Hughie Green was born on 2nd February 1920 in Kent (his father was Canadian).
His parents were not part of directly showbusiness, but his grandfather had been the
famous music hall entertainer Harry Tate.
It was not long before young Hughie started showing the same talent: he was
regularly appearing in music hall before his tenth birthday, and had a
respectable film career by his mid-teens.
At the age of 13, he also toured as the producer and leader of a group of child
entertainers, known as "Hughies Gang".
His career grew and grew, and by the time he was nineteen years old, he had a
staff of 100 and a weekly radio show which he wrote and produced himself.
During WWII he was a pilot in the Canadian airforce.
It was in 1949 that the radio version of "Opportunity Knocks" was first aired on BBC,
but it was short-lived.
The young star was, however, quickly snapped up by the new ITV network.
His first show was the hugely popular "Double Your Money", one of the first TV quiz shows.
This, coupled with the later "The Sky's The Limit" proved he was an entertainer
with an uncanny knack with ordinary people.
However, he will probably be most remembered for his role as the presenter of
the TV version of "Opportunity Knocks", making stars such as
Bobby Crush, Bernie Flint and Lena Zavaroni.
Eventually, Green's obsessiveness and reputation for being difficult made him too
many enemies in TV management, and his show was cancelled.
Try as he might, he could not find a way back into television, and his career was
effectively over.
It was not until his death on 3rd May 1997 that he really moved back into the
public eye. The controversial revelations at his funeral were seized by the
tabloids (he was the genetic father of Paula Yates - the troubled ex-wife of
Bob Geldoff). Note Jess Yates (a Sunday-evening religious show host) was
considered to be Paula's father until recent DNA tests proved Hughie was her
actual father.
Thanks to David Noades for information and pictures
