Bob Grant

Robert St. Clair Grant - who was born on April 14th, 1932, in Hammersmith, London, England - was an English actor, comedian, and writer.  After training as an actor, and doing national service, Grant made his stage debut in 1952 at the Court Royal, Horsham.  In 1954, he married Jean Hyett, although the marriage ended in divorce.  Grant's first London appearance was at the Duke of York's Theatre in 1956, and he spent several years at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, before getting the lead role in the musical Blitz! at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End for two years.  He married for the second time, to Christine Sally Kemp, in 1962, but again the marriage ended in divorce.  In 1964, Grant appeared at the Piccadilly Theatre in Instant Marriage, a musical farce, for which he also wrote the book and lyrics.  He continued to perform in films, on radio, and on stage, before landing the role for which he was most famous: as the lecherous bus conductor Jack Harper in the T.V. sitcom, On The Buses.  The series ran for 74 episodes between 1969 and 1974, with Grant co-writing 12 of the episodes.  Hugely successful, the show spawned three feature films, all of which Grant starred in.  He was in a relationship with his On The Buses co-star, Gaye Brown, but split with her to eventually marry Kim Benwell, his third and final wife.  Such was Grant's fame at this time, that huge crowds gathered outside the registry office where they married.  After On The Buses finished, Grant found himself typecast, and struggled to get other parts.  He acted in pantomimes and musicals, but a self-penned pilot show didn't lead to a T.V. series, and Grant never acted on television again.  In 1980, he acted in several radio plays and a Shakesperian play on stage.  Lack of work and mounting bills led Grant to suffer from depression during the 1980s, and on one occasion he disappeared from his home for five days; he had caught a ferry to Ireland, intending to kill himself, but returned unharmed.  In 1990, a new version of On The Buses was planned, featuring most of the original cast, but this fell through due to lack of funds.  A further long gap in employment led to a suicide attempt in 1995, with Grant being found just in time as he lay unconscious over the steering wheel of his car, which was filled with carbon monoxide fumes.  After recovering, Grant and his wife moved to the small village of Twyning in Gloucestershire, thereafter living a reclusive life.  Grant's last acting role was in Funny Money at Devonshire Park Theatre from July 1998.  As more bills continued to arrive, and work didn't, Grant despaired.  On November 8th, 2003, he went into the garage of his home in Church End, Twyning, and attached a hose to the exhaust pipe of his car.  Shortly afterwards, Grant was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in his fume-filled car.  Bob Grant was 71 years old.