Tom O'Connor (comedian)

Thomas Patrick "Tom" O'Connor (born 31 October 1939 in Bootle, Lancashire) is an English comedian, TV presenter and actor. He is best known for presenting game shows such as Crosswits, The Zodiac Game, Name That Tune, Password and Gambit.

Early life

Tom O'Connor attended St Mary's College, Crosby^[1] and Saint Mary's College, Twickenham.^[2] He became a mathematics and music teacher at the St Joan of Arc School, Bootle.^[3] After work he appeared as a comedian in working men's clubs.

Television career

His television break came when he appeared on The Comedians.^[4] During the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the most popular faces on British TV. In 1977 he was the subject on an edition of This Is Your Life.^[5] He continues to tour comedy venues all around the country.

He continued to host many shows including Name that Tune, Wednesday at 8, Tom O'Connor Show, Gambit, Crosswits, and many more including the Tom O'Connor Road Show for the BBC.^[6] This show ran daily at lunch times and was watched by over 12 million viewers each day, but was a very expensive show to mount as it came live from a different town each week, requiring the production team to move weekly. The show had several young producers who were overseen by executive producer Steve Weddel, and came out of the now defunct BBC Pebble Mill Studios. The script was written by O'Connor and writer Barry Faulkner, who had worked with O'Connor on his previous shows, with up-to-the-minute changes being made just before broadcast.

In 2000 O'Connor made his television acting debut as Father Tom (a Catholic priest) in the BBC series Doctors.^[7] On 24 February 2006 he was given an award for having appeared as a guest on the TV programme Countdown 100 times.^[8] O'Connor won Celebrity Come Dine with Me, scoring a record breaking 29/30, on 14 March 2010.^[9]

In 2011, O'Connor appeared on a celebrity edition of the BBC One gameshow Pointless with his daughter-in-law Denise Lewis (the gold medal winning Olympic heptathlete). They reached the final, eventually winning £500 for charity.^[10]

Stage career

His stage acting debut was as Pike in The Perils of the Pond at the Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare in 1991.^[11] O'Connor has also done summer stock theatre, cabaret tours and pantomimes.

Bibliography

• Tom O'Connor's Book of Liverpool Humour (1987)
• Tom O'Connor's Book of the World's Worst Jokes (Pestalozzi Children’s Village Trust, 1991)
• From the Wood to the Tees: An Amusing Golf Companion (Robson, 1992)
• One Flew Over the Clubhouse (Robson, 1993)
• Take a Funny Turn (Robson, 1994)
• Follow Me, I'm Right Behind You! (Robson, 1995)
• Eat Like a Horse, Drink Like a Fish (Robson, 1996).
• Fit to Travel (Acer Designs, 2004)
• Golf...is Where You Find It (Acer Designs, 2005)
• Is There Anything in that Empty Box? (Acer Designs, 2005)
• I Remember: the Collected Thoughts of Tom O’Connor (Acer Designs, 2008)

External links

• Tom O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom O'Connor Official Website
• Tom O'Connor Booking Information - After Dinner Speaking

References