Adams, Douglas Noël (1952–2001), writer, was born on 11 March 1952 at the maternity hospital in Cambridge, the son of Christopher Douglas Adams (d. 1985) and his wife, Janet Dora Sydney, née Donovan.
Article
Adams, Douglas Noël (1952–2001), writer
Nick Webb
Article
Andrews, Eamonn (1922–1987), radio and television broadcaster
Malcolm Morris
revised
Andrews, Eamonn (1922–1987), radio and television broadcaster, was born on 19 December 1922 at 11 Synge Street, Dublin, Ireland, the second of five children and elder son of William Andrews, carpenter, and his wife, Margaret Farrell. He was educated at a Dublin convent and the ...
Article
Arlott, (Leslie Thomas) John (1914–1991), writer and broadcaster
David Rayvern Allen
Arlott, (Leslie Thomas) John (1914–1991), writer and broadcaster, was born at Cemetery Lodge, Chapel Street, Basingstoke, Hampshire, on 25 February 1914, the only son of William John Arlott (1883–1959), cemetery registrar, and his wife, Ellen (Nellie) Jenvey-Clarke (c.1884–1975). He was educated at ...
Article
Bailey, Trevor Edward (1923–2011), cricketer, broadcaster, and journalist
Dilwyn Porter
Bailey, Trevor Edward (1923–2011), cricketer, broadcaster, and journalist, was born on 3 December 1923 at 11 Imperial Avenue, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, the younger son (there were no daughters) of Bertrand Fothergill Bailey (1884–1947), a civil servant at the Admiralty, and his wife, Muriel Elsie, ...
Article
Barclay, William (1907–1978), New Testament scholar, writer, and broadcaster
J. D. Douglas
Barclay, William (1907–1978), New Testament scholar, writer, and broadcaster, was born on 5 December 1907 in Wick, Caithness, the only child of William Dugald Barclay (1864–1936), a bank manager and lay evangelist, and his wife, Barbara Linton McLeish (1867–1932). In 1912 the family left for the industrial south-west when ...
Article
Barnes, Sir George Reginald (1904–1960), radio and television director and college head
Laurence Gilliam
revised
Barnes, Sir George Reginald (1904–1960), radio and television director and college head, was born in Byfleet, Surrey, on 13 September 1904, the son of Sir Hugh Shakespear Barnes (1853–1940), lieutenant-governor of Burma, and his second wife, Edith Helen, sister of Sir Kenneth Barnes...
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Baxter, Raymond Frederic (1922–2006), broadcaster and writer
Nicholas Moss
Baxter, Raymond Frederic (1922–2006), broadcaster and writer, was born on 25 January 1922 at 132 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex, the son of Frederic Garfield Baxter (1881–1968), science teacher, and his wife, Rosina Ellen, née Retzbach (1884–1934), also a teacher. At the time of his birth registration his parents lived at ...
Article
Bell, Sam Hanna (1909–1990), writer and broadcaster
Norman Vance
Bell, Sam Hanna (1909–1990), writer and broadcaster, was born in Glasgow on 16 October 1909, the eldest of the three sons of James Hanna Bell (1879–1918), a journalist on, and later manager of, the Glasgow Herald, of Ulster descent, and his Ulster-born wife, ...
Article
Bentine [formerly Bentin], Michael (1922–1996), comedian
David Nathan
Bentine [formerly Bentin], Michael (1922–1996), comedian, was born on 26 January 1922, in Watford, Hertfordshire, the second of two sons of Adan (later Adam) Bentin, aeronautical engineer, and his wife, Florence (d. 1949), daughter of James Dawkins, a Southend Water Board...
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Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster courtier
Kingsley Amis
revised by M. Clare Loughlin-Chow
revised
Betjeman, Sir John (1906–1984), poet, writer, and broadcaster, was born on 28 August 1906 at 52 Parliament Hill Mansions, north London, the only child of Ernest Edward Betjemann (1872–1934), a furniture manufacturer, and his wife, Mabel Bessie Dawson (1879–1952). The family name, of Dutch or German origin, can be traced back to an immigration in the late eighteenth century. The poet adopted his style of it about the age of twenty-one....
Article
Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), actor
David Parkinson
Brambell, (Henry) Wilfrid (1912–1985), actor, was born on 22 March 1912 at 6 Edenvale Road, Rathgar, co. Dublin, one of at least two sons of Henry Lytton Brambell, a cashier at the Guinness brewery, and his wife, Edith Marks (b. c.1879)...
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Briers, Richard David (1934–2013), actor
Jonathan Croall
Briers, Richard David (1934–2013), actor, was born on 14 January 1934 at the Nelson Hospital in Merton, south London, the elder child (his sister, Jane, was born in 1939) of Joseph Benjamin Briers (1901–1980), a 'commission agent' or bookmaker, and Morna Phyllis Richardson (1909–1992)...
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Carpenter, Humphrey William Bouverie (1946–2005), author, broadcaster, and musician
Libby Purves
Carpenter, Humphrey William Bouverie (1946–2005), author, broadcaster, and musician, was born on 29 April 1946 at the Radcliffe Maternity Home, Oxford, the only child of Harry James Carpenter (1901–1993), warden of Keble College and later bishop of Oxford, and his wife, Urith Monica, ...
Article
Carse, (Verner) Duncan (1913–2004), polar explorer and broadcaster
G. Hattersley-Smith
Carse, (Verner) Duncan (1913–2004), polar explorer and broadcaster, was born on 28 July 1913 at 35 Castletown Road, Fulham, London, the son of (Andreas) Duncan Carse, artist, and his wife, Florence Marion, née Soames. He was originally named Werner Duncan but this was soon changed to ...
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Chamberlain [married name Garrington], Elsie Dorothea (1910–1991), Congregational minister and radio broadcaster
Kenneth M. Wolfe
Chamberlain [married name Garrington], Elsie Dorothea (1910–1991), Congregational minister and radio broadcaster, was born on 3 March 1910 at 30 Canonbury Park North, Islington, London, the third child of James Arthur Chamberlain (d. 1956), Post Office technician and clerk, and his wife, ...
Article
Clarke, Nicholas Campbell [Nick] (1948–2006), broadcaster and writer
David Hendy
Clarke, Nicholas Campbell [Nick] (1948–2006), broadcaster and writer, was born on 9 June 1948 at Mount Alvernia Nursing Home, Godalming, Surrey, the son of John Campbell Clarke, journalist, and his wife, (Wilda) Ruth, formerly Massy, née McNeile. He was educated at Bradfield College, Berkshire...
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Connor, Edric Esclus (1913–1968), actor and singer
Stephen Bourne
Connor, Edric Esclus (1913–1968), actor and singer, was born on 2 August 1913 in the village of Mayaro, Trinidad, the son of Edwin Connor, shoemaker and small farmer. At sixteen he won a scholarship from the Trinidad government railway to study engineering at the ...
Article
Cooke, (Alfred) Alistair (1908–2004), broadcaster and writer
Paul Donovan
Cooke, (Alfred) Alistair (1908–2004), broadcaster and writer, was born Alfred Cooke on 20 November 1908 at 7 Isaac Street, Salford, Lancashire. He was the younger son of Samuel Cooke (1874/5–1959), an iron fitter (whose creations included an antique metal weather-vane on top of ...
Article
Cooper, Joseph Elliott Needham (1912–2001), musician and broadcaster
Stephen Follows
Cooper, Joseph Elliott Needham (1912–2001), musician and broadcaster, was born on 7 October 1912, at Southdene, Southfield Road, Westbury-on-Trym, near Bristol, the youngest of the three children of Wilfrid Needham Cooper, manager of the Westbury branch of the National Provincial Bank, and his wife, ...
Article
Coren, Alan (1938–2007), humorous writer
Libby Purves
Coren, Alan (1938–2007), humorous writer, was born on 27 June 1938 at 2 Queensdown Road, Hackney, London, the son of Samuel Coren, builder and plumber, and his wife, Martha, née Coren, hairdresser. At the time of his birth registration his parents lived at ...
