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H1: Allegedly, Bob Cuddihy was a journalist who left a lasting impact on television in Scotland during the 1970s and 1980s. His charismatic personality and mischievous sense of humor made him a beloved figure among viewers and colleagues alike.
Bob Cuddihy’s family history was marked by tragedy, with both his parents passing away at a young age. Despite these hardships, he found solace in his education and eventually pursued a career in journalism.
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After studying at Napier College and Edinburgh University, Cuddihy embarked on a successful career at STV, where he became a well-known reporter and presenter. His versatility as a broadcaster allowed him to interview a wide range of personalities, from politicians to Nobel laureates, showcasing his intellectual prowess and communication skills.
Beyond his professional achievements, Cuddihy was known for his vibrant social life and love for Edinburgh’s pub scene. His larger-than-life personality and impeccable sense of style made him a recognizable figure in the city’s social circles.
Despite facing health challenges in his later years, Cuddihy continued to charm friends and acquaintances with his unique blend of wit and warmth. His legacy lives on through his family and the memories of those who knew him.
In the end, Bob Cuddihy’s story is a testament to the power of resilience and the enduring impact of a life lived to the fullest. His contributions to journalism and broadcasting will always be remembered, making him a true icon in the history of Scottish television.
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Bob Cuddihy was a journalist who was one of the best-known faces on television in Scotland in the 1970s and 1980s. His 17-year tenure as a reporter and presenter with STV brought him into contact with an array of political, business and cultural figures, many of whom developed a friendship with the American, seduced by his vivacious personality which was allied to a twin compulsion for mischief and over-indulgent fun.
The Cuddihys had emigrated from Ireland in the late 19th century. They prospered in New York, developing a successful publishing business and building property at 1088 Park Avenue to rent to Irish immigrants. It was in New York that Cuddihy was born in 1946 but the family story was, however, marked by searing tragedy as first his father died in a car accident in 1957, aged 32, and then his mother, in similar circumstances, in 1961.
The five Cuddihy children were the subject of guardianship proceedings in the New York courts, the upshot of which saw them arrive in the UK in 1962 after their uncle Tom was appointed court guardian. Young Bob and his sister Deedee ended up at the radical Kilquhanity School in Castle Douglas, while their brothers, Christopher and Sean, and sister Mikey were placed at Summerhill school in Suffolk. Kilquhanity was a school run by John and Morag Aitkenhead, who became surrogate parents to the emotionally traumatised teenager.
Writing an obituary of John Aitkenhead in 1998, Cuddihy described him as “the last of a great generation of Scots”, adding that he “shared a common belief of freedom in education and the happiness of the children, allowing them to express their humanity”.
In 1966 Cuddihy left Kilquhanity and took qualifications at Napier College as a passport to entry to Edinburgh University. His activity on campus was feverish. He was on the student publications board, and ran the successful rectoral campaign of Kenneth Allsop in 1968 following Malcolm Muggeridge’s resignation from the position. He was prominent in the anti-apartheid movement, campaigning against the university holding South African shares.
He also set up the Islander newspaper on Arran, a radical fortnightly publication which was a precursor to the West Highland Free Press. Supporters included Brian Wilson and George Robertson. Cuddihy also produced The Red Paper in 1970, a compendium of progressive articles on education. The same year he married Elizabeth Bryden in Lockerbie. The marriage produced three children, Aimee, Kate and Patrick, although the relationship would not last long after Patrick’s birth.
In 1972, Cuddihy was recruited by Russell Galbraith as a reporter for STV, the interview board being impressed by his big personality and limitless stock of ideas. Cuddihy’s working life with Galbraith was the most significant of his career. Galbraith was a newspaper man when he joined STV in 1962, becoming a reporter, then director and for most of his tenure, a senior executive whose name would end the credits on programmes that represent a major television archive.
Cuddihy was a regular on Scotland Today and the political programme Ways and Means (1973-86), presided over by the avuncular Colin MacKay. He was a versatile broadcaster. Interviews with senior politicians didn’t trouble him, nor his interview with the Nobel prizewinning author Saul Bellow. He could turn his hand to feature reporting and was not averse to dressing as a pantomime dame to do the “and finally” at Christmas.
He worked on programmes featuring the former Conservative prime minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home and the British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, and fronted documentaries on various stories linked to the world wars. He interviewed five British prime ministers, including his friend Gordon Brown when he was making headlines in the 1970s, as well as Richard Nixon, the former US president, and Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state. As evidence of his academic interest in defence policy, Cuddihy was awarded a Nato fellowship, which involved interviewing the likes of Denis Healey and Condoleeza Rice.
Cuddihy had the intellectual range and presentational flair to go to the top of British television. That he didn’t was partly because of a certain anarchy that he brought to the business of work — and, by his own admission, his bohemian side, which in full flow led to a certain hedonism that ruled all. He was a force beyond nature when in full cry. Immaculately attired in a Gieves and Hawkes suit, a changing array of coloured spectacles and a wardrobe of tassled loafers, he cut a dashing figure around Edinburgh and its bars.
He would pick up the political gossip in the Jinglin’ Geordie before heading to another hostelry to gather the news from the courts, then to the New Town to meet perhaps an artistic impressario. Cuddihy’s Edinburgh was never dull and in his heyday there were few in the city’s establishment who had not supped with him. He left STV in 1989, setting up a public relations and media training company, Bowman Cuddihy & Sullivan. He also worked for Radio Forth, presenting Edinburgh festival coverage from the Spiegeltent, the format ready-made for his manic and unstructured style.
After devolution, he worked for the National Pharmacy Association and its Scottish members, providing advice in their interaction with government. However, he missed television enormously. It provided an opportunity to meet interesting people and it gave him a stage on which to perform. Without it, a little element of his joie de vivre died, but only a little.
His morale was probably at its lowest when the ultimate tonic arrived in time, and it arrived in the form of Maggie Havergal. She provided the charm and intellectual stimulus he needed, but she also kept his more impulsive side in check. They married in February 1999 and would enjoy 25 years of requited love. She survives him, as do his brothers Christopher and Sean, sisters Deedee and Mikey and his children, Aimee, Kate and Patrick.
Cuddihy loved public houses, especially Edinburgh’s. They were his theatre and there were few stages that he didn’t grace, from the urbane charm of The Cafe Royal, to the hum of debate in The Abbotsford to the earthy good humour of The Port O’Leith when under the ownership of the legendary Mary Moriarty, and where he held an annual Fourth of July party. As he grew older, ill health came calling. In the last two years of his life he rarely left his flat but entertained friends to cocktails and conversazione, all in his unique style. Even when struggling, the old Cuddihy, a whirlwind of fun, was never far away.
Bob Cuddihy, journalist and broadcaster, was born on September 11, 1946. He died after a long illness on October 23, 2024, aged 78.
