Blind Date voiceover man “Our Graham” has died at the age of 90.
Graham Skidmore, who was known to millions as the voice of Blind Date, worked alongside the late Cilla Black for years.
However, he was never once seen on screen.
In the wake of his death, his children have paid heartbreaking tribute to their dad, a man they called “marvellous” and “modest”.
Blind Date legend ‘Our Graham’ dies aged 90
Graham was last pictured in a wheelchair attending Cilla’s funeral back in 2015.
Although his death has been announced today (June 27), Graham actually died just after Christmas, on December 27 2021.
He had vascular dementia for the last 10 years of his life and spent his final years living in Kent.
Graham had three children and five grandchildren and his voice was known to millions, even if his face wasn’t.
Our Graham’s children pay tribute
Speaking in The Sun, Graham’s son Neil, 54, and daughter Catherine, 52, shared their memories of their dad.
Neil said that his dad didn’t want to be “seen on screen” but described him as having a “celebrity voice”.
“He loved it. I do event organising and had a show in London and got Dad to do the voiceover. People recognised him straight away,” he said.
He was a marvellous man – he looked after people and made sure other people were taken care of.
Catherine revealed that Graham had wanted to become a doctor, but missed his final exams because he had an ear infection.
He’d also been due to fight in the Korean War during his National Service, but the infection returned and forced him to stay at home.
She said that, after that, he went into engineering and started singing as a hobby, only to find he had “an exceptional singing voice”.
Graham was told he should “try out for musicals” and Catherine said that’s what “got him into the theatre”.
Our Graham’s starring moments
Calling him “Daddy”, Catherine explained that Graham wasn’t jus a voiceover artist.
She said: “He had a launderette, a corner shop and he did up some flats. So there was some kind of consistency. He got into Blind Date and then Shooting Stars.”
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Catherine added that he was in a St Trinian’s movie, a Style Council video with Paul Weller and in the background of the film film Eyes Wide Shut.
“He was a marvellous man – he looked after people and made sure other people were taken care of and he was very modest. He was not a theatrical ‘look at me person’ and never really wanted his face to be seen that’s why he liked doing the voiceovers,” she said.
As Catherine said, as well as Blind Date, Graham also provided voiceovers on Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
Cilla Black’s death
Blind Date host Cilla Black, of course, died at her home in Spain in 2015.
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She suffered a stroke after falling backwards and hitting her head.
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