Julia Somerville
| Julia Mary Fownes Somerville OBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Julia Mary Fownes Somerville 14 July 1947 Wells, Somerset, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Journalist, newsreader |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Notable credit(s) |
BBC Nine O'Clock News ITV Lunchtime News ITV News at Ten Rip Off Britain |
| Spouse(s) | Stephen Band (m. 1970-75) Ray Gowdridge (m. 1984-1992) Sir Jeremy Dixon (m. ???—) |
| Children | Joseph Gowdridge Rachael Gowdridge |
Julia Mary Fownes Somerville, Lady Dixon, OBE (born 14 July 1947, Wells, Somerset) is an English television news reader and reporter who has worked for the BBC and ITN.
Granddaughter of Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville (1882-1949) of Dinder House in Somerset, Somerville was educated at Airthrie Preparatory School in Cheltenham and Headington School in Oxford, graduating (1969) from the University of Sussex (BA English Literature).
After graduation, Somerville joined publisher IPC, working on Homes and Gardens magazine, a Women's Journal, the PR section of Woman's Own. Then for two years she was editor of a computer group's house magazine.
Somerville joined the BBC in 1972 as a sub-editor in the radio newsroom, and then became a reporter in 1978. In 1981, she became Labour Affairs correspondent and joined BBC Television News in 1983 to become one of the most recognised faces on television, co-presenting the BBC Nine O'Clock News. Somerville was the anchor on the BBC News report broadcast on 23 October 1984 which Bob Geldof watched and inspired Band Aid, and ultimately Live Aid.
Somerville moved to ITN in 1987, where she co-presented the Lunchtime News and also deputised as presenter of News at Ten. In addition she presented 3D, a weekly ITV current affairs programme. She was diagnosed as having a brain tumour in August 1992 and after neurosurgery recovered well and was a member of the News at Ten team until it ended a 32-year run in 1999. She remained at ITN until October 2001, presenting the ITV Lunchtime News with John Suchet and was the launch anchor for the ITN News Channel.
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