Peter Oakley
| Peter Oakley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
20 August 1927 Norwich, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 23 March 2014 (aged 86) Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 2006–2014 |
| Known for | Vlogging, autobiography |
| Website | http://askgeriatric.com |
| Internet information | |
| Web alias(es) | geriatric1927 |
| Web hosting service(s) | YouTube |
| Signature phrase | "Hello, YouTubers" or "Good evening, YouTubers" |
Peter Oakley (20 August 1927 – 23 March 2014) was a pensioner from Bakewell, Derbyshire, England. He was better known by his pseudonym geriatric1927 on the video sharing website YouTube.
Making his YouTube debut in August 2006 with Telling it all, a series of five-to-ten minute autobiographical videos, Oakley gained immediate popularity with a wide section of the YouTube community. Amongst the autobiographical details revealed in his videos are that he served as a radar mechanic during World War II, that he had a lifelong love of motorcycles, and that he lived alone as a widower and pensioner.
His unforeseen rise has been widely reported by international media outlets and online news sources and blogs. After resisting all media attention for a long time (including requests for interviews, photographs, and attempts to identify him), insisting that he only wished to converse with the YouTube community in an informal and personal way, Oakley finally gave his first interview, for the BBC's The Money Programme, which was aired on BBC Two on 16 February 2007.
By mid-2006, Oakley was the most subscribed user on YouTube. His rise to the #1 position took place in just over a week. In the process, he displaced users who had been around since the site's launch over a year before, including NBC-signed Brooke Brodack. In November that year he had 30,000 subscribers. By June 2012, Oakley had recorded over 350 videos.
Oakley was later diagnosed with cancer which was too far advanced for treatment. He posted his final video on 12 February 2014, and died a month later on the morning of 23 March 2014.
After Oakley's introductory video, "First Try", which has been viewed over three million times, he began producing his successful autobiographical series, Telling It All. These pushed him into Internet celebrity almost overnight, gaining mention in various media, such as BBC News and GMTV, as well as prompting the creation of websites bearing his user name. In "Telling it all 7", Oakley repudiated those sites, saying he was in no way affiliated with them and had no say or control over their content.
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