Tom O'Connor

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Tom O'Connor (born October 31, 1939, Bootle, Merseyside) is a British actor and comedian. He is best known for presenting game shows such as Crosswits, The Zodiac Game, Name That Tune and Gambit.

[edit] Early life

O'Connor attended St Mary's College, Crosby and Saint Mary's College, Twickenham. He became a mathematics and music teacher at the St Joan of Arc School, Crosby. After work he appeared as a comedian in working men's clubs.

[edit] Television career

His TV break came when he appeared on The Comedians. During the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the most popular faces on British TV. In 1977 he was the subject on an edition of This Is Your Life. He continues to tour comedy venues all around the country.

In 2000 he made his television acting debut as Father Tom (a Catholic priest) in the BBC series Doctors. On 24 February 2006 he was given an award for having guest appeared on the TV programme, Countdown, 100 times.

In the late eighties and early nineties there was an unfounded rumour that O'Connor was making occasional use of material produced by Simon Fanshawe, who was a key figure on the BBC1 show That's Life! and appeared on the show as a replacement for Doc Cox in the latter years of the programme. The allegation has reportedly since been disproved.^{[citation needed]}