Speaking clock actor Brian Cobby dies aged 83 (From The Argus)
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Speaking clock actor Brian Cobby dies aged 83
10:20am Sunday 4th November 2012 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter
Speaking clock actor Brian Cobby dies aged 83
Actor Brian Cobby, who was the voice of the speaking clock for 22 years, has died.
Brian, 83, who was the famous voice of “the time sponsored by Accurist” died peacefully on Wednesday following a series of health problems.
Clive Cobby said that his brother’s dying wish had been to make sure his death was reported in The Argus.
Paying tribute to his brother, Clive said: “He was a man of the world, who loved life and lived it to the full. “He was larger than life.
“He never married and some people assumed he was alone, but he had a large family and was very popular.
“In every sense, he was an actor. He was very outgoing.”
Brian, who lived in Vernon Gardens, had a very successful career prior to becoming the speaking clock from 1984 to 2007.
In the sixties, Brian was known as “The Voice” as one of the nation’s best known voiceover artists – launching a thousand soapflakes, prescribing every headache cure known to man and convincing the country they couldn’t tell the difference between Stork and butter.
He also appeared alongside Madonna in the film Evita. Consummate professional Brian took just one hour to record the 86 words that make up the speaking clock’s 8,640 daily announcements.
Brian’s voice was heard to say “on the third stroke” an estimated 2 billion times and his most famous role saw him regularly stopped in the street and asked the time.
Following a kidney transplant 15 years ago and a heart attack last year, his health had been deteriorating and he died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
In the last few months of his life the two brothers had been prepar- ing for the end.
Clive is still putting the finishing touches to the send off his brother had asked for – and the funeral will include a show reel of his most famous recordings and the famous words he voiced “Five, four, three, two, one, Thunderbirds are go.”
Clive said: “He had been very clear on his wishes. “The one thing he wanted more than anything was for The Argus to know.
“He said to me in his way as an actor ‘make sure The Argus know’.”
Comments(16)
John Steed
says...
11:04am Sun 4 Nov 12
Lady Smith
says...
11:15am Sun 4 Nov 12
'Clive, who lived in Vernon Gardens, had a very successful career prior to becoming the speaking clock from 1984 to 2007.'
MuammarQaddafi
says...
11:39am Sun 4 Nov 12
Surely not!
says...
12:05pm Sun 4 Nov 12
CivicMan
says...
12:09pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Musicmanxxxx
says...
12:10pm Sun 4 Nov 12
"Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke"
plantwoman
says...
2:29pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Musicmanxxxx wrote:Not funny.
Steven Grant (THE Steven Grant) tweeted.. "Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke"
Roger Francais
says...
4:31pm Sun 4 Nov 12
plantwoman wrote:Speak for yourself love...
Musicmanxxxx wrote:Not funny.
Steven Grant (THE Steven Grant) tweeted.. "Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke Please tell me it wasn't after his 3rd stroke"
we think it was.
Rest in peace Brian - from Mike and Co!
spencer1973
says...
6:37pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Poccypoc
says...
7:10pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Tammy Flugh
says...
8:51pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Surely not! wrote:So, Farewell then,
I think Thribb should pen some lines
Brian Cobby,
The speaking clock from 1984 to 2007.
Now,
Your time has come.
KateMurrayRex
says...
11:24pm Sun 4 Nov 12
Cash Bull
says...
10:47am Mon 5 Nov 12
gnarlychaos
says...
10:28pm Wed 7 Nov 12
spencer1973 wrote:No it was at the third stroke
Maybe he choked eating a corn on the Cobby !.......ba boom tisch
warren52
says...
8:54pm Fri 23 Nov 12
Sadly, my wife also died this year which I find a tragic coincidence . I only learned of Brian's death when reading this week's Private Eye (God Bless EJ Thribb).
I would love to hear from Clive or any other relative of Brian and hope that the Argus can put us in touch.
plantwoman says...
10:29am Sun 4 Nov 12