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Robert St Clair Grant, usually known as Bob Grant (14 April 1932–8 November 2003) was an English actor, mainly known for playing in On The Buses. He was born in Hammersmith, London, the son of Albert George Grant and Florence Grant (nee Burston). He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, working in his spare time as a frozen food salesman and also (interestingly, in view of his later career) as a bus conductor. After doing National Service in the Royal Artillery, he made his stage debut in 1952 as Sydney in Worm's Eye View at the Court Royal, Horsham. His first London appearance was in The Good Soldier Schweik at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1956, and he spent several years at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, East London before getting the lead role in the musical Blitz! at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End for two years. In 1964 he appeared at the Piccadilly Theatre in Instant Marriage, a musical farce, for which he wrote book and lyrics with music by Laurie Holloway. He had by now started to make film appearances, including Sparrows Can’t Sing (1963), the screen version of a play he had earlier acted in at Stratford, and the Beatles film Help! (1965). He returned to the Theatre Royal, Stratford, in 1967, and starred in the satirical play Mrs Wilson’s Diary as George Brown, the Foreign Secretary in Harold Wilson’s Labour government – this play later transferred to the West End. When the real-life Brown resigned in 1968, Grant was so concerned that his unflattering portrayal of him as a drunk may have contributed to his resignation that he offered to stand down from the part. Then came the part for which he is best remembered today, the role of the bus conductor Jack Harper in the television comedy On the Buses, which ran for 74 episodes between 1969 and 1974. Although the critics hated its vulgar brand of comedy, it was an instant success with the viewers, and led to three films – On the Buses (1971), Mutiny On the Buses (1972), and Holiday On the Buses (1973). This was the peak of his career – when he married for the third time in 1971 there were huge crowds outside the register office and the couple had to abandon their hired Rolls-Royce and walk to the reception. A double-decker bus had been provided for the guests, but they had to walk as well. After On the Buses finished he toured Australia in No Sex Please, We're British, and continued to appear in musicals and pantomimes. But by the 1980’s work was drying up. In 1987 he disappeared from his home in Leicestershire for five days – it later emerged that he had gone to Dublin intending to kill himself. He only returned after a public appeal from his wife. In 1995 he attempted suicide again, and was treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after being found slumped over the wheel of a car filled with exhaust fumes. He moved with his wife to Gloucestershire, and finally he was found dead in a similar incident at his home.
Commercial Work Bob Grant appeared in the 1970s (as Jack Harper) in Finnish TV commercials of "Lontoon rakeet" (London drops), Finnish still-popular licorice candy. His catchphrase (in Finnish) "Niin lontoonraetta" (Sooo London drops) has been associated with the product since then. | ||||||||
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