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".

Early life

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.