MICHAEL PARKINSON
Michael Parkinson was born in 1935 in Cudworth, near Barnsley, and was educated at Barnsley Grammar School.
His early journalistic experience was gained on several local newspapers in Yorkshire and then the Manchester Guardian until he became a feature writer with The Daily Express in London.
Michael's first work in television was as a current affairs producer at Granada Television - Scene at 6.30, Afternoon Edition, World in Action - then as a reporter for BBC's 24 Hours.
In 1969, he took over the presentation of Granada's Cinema series.
In 1971, he compered a regular afternoon show, Teabreak, for Thames Television. At one stage he was joined by his wife Mary, who later presented the programme in her own right.
Michael presented his own BBC talk show entitled Parkinson for 11 years until 1982.
Essential viewing for millions each week, it ran to 361 editions and featured nearly a thousand of the world's most famous people.
From 1979 until 1982 he also presented Parkinson for ABC and Channel 10 in Australia.
Michael's other broadcasting credits include: The Movie Quiz, Where in the World (BBC, 1960s), Give Us A Clue (Thames Television, 1984 to 1992), All Star Secrets (LWT, 1984 to 1986), Desert Island Discs (BBC Radio 4, 1986 to 1987), Parkinson - One to One (Yorkshire Television, 1987 to 1988), Parky (Thames Television, 1989) and The Help Squad (TVS, 1991 to 1992). From 1995 to 1999 he hosted the very popular Going For A Song (BBC ONE). In October 1992 Michael played the lead in Ghostwatch, a BBC ONE play. It was highly controversial, and received the largest audience of any BBC drama production for ten years. Both Michael and the play were nominated for Bafta awards.
Throughout his career he has also broadcast extensively on Radio. From 1990 to 1992 he presented the Michael Parkinson Show for LBC - a daily, live, three hour discussion programme on everyday events. From 1994 to 1996 he presented Parkinson On Sport, a weekly programme on Radio Five Live. In 1996, Michael launched a Sunday morning show - Parkinson's Sunday Supplement - on Radio 2 in which he plays his favourite music and talks to his special guests.
Alongside this he remained a busy journalsist and prolific writer. In 1965, he began writing a weekly sports column for The Sunday Times, selections of which have been published in four books: Football Daft (1968), Cricket Mad (1969), Sporting Fever (1974) and Bats in the Pavilion (1977).
In 1975, he also published Best - An Intimate Biography about George Best and A-Z of Soccer.
Other publications include The Woofits (1980), Parkinson's Lore (1981), The Best of Parkinson (1982), Sporting Lives (1992), Sporting Profiles (1995), Parkinson on Golf (1999), and Parkinson on Football (2001). In 1990 Michael joined The Daily Telegraph writing a regular weekly column on sport for the paper, as well as contributing to other periodicals.
In 1995 Michael was named as Sports Feature Writer of the year at the British Sport Journalism Awards. The judges praised him for, "masterful observations of the sports scene in general and for an outstanding portfolio".
Michael returned to the BBC during the summer of 1995 to present a highly acclaimed series of late night tributes to some of the all-time greats of the entertainment world in Parkinson: The Interviews.
Looking back on some of his favourite guests, Michael introduced highlights from his original interviews, together with clips of unforgettable performances by the entertainers themselves.
This proved so popular, a second series followed in 1996, together with a Christmas Special.
A third series broadcast in the autumn in 1997 included Ingrid Bergman, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Bette Midler.
Michael hosted the BBC's Auntie's All Time Greats, as part of the TV60 celebrations. The two-hour special, a celebration of the BBC's finest programmes and artists, was watched by 12.5 million viewers.
In February 1997 the British Film Institute (BFI) launched TV97 - A Big Festival of the Small Screen. Michael introduced the Dennis Potter Memorial Evening, the opening event, at which he was presented with a Fellowship to the BFI in recognition of his contribution to television.
Following the enormous popularity of the series featuring past interviews, Parkinson returned to BBC ONE in January 1998.
Once again the series was a huge success and featured guests such as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir Elton John, Billy Connolly and Ewan McGregor.
Another highly acclaimed series followed in January 1999, kicking off with a George Michael special.
During 1998 Michael won awards for his work in three different branches of the media - a feat thought to be unique.
He won a Sony Radio Award for Parkinson's Sunday Supplement, was named Sports Writer of the Year at the Press Gazette British Press Awards and Media Personality of the Year by the Variety Club.
He also received special Gold Awards from Comic Heritage and the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and was voted Yorkshire Man of the Year.
He was also voted Best Talk Show Host in the National TV Awards.
1999 brought Michael a new set of awards: Cover Magazine's Best Sports Writer, the British Press Guild's Best TV Performer in an Non-Acting Role and the prestigious British Academy of Film Television and Arts (Bafta) award for Best Light Entertainment Performance, which is the first time ever the ceremony's presenter has also been a winner.
In July 1999 Michael was the proud recipient of an honorary doctorate from Lincolnshire and Humberside University and later that year won the National Television Awards' Best Chat Show for Parkinson for the second time.
The spring and summer months of 1999 were busy for Michael: a Radio 2 series, Parkinson's Choice, began in May giving Michael the opportunity to play the giants of popular music.
A CD compilation of the same name, featuring many of these classics tracks, was released by Universal Jazz in early September to great success and Michael recorded a second series due to popular demand.
December brought the eagerly awaited return of another series of Parkinson, starting with a very special interview with Sir Paul McCartney.
In March 2000 Michael was honoured by the Media Society and received its annual award for his outstanding contribution to the media.
In June of 2000, Michael was delighted and proud to be included in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and was awarded a CBE.
In October 2001, following other successful series of Parkinson on BBC ONE, the programme won The National Television Award for Most Popular Talk Show for the fourth time running.
In April 2004, it was announced that Michael would leave BBC ONE. He moved to ITV for another successful 3 years of Parkinson during which he also found time to host the Classical Brit Awards, the Royal Variety Awards and Michael Parkinson's Greatest Entertainers.
In 2007 he was given the Bernard Delfont Award for Outstanding Contribution to Showbusiness by the Variety Club of Great Britain.
2007 was also the year he decided to retire from both the talk show and the hugely successful and influential Sunday Supplement. He is now concentrating on writing his autobiography, gratefully accepting his Knighthood for services to broadcasting and considering Television projects through his newly formed Production Company, Parkinson Productions.