Graham Skidmore was best known for providing the voice-over for the British television dating gameshow Blind Date on ITV from 1985 until 2002, in which host Cilla Black referred to him as "Our Graham" and for the BBC comedy panel game Shooting Stars.
14 Facts About Graham Skidmore
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Graham Skidmore grew up in London and carried out his National Service in the Royal Army Medical Corps after leaving school.
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Graham Skidmore had wanted to be a physician, but he missed his final exams due to an ear infection; he was due to fight in the Korean War, but missed this for the same reason.
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In 1959, after taking singing lessons, Graham Skidmore successfully auditioned for the musical Marigold at the Savoy Theatre in London.
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Graham Skidmore could be seen in a background role in the 1960 film The Pure Hell of St Trinian's, and played a minor role in the 1961 film The Day the Earth Caught Fire.
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Graham Skidmore was best known for being the voiceover on London Weekend Television's dating gameshow Blind Date from 1985 to 2002.
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Graham Skidmore's identity was not publicly known at the time, although Skidmore's voice was recognised by Peter O'Toole.
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In 2002, Graham Skidmore was sacked from Blind Date amid falling viewing numbers for the show; he was told of his sacking by letter and replaced by Tommy Sandhu.
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Graham Skidmore had a similar role as a voiceover artist on the BBC comedy panel game Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, from 1993 to 2002, where he introduced the show's contestants.
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Graham Skidmore was a background character in the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, and appeared in person on The Justin Lee Collins Show in 2009.
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Graham Skidmore found work as a photographic model and appeared on advertising posters as well as in television commercials, including as the 'Vaseline Hair Cream' man.
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Graham Skidmore attended the funeral of Blind Date host Cilla Black in 2015.
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Graham Skidmore suffered from vascular malignancy and vascular dementia, which affected his speech, during the last decade of his life and spent his final years living in Kent.
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Graham Skidmore died on 26 December 2021, aged 90, in Margate, but his death was not widely made known until it was reported by the entertainment union Equity in June 2022.