The actor and singer Graham Skidmore, who has died of complications from vascular dementia aged 90, was never seen on the Saturday evening audience-pulling TV show Blind Date, but his was the voice bringing razzmatazz to the proceedings. “My role is to make the programme more dramatic,” he said. “So I always try to find different ways of saying the introductions. When the music starts, you really get into the swing of things and it’s all very enjoyable.”
In the manner of a circus ringmaster, he set the scene for the potential romantic matches to come, extending his vowels as he boomed: “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Blind Date – and here is your host, Miss Cilla Black!”
A male contestant would ask questions of three potential female partners before announcing his preference, then a new group would appear, with a woman choosing her male date. After each round, Skidmore would give a pithy round-up of the contestants’ answers before the big decision was made. Black referred to him as “our Graham”, although he revealed that he barely saw her, apart from when they passed in the corridors of the TV studios.
Providing the voiceover for the show’s first 17 years (1985-2002) made Skidmore a well-known voice, but not name or face, as he was hidden away in a small box in the studio. He batted away a couple of suggestions that he should make an appearance on screen for fear of his face becoming associated with the role and losing him acting work in front of the camera elsewhere, although he once stepped on to the studio floor disguised as Father Christmas.
At its height, Blind Date attracted up to 18 million viewers, but ratings were on the wane by 2002, when ITV tried to revamp the show and Skidmore was sacked. Seeing the writing on the wall, Black announced during the next year’s series, when Tommy Sandhu took over announcing duties, that she was quitting – and the programme went with her. After his own departure, Skidmore revealed that the production team tried to pep up later shows by writing contestants’ answers and introducing friction between them.
His voice was also familiar to viewers of the quizshow Shooting Stars (from 1993 to 1997 and a further series in 2002), hosted by the comedy duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. He was notable for introducing the team captains, Ulrika Jonsson and Mark Lamarr, with made-up rubbish about their private lives, and pronouncing “Eranu” for a question worth a special prize or “Uvavu” for an incorrect answer.
Graham was born in Oldbury, Worcestershire, to Alfred Skidmore, who managed a Woolworths store, and his wife, Jean (nee Williams). When they moved to London, Graham attended Kingsbury county grammar school. Following national service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he worked in the sales department of an engineering firm.
He took singing lessons for fun and became a baritone in the Wembley male voice choir. At the age of 27, he successfully auditioned for a part in the chorus of the musical Marigold (Savoy theatre, 1959), starring Jeremy Brett and Jean Kent. He went on to appear in other West End musicals, including The Golden Touch (Piccadilly theatre, 1960). Although he had small roles in the films The Pure Hell of St Trinian’s (1960), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), Jigsaw (1962) and The Winston Affair (1964), and played a knight in shining armour in a 1972 episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Skidmore’s voice was his greatest asset.
He dubbed actors in films, and the male lead in a production of The Wizard of Oz on ice, at the Empire Pool, Wembley, in 1962, as well as voicing commercials for brands such as B&Q and Texas. On television, he sang in the series Songs for the Times (1966) and in Melodies for You (1967), a smallscreen version of the radio show. There was also work as a photographic model and appearances in TV commercials, notably as the face of the Vaseline hair cream man.
Later, Skidmore was seen as a background artist in various films, including The Fifth Element (1997) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
He suffered a stroke in 2010 that left him with vascular dementia. Although he died in December 2021, his death was not reported until six months later.
In 1966, Skidmore married Pauline Mickleburgh. She survives him, along with their son, Neil, and two daughters, Catherine and Emma-Jane.
• Graham George Skidmore, actor and singer, born 22 September 1931; died 26 December 2021
