Career
Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, Sharples started his musical career in 1934, when he joined the Freddy Platt band at the Carlton Ballroom, Rochdale along with Geoff Love. Sharples played piano, and Love played trombone. In 1963, Sharples conducted the London Festival Orchestra, augmented with military band, in a London Records" Phase 4 Stereo recording of Tschaikovsky"s 1812 Overture, backed with the same composer"s Nutcracker Suite, showing his skill as a "light classics" conductor.
Under the pseudonym "East. Ward" he also composed the theme music for the 1969 television series Fraud Squadron
He is perhaps best known as the musical director on the United Kingdom talent show Opportunity Knocks, with host Hughie Green, who routinely referred to him as "Uncle Bob" Sharples.
