Graham Skidmore: Blind Date voiceover star dies aged 90

Long-running game show was presented by Cilla Black

(ITV)

Graham Skidmore, the voiceover star of Blind Date, has died aged 90.

The ITV game show was presented by the late Cilla Black, who affectionately referred to Skidmore as “Our Graham”.

Although he was not seen on the series, Skidmore’s voice was heard on the show for 17 years, between 1985 and 2002.

Skidmore’s death was confirmed in the latest journal from actors’ union Equity, which revealed that he died on 27 December last year. He was a father of three and had five grandchildren.

In addition to his role on Blind Date, Skidmore did voiceover work for the BBC comedy Vic and Bob’s Shooting Stars, which was fronted by the double act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Skidmore had vascular dementia in the last decade of his life and spent his final years living in Kent.

His son Neil, 54, told The Sun: “He might not have wanted to be seen on screen, but he had a celebrity voice – a known voice.

“He loved it. I do event organising and had a show in London and got Dad to do the voice over. People recognised him straight away.”

Skidmore’s 52-year-old daughter Catherine Johnson added that Skidmore was a “marvellous man”.

“He was very modest. He was not a theatrical ‘look at me person’. He never really wanted his face to be seen, that’s why he liked doing the voiceovers.”

Johnson said her father was in a St Trinian’s movie, a Style Council video with Paul Weller. She also said Skidmore can be seen in the background of the 1999 film Eyes Wide Shut, which stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.