Norman Hackforth

In the words of his obituarist in The Times, he appeared "with the Whispering Lunatics at the London Pavilion, and accompanying Fannie Ward (the suggestively clad 'Flapper Granny') as she titillated the patrons of the Willesden Empire".

[10] In 1947, Hackforth was recruited for a new radio panel show, Twenty Questions, a BBC adaptation of a successful American format.

A panel of contestants would attempt to deduce the identity of an object by asking a series of questions; Hackforth, as the "mystery voice", would announce the answer to listeners before they began.

[6] For many years he continued as the mystery voice, until Richard Dimbleby left the panel in 1965, when Hackforth changed roles and became a panellist.

[11] Coward appointed Hackforth musical director of the show, but inadvertently sabotaged him by casting in the leading role a singer well past her prime.

Before opening in London, the show had a twelve-week provincial tour during which Hackforth reluctantly cut the most vocally challenging music from the score.

[12] When Coward saw the production in Bristol he was distressed by the singing, but also found that "The orchestra was appalling, the orchestrations beneath contempt, and poor Norman conducted like a stick of wet asparagus.

He was intended to accompany Coward on his 1955 Las Vegas performances, but was unable to get an American work permit, and was replaced by Peter Matz.