Louis Armstrong called him the best trumpeter in Britain (and he was almost certainly the only person to play with Armstrong and Radiohead). He was a food critic for Harpers & Queen. He was an editorial cartoonist. He hosted a jazz show on BBC Radio 2 for forty years. He was a master calligrapher. He published six books. And in 1972 he became "chairman" of a little BBC radio series mocking panel games, staying for 36 more years (insisting, all the while, he hadn't decided whether to make a long term commitment to the project).
Just as Letter from America listeners knew, somewhere in the backs of their minds, that there had to come a day when the last letter was posted, so listeners of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue hoped the day wouldn't come when Humphrey Lyttelton wouldn't be in the chair. The time came yesterday, when Humph died in hospital after complications of surgery, aged 86.
BBC clips and videos here.
The show's home page ("with some rather swish wallpapers") here.
Obits from The Times, The Telegraph, and The Guardian.
A clip of Humph at his most deadpan:
And one of Humph's surreal end-of-show farewells:
...and so, ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of the show, and indeed the series. Well, what a series it's been, providing so many memories that will never leave me...at least, not without a long course of expensive therapy...
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