When Harry Met...
Bob Monkhouse Harry Borden looks back on two shoots with the popular comedian, entertainer and game show host
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Both shoots were part of a publicity drive for a special TV autobiography Bob had written and performed in, Bob Monkhouse on Bob Monkhouse. It was widely known that he had been ill for some time, but what hadn’t been revealed was that he had terminal cancer. He died in December the following year, aged 75. Bob had enjoyed a long career in show business, starting out as a comedy actor and later combining a career as a stand-up comedian with his role as host of game shows such as The Golden Shot and Family Fortunes. These shows were watched by millions every week. He was a true
‘He had a very expressive face, good to photograph: it was like shooting fish in a barrel’
ALL PICTURES © HARRY BORDEN
n one week in February 2002, I was commissioned to do portrait shoots with the comedian and entertainer Bob Monkhouse by two separate publications. The first, at Bob’s house in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, was for the Mail’s Night and Day magazine. The second, four days later, was shot in the very different environment of a London studio. I’ve now lost the negatives for the first shoot, though I have the scanned image files. In the pre-digital era, negatives often went missing and I was doing so many jobs I often didn’t notice they were gone until years afterwards. I have other photographers’ negatives that were mistakenly sent to me in that period. Possibly the negs from the first shoot were never returned to me, or were sent to another photographer. That doesn’t happen now.
Harry’s first shoot with Bob was at Bob’s large house in Leighton Buzzard 26
professional, renowned for being very serious about the craft of comedy. Unlike some comics of his generation, he was enthusiastic about younger comics and they in turn respected him as both a writer and performer.
Professional to the end His professionalism extended to having his portrait taken. I remember going to his house, amusingly called ‘Claridges’, which was an impressive 17th-century house. I was given a warm welcome by him and his wife Jackie, who brought us cups of tea during the shoot. Bob was quite dapper and very conventionally good-looking. He got ready for the shoot in a dressing room, a bit like one you’d find in a theatre. On both shoots Bob had his own hair and make-up people and that grooming went on for at least an hour before he was ready to be photographed. Looking at the pictures now, I remember waiting around for every hair to be put in place. We did shots both inside the house and in the garden and he was happy to do whatever I requested. He had a very expressive face, so was really good to photograph: it was like shooting fish in a barrel. Although superficially he was all charm and repartee, there was also noticeable vulnerability and selfawareness about him. That self-awareness shows in the pictures because he was quite happy to look ridiculous or to act up and play a role for the camera. The fact that the initial shoot was at his home says quite a lot. He wasn’t guarded or putting on a shtick. The second shoot took place in Red Earth Studios in London EC1. It had a big skylight that let in beautiful light and created its own atmosphere. Most of the shots
