When it comes to all-round UK entertainers Bruce Forsyth’s name is probably top of the list. Comedian, singer, tap dancer, piano player, and I could go on, this man embraced and shared his love of the arts.
When it came to television, for me Bruce will always be that man who had my parents in stitches on the ‘Generation Game’ every Saturday evening. My brother and sister and I used to sit there staring at our parents and their friends laughing at the way Bruce handled the contestants, and we laughed more at my parents than the TV.
Bruce was the man who made ‘Play Your Cards Right’ a Friday night, not to be missed appointment! He had a way with words, that was so rude but cheeky, you just couldn’t help but love him.
He was just Bruce, and all generations and cultures loved him and he loved his wife, Wilnelia Merced, the former Miss World. He was so proud of her, and the fact that she is from Puerto Rico in the Caribbean made him drive that fact home, continuously when he hosted the Caribbean Tourism Ball in 2012, he had the room in fits of laughter, even Wilnelia Merced was howling with laughter.
I was so privileged to meet him, and I mean privileged. I had drinks with him at the Westminster Park Plaza when Natalie Cole performed, and he was in his element, as he was great friends with Nat King Cole, and when I met him again at the Caribbean Tourism Ball – and I’m convinced Carol Hay, the Marketing Director told him that we had met before – his exacts words were “not Greavsie again”. How could I not laugh! And who can forget his connection with Sammy Davis Jr on his Saturday Night Special?
His appreciation for all genres of music never went unnoticed, my only regret is that I never got a chance to tap dance with him, and I shall now strike that off my bucket list.
RIP Brucie and thank you so much for great memories, years of laughs on the Generation Game, years of “higher higher, lower lower” on Play Your Cards Right, and for making so many generations of people from so many different cultural backgrounds howl with laughter.
I don’t think there will ever be another Bruce.
- What was your favourite Brucie moment? I’d love to know, message me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram
