Джим Боуэн: Комик және «Bullseye» ойынының жүргізушісі

English comedian and television personality

James Brown Whittaker (born Peter Williams; 20 August 1937 – 14 March 2018), known professionally as Jim Bowen, was an English stand up comedian, actor and television personality. He was the long time host of the ITV game show Bullseye, which he presented from its beginning in 1981 through to the end of its original run in 1995. In early adulthood, Bowen was a teacher and took part in local dramatic groups. He first appeared on television in The Comedians (1971) and he eventually devoted himself to comedy full time, appearing in other television shows in the 1970s. After the popular Bullseye, he subsequently worked for various radio stations and toured with stand up shows. Towards the end of his life he was affected by a number of strokes.

Bowen was born in Heswall, Wirral, Cheshire, to an unmarried mother by a working class couple, Joe Whittaker, a World War I veteran He grew up in Clayton le Moors, just outside Accrington, where Joe was a bricklayer for Accrington's Nori brick factory and Annie worked as a weaver at Atlas Street Mill. During his National Service, Bowen served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps from 1955 to 1957 as an ammunition inspector with the rank of Corporal. After making a serious error during the Suez Crisis, when he sent the wrong batch of ammunition to Barry Docks, He studied at Chester Diocesan Training College, eventually becoming a deputy headmaster of Caton Primary School near Lancaster. Bowen also appeared in TV dramas and comedies. In 1981 he played "Dad" in the Victoria Wood television play Happy Since I Met You. He played a crooked accountant in ITV's 1982 mini series Muck and Brass, and later guest starred in BBC1's Jonathan Creek and Channel 4's Phoenix Nights, playing the hotel owner Frank "Hoss" Cartwright. He subsequently appeared in Peter Kay's 2005 Comic Relief video for "Is This the Way to Amarillo"?

In 1981, Bowen became the presenter of a new ITV game show, Bullseye, which mixed general knowledge questions with darts. The show quickly became a popular feature of ITV's schedules on Sunday early evenings, achieving 15–20 million viewers and at times obtaining higher ratings than prime time soap operas. It ran for fourteen years. On the back of his fame, he delivered several speeches at the Oxford Union. Bowen was the presenter throughout, along with Tony Green as the darts commentator, and several of the catchphrases he used on the programme became well known (though he claimed never to have said "Super, smashing, great"). efn|At a 1992 Oxford Union address, Bowen was annoyed by a heckler asking him to say "super, smashing great"; he did so and followed it with "does that make you feel better? Yer dick head."

In 1999, Bowen began presenting on BBC Radio Lancashire but in 2002, after working there for three years, he resigned after referring to a guest on his show as a "nig nog". He apologised for the remark almost immediately, and afterwards stated "No racial connotation was ever intended". On 27 August 2012, Bowen reunited with Happy Daft Farm co presenter Sally Naden for a one off show on the station. Bowen returned to radio in 2009, presenting a mid morning radio show on 106.6 Indigo FM in Cumbria. In 2005, Bowen performed a solo show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe about Bullseye, called "You Can't Beat a Bit of Bully". He returned to Edinburgh in 2006 performing at Jongleurs from 8–28 August.

In 1959, Bowen married his colleague, Phyllis (née Owen). The couple lived at Melling with Wrayton near Lancaster. They had two children. Jim was instantly recognised in both his home area and when travelling to venues with the Personalised Number Plates J80 WEN which adorned several of his cars until he sold it in 2016. Bowen previously owned Arkholme for Kirkby Lonsdale railway station, on what is now the Leeds–Morecambe line between Wennington and Carnforth stations. He converted the main station building into a private dwelling.

In early 2011, it was announced that Bowen was recovering in the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, after having suffered two mild strokes. He had suffered the first stroke on 18 February and the second whilst in hospital. Before his two strokes, Bowen performed on cruise liners and gave corporate after dinner speeches. By 2012, he was recovering and regaining some mobility once more, and even started performing his stage show "You Can't Beat a Bit of Bully", but suffered a third stroke in November 2014, which left him struggling to walk and talk. He died at Royal Lancaster Hospital on 14 March 2018, aged 80.