get in the way of his guests like so many nowadays. 

I can remember him being absolutely helpless with laughter at some of his guests - Tommy Cooper coming on with boots like chickens' legs ("I've cocked up, haven't I?"), and (I think) Ken Dodd with the tale of the three-legged chicken...

RIP.

JezWynd

scrumhalf said:

His chat show in the 80s/90s brought a lot of US comedians onto British screens for the first time. He was a very good chat show host who didn't get in the way of his guests like so many nowadays. 

Agree. He was a surprisingly effective interviewer and bought out the best in his guests. I remember being surprised and impressed at how good he was, having previously only been aware of him via Morecambe and Wise.

DB1

He seemed like one of the good guys and a staple of the Morecambe and Wise Show, which I'm sure did wonders for him as well.

When Buddy Holly came over - I'm thinking that it must have been 1958 - he arrived before the band's equipment did and to give him something to play around on while he was waiting, he asked Des (who was the compere for the multi-act tour) to go and find him a guitar. Des went out and bought a Hofner (a Senator maybe?) from a store and gave it to him. At that time, you couldn't really get an American guitar in the UK due to import tariffs, so German clunkers were more or less all that they had in music shops.

When the tour ended, Buddy gave the Hofner to Des, who very creditably gave the guitar to Buddy's family (it might have been for the Buddy Holly Foundation) after Buddy died. A nice gesture from a nice man.

RIP

guitartango

All I can say is Stan and Des.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-8Yf5B6GbYk

LastMantra

Dezo!

axisus

tone1 said:

Trying to explain to my Daughter who Des was was hard.... so I showed her some clips from Morecambe & Wise  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Nqn2lnx9SbI

Wonderful clip there! Des was a great sport, and that brand of humour, well you just don't see it any more, little ad libs, things not quite going to script. Marvellous entertainment.

pintspiller

To be honest, I don't recall seeing him on TV since he did that show with Melanie Sykes and asumed he'd already passed away. He certainly knew what to do on-screen.

Philly_Q

Nitefly said:

scrumhalf said:

His chat show in the 80s/90s brought a lot of US comedians onto British screens for the first time. He was a very good chat show host who didn't get in the way of his guests like so many nowadays. 

I can remember him being absolutely helpless with laughter at some of his guests - Tommy Cooper coming on with boots like chickens' legs ("I've cocked up, haven't I?"), and (I think) Ken Dodd with the tale of the three-legged chicken...

RIP.

I loved that chat show, watching him crack up with laughter was the best thing about it.  His show with Melanie Sykes was good too, just because of that natural charm and chemistry.  A genuinely nice man.

He was rather like Bob Monkhouse in a way, always mocked for being a bit slick and smarmy, but really one of the good guys.  As a kid, I'd watch Morecambe and Wise mocking Des and it made me think he was a figure of fun, it wasn't until I was older that I understood he was in on the joke.

I saw him on a repeated episode of Would I Lie To You a couple of weeks ago and it did occur to me that he hadn't been on TV for a few years - today's news wasn't a total surprise, but sad nonetheless.

Bellycaster

Another one of the Old School gone. Anyone remember "Pot of Gold" in the early 90's. I think members of the public had a "Pot of Gold Card" that had a unique number. Can't recall how each person's Pot of Gold card got distributed to them though.

I won fuck all, that's a fact

mcsdan

Always liked Des' shows. Top guy.

RIP Des