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Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show Parkinson from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the UK and abroad. He also worked in radio and was described by The Guardian as "the great British talkshow host".
Michael Parkinson was born on 28 March 1935 in the village of Cudworth, in Barnsley. The son of a miner, he was educated at Barnsley Grammar School after passing the eleven-plus and in 1951 passed two O-Levels: in art and English language. He was a club cricketer and both he and his opening partner at Barnsley Cricket Club, Dickie Bird, had trials for Yorkshire together with Geoffrey Boycott. He once kept Boycott out of the Barnsley Cricket Club team by scoring a century and 50 in two successive matches. A young Michael Parkinson World XI played at the Scarborough Festival between 1988 and 1990.
Parkinson began his career as a journalist on local newspapers straight after leaving school. He worked as a features writer for the Manchester Guardian, working alongside Michael Frayn and later on the Daily Express in London. In the course of his two years' National Service, which began in July 1955, he received a commission as an officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps, becoming the youngest captain in the British Army at the time. He saw active service in Egypt in the Suez Crisis as a British Army press liaison officer.
During the 1960s, Parkinson moved into television, working on current-affairs programmes for the BBC and Manchester-based Granada Television. He was one of the presenters on the five-times-a-week news show Twenty-Four Hours on BBC1 from March 1966 until January 1968. From 1969 he presented Granada's Cinema, a late-night film review programme, before in July 1971 presenting his BBC series Parkinson, which ran until April 1982 and from January 1998 until December 2007, leaving the BBC for ITV1 midway through the second run, which concluded after 31 series. By his own reckoning, he had interviewed 2,000 of the world's celebrities. Parkinson was one of the original "Famous Five" line-up of TV-am's Good Morning, Britain in 1983, with Angela Rippon, Anna Ford, David Frost and Robert Kee. Parkinson presented the weekend edition of the programme until February 1984.
He also took over as host of Thames Television's Give Us a Clue from Michael Aspel from 1984, while in 1985, he stood in for Barry Norman as presenter of Film 85.
In 1987 and 1988, Parkinson hosted fifteen episodes of Parkinson One to One for Yorkshire Television, a series of interview programmes which continued in the style of his BBC talk show but with each episode dedicated to a single celebrity guest.
On Halloween 1992, Parkinson appeared as himself in the television drama Ghostwatch as the studio link during a fictional, apparently live, paranormal investigation. However, the cinéma vérité style in which it was shot led to complaints from viewers who believed it depicted real events. From 1995 to 1999, he hosted the BBC One daytime programme Going for a Song. He again appeared as himself in Richard Curtis's 2003 romantic comedy film, Love Actually, interviewing the character Billy Mack, played by Bill Nighy. In October 2003, Parkinson had a controversial interview with Meg Ryan while she was in the UK to promote In the Cut, which he called his most difficult television moment.
On 26 June 2007, Parkinson announced his retirement:
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Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (28 March 1935 – 16 August 2023) was an English television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show Parkinson from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the UK and abroad. He also worked in radio and was described by The Guardian as "the great British talkshow host".
Michael Parkinson was born on 28 March 1935 in the village of Cudworth, in Barnsley. The son of a miner, he was educated at Barnsley Grammar School after passing the eleven-plus and in 1951 passed two O-Levels: in art and English language. He was a club cricketer and both he and his opening partner at Barnsley Cricket Club, Dickie Bird, had trials for Yorkshire together with Geoffrey Boycott. He once kept Boycott out of the Barnsley Cricket Club team by scoring a century and 50 in two successive matches. A young Michael Parkinson World XI played at the Scarborough Festival between 1988 and 1990.
Parkinson began his career as a journalist on local newspapers straight after leaving school. He worked as a features writer for the Manchester Guardian, working alongside Michael Frayn and later on the Daily Express in London. In the course of his two years' National Service, which began in July 1955, he received a commission as an officer in the Royal Army Pay Corps, becoming the youngest captain in the British Army at the time. He saw active service in Egypt in the Suez Crisis as a British Army press liaison officer.
During the 1960s, Parkinson moved into television, working on current-affairs programmes for the BBC and Manchester-based Granada Television. He was one of the presenters on the five-times-a-week news show Twenty-Four Hours on BBC1 from March 1966 until January 1968. From 1969 he presented Granada's Cinema, a late-night film review programme, before in July 1971 presenting his BBC series Parkinson, which ran until April 1982 and from January 1998 until December 2007, leaving the BBC for ITV1 midway through the second run, which concluded after 31 series. By his own reckoning, he had interviewed 2,000 of the world's celebrities. Parkinson was one of the original "Famous Five" line-up of TV-am's Good Morning, Britain in 1983, with Angela Rippon, Anna Ford, David Frost and Robert Kee. Parkinson presented the weekend edition of the programme until February 1984.
He also took over as host of Thames Television's Give Us a Clue from Michael Aspel from 1984, while in 1985, he stood in for Barry Norman as presenter of Film 85.
In 1987 and 1988, Parkinson hosted fifteen episodes of Parkinson One to One for Yorkshire Television, a series of interview programmes which continued in the style of his BBC talk show but with each episode dedicated to a single celebrity guest.
On Halloween 1992, Parkinson appeared as himself in the television drama Ghostwatch as the studio link during a fictional, apparently live, paranormal investigation. However, the cinéma vérité style in which it was shot led to complaints from viewers who believed it depicted real events. From 1995 to 1999, he hosted the BBC One daytime programme Going for a Song. He again appeared as himself in Richard Curtis's 2003 romantic comedy film, Love Actually, interviewing the character Billy Mack, played by Bill Nighy. In October 2003, Parkinson had a controversial interview with Meg Ryan while she was in the UK to promote In the Cut, which he called his most difficult television moment.
On 26 June 2007, Parkinson announced his retirement: