Sir Bruce Forsyth: A One-Man Variety Show

Sadly, it was announced today that Britain has lost one of its greatest variety stars of all time, Sir Bruce Forsyth, more affectionately known as ‘Brucie’. Famous for his many catchphrases, including ‘I’m in charge’, ‘Didn’t he/she/they do well’, and most famous of all ‘nice to see you, to see you…nice!’, his 75-year career in show business proved him to be popular with continuous generations. He was a one-man variety star with an all-round repertoire, including dancing, singing, comedy, presenting and acting. There was nothing ‘Brucie’ couldn’t do, and for that, audiences of all ages loved him.

To understand the history of variety in 20th century Britain, one needs only to trace the career of Sir Bruce Forsyth. Whilst growing up, his parents took him to see two music hall shows weekly, and this, along with his dancing heroes Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, had a profound impact on the young Brucie, who at 14 years of age, first performed on stage at the Theatre Royale in Bilston in 1942 as a music hall act called ‘Boy Bruce, The Mighty Atom’. He sang, danced and played the accordion, but was bottom of the bill. Little did those audiences in Bilston realise that they had just seen one of the future’s greatest variety stars.

In 1939, his mother spotted an advertisement for an open call audition for a new television programme called Come and Be Televised. Bruce secured a spot and made his television debut as a child dancer, but those early days of variety on television were abruptly halted when the Second World War stopped television production. Brucie focused on securing employment in theatres, where the war had led to a desperate shortage of male performers. From that point onwards, omitting a two-year spell of national service with the RAF, he worked relentlessly touring theatres as a variety entertainer. He hoped to one day become a performer of Moss Empires, the biggest consortium of variety theatres and music halls at the time, but instead became a regular at the Windmill Theatre in London’s Soho; a theatre that launched the careers of many other stars, including Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock.

In the 1950s, variety entertainment made its way to television, and Brucie followed. In 1958, he became compére of the variety show, Sunday Night at the London Palladium, and became instantly popular across the nation. From that point onwards, he remained a regular on British television screens and will be best remembered for presenting The Generation Game, Bruce Forsyth’s Big Night, Play Your Cards Right and for younger audiences, Strictly Come Dancing. Throughout his career, he remained influenced by traditional music hall and variety entertainment forms, and continued to introduce them to new generations, long after the heydays of variety theatre had ended.

Every generation will fondly remember Sir Bruce Forsyth for different chapters in his career. A look on twitter tonight proves this with ‘Bruce Forsyth’, ‘Brucie’, ‘#nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice’, ‘RIP Sir Bruce’, ‘Generation Game’, and ‘#Didn’tHeDoWell’ all listed in the top 10 current trends in Britain. His career spanned from the last days of music hall popularity up until his retirement four years ago and demostrates how adored variety entertainment is in Britain. Unfortunately, Britain has now lost one of its greatest loved entertainers and one of its few remaining links to the old days of variety. Britain will be sadder for it.

Goodbye, Sir Bruce Forsyth. You will be deeply missed, and I suppose all that remains to be said is, ‘didn’t he do well?’