Manchester Celebrities
Television, Film, Media & Broadcasting (13)

Tony Gubba

(Born 1943)
Tony Gubba was born in Manchester in 1943, and was best known as a long-serving member of the BBC Sport team, covered everything from the World Cup to Summer and Winter Olympics.
He began his professional career working on local newspapers in Lancashire, before working as a staff reporter for the Daily Mirror. He went on to become a newscaster in Southampton for Southern Television, before becoming a BBC correspondent in the City of Liverpool.
As a main anchor figure, Gubba presented the BBC's "Sportsnight" programme from 1973 to 1978 and later commentated on a wide range of sports, including cycling, ice skating, table tennis, hockey, golf and squash.
He also became well known fixture in his own right as the main presenter of "Match of the Day" on BBC every Saturday afternoon for many years, as well as other major sports presentations like "Sportsnight" and "Grandstand".
He was also the commentary voice of many World Cup finals since 1974. Tony Gubba is a keen fly fisherman, who also enjoys watching golf and football.

Bernard Cribbins

(Born 1928)
Born in 29th December 1928, in Oldham Lancashire, Bernard Cribbins is probably one of the UK's best loved childrens entertainers.

He has been a professional actor since the age of 14, when he became a student player with Oldham Repertory Company, where he remained for some eight years.

During National Service he served in the Parachute Regiment and afterwards returned to the stage - first in Manchester, then in Liverpool and in Hornchurch.

Cribbins first London appearance as in the West End in 1956 at the Arts Theatre where he played the two Gromios in Shakespeare's "A Comedy of Errors" which was followed by leading roles in "Harmony Close", The Lady at the Wheel", "New Cranks", "The Big Tickle" and in "Hook, Line and Sinker".

By the end of the decade he had become a leading light of the London stage, and appeared in his own revue show. However, it was not until the 1960s that he would attain popular public acclaim and notoriety, appearing in many successful films as well as musical success with several humorous records like "Right Said Fred" and "Hole in the Ground".

He also became widely known as the voice narration of the popular television series, "The Wombles", the voice-over many television advertisements, appearances on BBC's Saturday prime time show, "Noel's House Party" and the narration of many childrens' stories on audio cassette, where he proved himself to be an accomplished and original storyteller.

He has long been a popular figure in regional Christmas Pantomimes.

Other notable stage appearances have included the National Theatre's production of "Guys & Dolls" and in "Anything Goes" at the Prince of Edward Theatre accompanying Elaine Paige.

He played the part of Doctor Doolittle in "My Fair Lady" at the Houston Opera House in America and appeared in Gershwin's "Lady be Good" at the Open Air in Regent's Park, London.

In April 2003 he joined the cast of "Coronation Street" as Wally Bannister, an ageing Lethario who falls for the street's resident elderly gossip, Blanche Hunt as well as her grand daughter Tracy - an opportunity, at last, to use his own native dialect in an acting role.

Other television performances include in "Space 1999" and in several episodes of the 1960-1970s cult classic, "The Avengers", "Last of the Summer Wine", as well as his brilliant cameo appearance in "Fawlty Towers".

Amongst his long list of film credits, most noteworthy are in fellow countryman Eric Sykes' comic masterpiece, "The Plank", in "Swallows & Amazons", "Daleks — Invasion Earth 2150 AD" and "The Railway Children" in 1970.

A veteran of several Carry On films he appeared in "Carry On Jack" in 1963, "Carry On Spying" in 1964, and in "Carry On Columbus" in 1992.

Bernard Cribbins continues to be a much demanded local comic actor at the very pinnacle of his professional career.

David Coleman OBE

(Born 1926)
Born in Alderley Edge in Cheshire on the 26th April 1926, David Coleman is best remembered as a leading sports commentator on British television, though his early career began in athletics, when in 1949, he became the only non-international to win the Manchester Mile.

Unfortunately, pre-emptive injury ended any hopes of a career in athletics and he turned his hand to reporting on a local newspaper, the Stockport Express. During his time in military service he also worked with the British Army Newspaper Unit. After demobilisation, he joined Kemsley Newspapers and, at 22, became editor of the County Press in Cheshire - then one of the youngest editors in the country.

In 1953 he working in radio on a freelance basis in Manchester and the following year went to Birmingham to join the BBC as a news assistant. He was appointed Sports Editor for the Midland Region, in November 1955. Spotted as a promising young broadcaster by the Head of Sport, Peter Dimmock, he was offered anchor position in the new sports magazine programme, "Grandstand", which first broadcast in May 1954.

Subsequently in a long television career, Coleman went on to cover many major sporting events and occasions, including the Olympic Games sixteen times, the Commonwealth Games eight times, World Cup Football, the Grand National and the FA Cup Final.

From 1961 he also regularly presented "Sports Review of the Year" for many years. He is recorded as the fastest commentator ever recorded - it was calculated that, when describing David Hemery's 400 metre hurdle race at the 1968 Mexico Olympics, he achieved the remarkable rate of 200 words per minute.

Since 1984, he has concentrated on athletics commentary and presented "A Question of Sport", the longest-running television quiz programme, for eighteen years.

He was a leader of the BBC TV team which won the International Olympic Committee's Golden Rings Award for the best television broadcaster at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics - a feat that they repeated in Sydney.

He was awarded the OBE in the New Years Honours List in 1992 for Services to Broadcasting and The Judges Award for Sport in the 1996 Royal Television Society Awards.

Coleman brought a vibrant expressive style and expansive sporting knowledge to British television sports reporting for several decades and is remembered as the leading light in sports commentating.

Roy Skelton

(Birth date unknown)
Roy Skelton is probably best known as the voice of the Daleks in the long-running television cult series "Doctor Who". He actually served his early training time at Oldham Rep, after leaving drama school, and acted as Assistant Stage Manager in Oldham for six months. Later he joined the Bristol Old Vic as an actor.
He went on to appear in repertory theatre all over the country before landing a job with the BBC in London in "Music for You" and "Quick Before They Catch Us". During this time Skelton continued his theatre work despite his television career taking off.
He began to specialise in voice characterisations for children's' radio and television shows including the BBC's puppet show, "Toytown", followed by "Picture Book" and "Take a Chance".
He also made several films, including "West 11", "Girl in My Soup" and "Frenzy" - one of Alfred Hitchcock's masterpieces.
But it is probably in the ground-breaking science fiction series "Doctor Who", where Skelton created the voices of the Daleks that he became most celebrated. So successful were these voice characterisations that he was also offered subsequent voice parts for the Cybermen and the Krotons.
In the early 1970s he joined the pilot for a new children's programme called "Rainbow", which went on to run for over 20 years with Skelton creating the distinctive voices of Zippy and George. In November 2002 he recorded the single "Its a Rainbow", which went on to reach the UK Top 20.

Ben Gerrard

(Born 1984)
Born Benjamin Gerrard in Littleborough, Rochdale, Ben was a professional model for a time before joining Channel 4 TV's soap series "Hollyoaks" in late 2002. He plays the role of Cameron, who is his first acting role. Ben originally auditioned for the role of Jake Dean, (which, needless to say, he failed to get), before being clled back to play the part of Cameron.
A keen musician, he plays both guitar and drums, and heads up a 3-piece Pop-Punk band called "Chairmen of the Bored" which was established in June 2002. The band's current lineup includes Ben on vocals and guitar, as well as James Robinson (Bass, Vocals) and Owen Beard (Drums). The band have recently signed to Moon Ska Europe. Ben Gerrard is currently also studying music at college.

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