successful appearances in ATV variety shows, Grade's uncle, impresario Lew Grade, gave Grayson a contract to front a show, Shut That Door! (1972), and slightly later, the Larry Grayson Show. In 1974 he released the single "Am I Just a Pretty Face" on Pye Records. Grayson also made two cameo appearances in the Midlands-based soap opera Crossroads, as a flouncing, difficult customer at the Crossroads Motel and as the chauffeur at the wedding of Meg Richardson, played by his close friend Noele Gordon. In real life Grayson could not drive. He also made a number of guest appearances in variety shows, chat shows and panel games. The Generation Game Grayson's popularity peaked when he was hired by the BBC to present the Saturday night show The Generation Game in 1978, as the replacement for Bruce Forsyth. The show was successful, once attracting an audience of 25 million (due to a strike at ITV) at its peak. Grayson was assisted by his co-star Isla St Clair, whom he frequently referred to as "my lovely Isla". Despite its popularity, by 1981 The Generation Game was being overtaken in the ratings by ITV's rival show Game for a Laugh. Grayson decided to leave The Generation Game in 1982 while it was still relatively successful, in the expectation that the BBC would offer him another high-profile Saturday night show; this did not materialise. Later life Grayson went into unintentional semi-retirement, enjoying time on his own at his house in Nuneaton with his pet dogs, although he did return to television to present the game show Sweethearts for ITV in 1987. He made a number of other TV appearances and radio broadcasts, including the Tom O'Connor hosted TV quiz show A Question of Entertainment, where he was one of the team captains in 1988. Grayson moved with Flo (his adoptive older sister) to Torquay, Devon, as part of his semi-retirement, but moved back to Nuneaton after just a couple of years when he became bored and missed his close family and friends. They lived in two separate neighbouring bungalows. Death Grayson's final public appearance was on 3 December 1994 at the Royal Variety Performance. During this performance he referred to his hiatus from television by commenting to the audience, "They thought I was dead!". On New Year's Eve 1994, Grayson was rushed into hospital suffering a perforated appendix. After being allowed home from hospital, Grayson