Bobby George

For other people named Robert George, see Robert George (disambiguation).
Bobby George

On London Fields film set
Personal information
Full name Robert Francis George
Nickname King of Bling, Bobby Dazzler
Born (1945-12-16) 16 December 1945
Manor Park, Greater London, England
Darts information
Playing darts since 1976
Darts Winmau 23g
Laterality Right-handed
Walk-on music We Are the Champions by Queen
Organisation (see split in darts)
BDO 1977–2009
BDO majors - best performances
World Ch'ship Runner Up: 1980, 1994
World Masters Semi Final: 1979
World Darts Trophy Last 32: 2002
Int. Darts League Last 32 Group: 2005
Other tournament wins
Tournament Years
Essex Masters
North American Open
News of the World Darts Championship
Hainault Super League Singles
WDF Europe Cup Singles
Best Old Major Results
Butlins Grand Masters		 1976 1977 1978
1978
1979 1986
1976
1982
1979 1980
Updated on 7 January 2008.

Robert Francis "Bobby" George (born 16 December 1945) is an English television presenter and former professional darts player. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra to the sound of Queen's We Are the Champions.[1][2][3]

George won several leading darts tournaments, he won the News of the World Darts Championship twice and appeared in two BDO Darts World Championship finals and was the first full-time exhibition player. Since 1998, he has also worked for the BBC as a co-presenter and promoter of the game in their coverage of darts tournaments.[4]

Career

George took up darts at the age of 30, and quickly improved, winning the first tournament he entered[5] and making his first appearance at the World Masters less than a year later.[2] He has won several major tournaments, including the News of the World Championship in 1979 and 1986, the Butlins Grand Masters in 1979 and 1980, the North American Open in 1978 and the Nations Cup in 1980, as part of an England triples team with Tony Brown and John Lowe. George's News of the World victory in 1979 came without dropping a single leg, the only player to do so.

George has reached the final of the BDO World Darts Championship twice. His first final in 1980 was his first appearance in a BDO World Darts Championship: after beating Dave Whitcombe, Leighton Rees and Cliff Lazarenko, he lost to Eric Bristow.[6] George reached his second world final in 1994. After beating Russell Stewart and Martin Phillips, he broke his back when celebrating winning a set during his quarter final match against Kevin Kenny. George got through that match against Kenny by 4–2 in sets, having damaged his back when celebrating going 3–0 up. In his semi final match against Magnus Caris, George went two sets up, but then lost the next four sets and the opening two legs of the seventh set. When Caris missed a dart at double 18 to win the match, George responded by winning nine legs in a row to win the match 5–4 in sets. Competing in the final against doctor's advice, Wearing a steel corset, George lost 0–6 to John Part playing in extreme pain.

A few weeks after that final, it was found that he had literally broken his back and had to have eight titanium screws inserted into the base of his spine just so that he could stand upright. [7]

Since 1998, George has been a co-presenter and pundit on the BBC darts coverage, primarily of the BDO World Championship. He has also made several other television appearances, not all relating to darts. In 2004, he starred in the comedy film One Man and His Dog[8] and later followed in the footsteps of fellow professional darts player Andy Fordham by taking part in the ITV programme Celebrity Fit Club. In 2006, he appeared in a regular segment of Brainiac: Science Abuse series 4, in which he played darts in order to explode caravans. He was also a team captain in Showbiz Darts again alongside Fordham. In 2010, Bobby performed Run DMC's Walk this Way on Let's Dance for Sport Relief with Tony O'Shea, Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor.

His colourful character has enabled George to be successful on the darts exhibition circuit. He became the game's first full-time exhibition player when he stopped playing regular tournaments in 1986. In 2009, he teamed up with Bristow and John Lowe to tour theatres around the UK and Ireland, appearing in a show named Legends of the Oche which was presented and hosted by comedian Duncan Norvelle.[9] He appeared in a 2009 episode of BBC's Cash in the Attic.[10] He was one of the participants in the BBC Two series The Real Marigold Hotel, broadcast in 2016.[11]

Personal life

George was born in Manor Park, London. After leaving school, he had various jobs including as a nightclub bouncer and floor layer before taking up darts.

George lives with his wife and manager Marie (56) and their sons Robert George (28) and Richie George (26), at George Hall, an 18-bedroom self-built mansion he jokingly refers to as "the house that Bobby built". The Hall is on 12 acres (49,000 m2) of land once owned by William the Conqueror in Ardleigh near Colchester, on the borders of Essex and Suffolk.[2] The layout of the rooms has been designed to look like a dartboard. George is a keen fisherman, and within the George Hall grounds are well-stocked fishing lakes. George has two grandsons, Robert Jr (son of Robert) and Edward (son of Richie), who were born within 23 hours of each other in July 2013.

His son Richie is also a professional darts player. He reached the semi-final of the 2013 BDO World Darts Championship, losing to eventual champion Scott Waites.

George has worked as an ambassador for basic arithmetic, touring schools teaching children how darts can help with counting skills. [12]

Quotes

Tournament wins: (7)

World Championship Results

BDO

Career finals

BDO major finals: 4 (2 titles, 2 runners-up)

Legend
World Championship (0–2)
Grand Masters (2–0)
Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1979 Butlins Grand Masters England Bill Lennard unknown
Runner-up 1. 1980 World Championship England Eric Bristow 5–6 (s)
Winner 2. 1980 Butlins Grand Masters Wales Leighton Rees unknown
Runner-up 2. 1994 World Championship Canada John Part 0–6 (s)

WDF major finals: 1 (1 title)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1982 Europe Cup Singles England Eric Bristow 4–0 (s)

Independent major finals: 2 (2 titles)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score[N 1]
Winner 1. 1979 News of the World Championship England Alan Glazier 2–0 (l)
Winner 2. 1986 News of the World Championship United States Rick Ney 2–0 (l)
  1. 1 2 3 (l) = score in legs, (s) = score in sets.

Performance timeline

Tournament 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988–1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
BDO World Championship NYF DNP RU QF SF L32 L32 L16 L32 L32 DNP SF RU L32 DNQ L16 L16 DNQ L16 DNQ L32 DNQ
Winmau World Masters QF DNP SF L16 L32 QF DNP L32 L32 DNP L32 DNP L32 DNP L16 L128 DNP L128 L128 L64 L16 Prelim L136 DNP L136
British Professional Not held L16 L16 QF L32 L16 DNP DNP/NH Not held
MFI World Matchplay Not held L16 L16 DNP DNP/NH Not held
News of the World ??? W ??? W ???/NH Not held DNP Not held
Performance Table Legend
DNP Did not play at the event DNQ Did not qualify for the event NYF Not yet founded L# lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals SF lost in the semi-finals RU lost in the final W won the tournament

References

  1. ↑ Gerrard, Jasper (12 August 2008). "Bobby George adds up to more than just a darts dazzler". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  2. 1 2 3 Clayton, Lee (15 January 2007). "A wristful of dollars and the mother of all tales from the oche". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  3. ↑ Robertson, Stuart (1 January 2007). "An email conversation with Bobby George". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  4. ↑ Broadbent, Rick (8 January 2007). "Showman George is still holding court as the king of bling". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  5. ↑ "Bobby George". BBC Press Office. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  6. ↑ "Classic Arrows - Eric Bistow v Bobby George 1980". BBC Sport. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  7. ↑ "George whitewashed, Part satisfied". The Independent. London. 9 January 1994. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  8. ↑ "One Man and His Dog". IMDB. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  9. ↑ Smith, Giles (3 June 2008). "Bobby George and Eric Bristow on the League of Legends darts tour". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  10. ↑ "Cash in the Celebrity Attic, Series 1, Bobby George". BBC Two. 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Real Marigold Hotel". BBC Two. 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Smyth, Chris (8 January 2009). "How darts can help children to aim higher in jobs market". The Times. London. Retrieved 2010-08-15.

External links

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