John Timpson
| John Timpson | |
|---|---|
John Timpson in the mid 1960s
|
|
| Born |
2 July 1928 Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex |
| Died |
19 November 2005 (aged 77) King's Lynn, Norfolk |
| Occupation | British journalist |
John Harry Robert Timpson OBE (2 July 1928 – 19 November 2005), was a British journalist, best known as a radio presenter. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, a boys' independent school in Northwood, London.
Born at Ridgeholme, 53 The Ridgeway, Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex, on leaving school he went straight into employment at the Wembley News as a sixteen-year-old cub reporter. After five years there and two years of national service in the Royal Army Service Corps, he married his wife Patricia née Whale in 1951 and moved to Norfolk. He then worked for the Eastern Daily Press until, in 1959, he started to work for BBC News as reporter, becoming deputy court correspondent in 1962 covering overseas royal visits. He remained in this post until 1967.
From 1964, he presented Newsroom on BBC 2, the first British television news programme to make the switch to colour on 1 July 1967. He later presented BBC's late evening Tonight programme.
Timpson co-presented the BBC Radio 4 programme Today from 1970 to 1976 and again from 1978 to 1986, working on Tonight during the gap. Initially appointed to steady a programme affected by the erratic Jack de Manio, he later presented in tandem with Robert Robinson and Brian Redhead among others, forming a popular partnership with the latter. Timpson became known as the more humorous of the two men with jocular asides like "Insulation - Britain lags behind" or "Crash course for learner drivers".
...
Wikipedia