David Bellamy
| David Bellamy OBE | |
|---|---|
David Bellamy in 1981
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| Born |
18 January 1933 London, England, UK |
| Education | Sutton County Grammar School; Chelsea College of Science and Technology (now part of King's College London); Bedford College (now part of Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| Employer | Durham University |
| Known for | botanist, author, broadcast presenter, environmental campaigner |
| Spouse(s) | Rosemary Froy (m. 1959) |
| Children | 5 |
David James Bellamy OBE (born 18 January 1933) is an English author, broadcaster, environmental campaigner and botanist. He has lived in County Durham since 1960.
Bellamy went to school in London, attending Chatsworth Road Primary School Cheam, Cheam Road Junior School and Sutton County Grammar School, where he initially showed an aptitude for English Literature and History; he then found his vocation because of an inspirational science teacher, studying Zoology, Botany, Physics and Chemistry in the sixth form. After he left school he worked as a laboratory assistant at Ewell Technical College before studying for an Honours degree in Botany at Chelsea College of Science and Technology. In 1960 he became a lecturer in the Botany department of Durham University.
He first came to public prominence as an environmental consultant at the time of the 1967 Torrey Canyon oil spill; he wrote Effects of Pollution from the Torrey Canyon on Littoral and Sublittoral Ecosystems, which was published in Nature [2]. He has written and presented some 400 television programmes on botany, ecology, and environmental issues. Bellamy is the originator, along with David Shreeve and the Conservation Foundation (which he also founded), of the Ford European Conservation Awards and has published scientific papers (between 1966 and 1986) and many books.
During the early 1980s he was a popular presenter of television programmes, including Bellamy's Backyard Safari. He was parodied by Lenny Henry on Tiswas with a "grapple me grapenuts" catchphrase. He once lent his distinctive voice to an advert for the blackcurrant drink Ribena, which claimed that 95% of British blackcurrants were used in Ribena. (This has now been changed to "Nearly all British blackcurrants are used in Ribena".)
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