Carleton Hobbs worked on over 4000 radio pro-
ductions. He was the son of a Ma-
jor-General and served as a sol-
dier in the Great War. He trained at RADA.

His first theatre engagement was in 1924 in LON-
DON LIFE. He joined the newly-formed BBC Drama Repertory Company in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. He rapidly became a household name in what was con-
sidered the `Gol-
den Age’of Radio.

Loved by his peers, he was affectionately known as `Hobbo’. His most famous role was as `Sherlock Hol-
mes’ whose first radio appearance was in 1952 for Children’s Hour. By public de-
mand, this moved to an adult slot where it ran for 17 years.

Hobbo was a ra-
dio actor exem-
plifying that "less is more": he could communi-
cate a thinking feeling presence with very few words, and was famed for his use of silence.

He worked with film director Alfred Hitchcock, playing a small part in The 39 Steps.

On his death in 1978, the BBC’s Student Acting Prize, founded in 1953, was rena-
med The Carleton Hobbs Award to honour and com-
memorate one of Radio acting’s first great stars.