TV
Personality. Born in Hereford,
Herefordshire, England,
5 June 1907. Died 16 November
1960
Gilbert
Harding was an outspoken English
panellist, quiz- master and
broadcaster, known as "the
rudest man in Britain". A
former teacher, police constable
and journalist, he began working
with the BBC's Monitoring
Service in 1939 as a sub-editor.
In 1944 he went to Canada for
three years to work with the
BBC's Toronto Office. On
returning to Britain in 1947, he
began making appearances as a
Question Master in the popular
BBC radio panel game show Round
Britain Quiz. He also introduced
BBC radio's The Brains Trust and
Twenty Questions. From 1951 he
became part of the post-war
British way of life with his
appearances as a grumpy
panellist in the
highly-successful, long-running
television panel game show
What's My Line? Every week he
entertained and shocked viewers
with his intellect, sharp wit
and rudeness. He often bullied
innocent guests if they gave
evasive answers, or didn't speak
perfect English. After one clash
between Harding and chairman
Eamonn Andrews, the BBC received
over 175 phone calls and 6
telegrams from viewers
complaining about Harding's
appalling behaviour. For over a
decade What's My Line? was an
institution on British
television, and Harding became a
national celebrity.
In 1960 Harding agreed to be
interrogated by journalist John
Freeman on a famous live
television interview programme
called Face to Face. But Harding
was reduced to tears in front of
millions of viewers when Freeman
asked about the recent death of
his mother. This was, in fact, a
deliberate and tactless attempt
to "out" him as gay at
a time when homosexuality was
still illegal in Britain.
Harding admitted nothing, but
clearly the interview was a
distressing experience for him.
He confessed on-screen that
"my bad manners and bad
temper are quite
indefensible...I'm almost unfit
to live with...I'm profoundly
lonely...I should be very glad
to be dead."
John Freeman
later admitted his lack of
sensitivity but Harding died
shortly after the programme's
September transmission on 16
November 1960. He was 53.
Owen Spencer Thomas described
him on BBC Radio London's
Gilbert Harding in 1979 as
"That enigmatic man...was
bad-tempered and rude, yet his
friends counted him as one of
the kindest, and most
generous."
