Background
Humphrys was born in Splott, a poor working class district of central Cardiff, and was the younger brother of journalist and television presenter John Humphrys.
Humphrys was born in Splott, a poor working class district of central Cardiff, and was the younger brother of journalist and television presenter John Humphrys.
Humphrys was one of five children born to Winifred Mary (Matthews), a hairdresser, and Edward George Humphrys, a self-employed French polisher. Encouraged to do his homework, he passed the eleven plus exam and became a pupil at Cardiff High School, then a grammar school. After university, he became a newspaper journalist, working on various publications until he joined the Cardiff-based Western Mail.
From the early 1990s Humphrys began reporting on sport, a passion of his.
After suffering from pains in his shoulders in late 2007, he undertook an X-Ray examination under instruction from his doctor in May 2008, which revealed he was suffering from lung cancer, despite never having smoked. Humphrys confirmed his retirement in June 2008, before undertaking an interview with The Mail on Sunday in which he discussed his medical diagnosis.
Before he died he completed his autobiography Not a Proper Journalist. Humphrys was married with three children (two daughters, one son), and lived in Cardiff.
In 2009, local ice hockey side, the Cardiff Devils held a Nostalgia Night against the Hull Stingrays honouring Bob Humphrys" work with British Broadcasting Corporation Sport and the coverage of the Devils in the early 1990s.