Sid Waddell
| Sid Waddell | |
|---|---|
| Born |
10 August 1940 Alnwick, Northumberland, England |
| Died | 11 August 2012 (aged 72) Harrogate, England |
| Cause of death | Bowel cancer |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Sports commentator, television presenter |
| Years active | 1972–2012 |
| Known for |
Darts commentary One liners |
Darts commentary
Sid Waddell (10 August 1940 – 11 August 2012) was an English sports commentator and television personality. He was nicknamed the 'Voice of Darts' due to his fame as a darts commentator, and worked for Granada, Yorkshire, BBC, and Sky Sports television broadcasters. Due to his joke telling skills he was also nicknamed the Thief of Bad Gags, firstly by Dave Lanning. He was nominated for two prestigious awards for his work, and published several books.
The son of a Northumberland miner, he attended King Edward VI School,Morpeth, and he went on to obtain a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a 2:1 degree in Modern History. At Cambridge, Waddell played rugby for St John's, and the Cambridge University LX Club, the rugby second team. Injury brought him to darts and he started the inter-college darts competition. St John's lost in the final of this in 1961 to a team of trainee vicars from Selwyn College.
Waddell went into academia for a few years in 1962. He joined the Social Studies Department at Durham University and assisted the Professors of Politics and Economics in writing their books. He toyed with the idea of writing a book on trade unions but settled for folk singing in a duo with Charles E Hall called the Gravyboatmen. They played on BBC Tonight and ITV locally. In 1966, Waddell joined Granada Television working with Michael Parkinson on local news programmes. In 1968, he moved to Yorkshire Television. Between 1968 and 1974, Waddell was a producer for over 600 editions of local news programme, Calendar. He also devised the ITV network children's series The Flaxton Boys a historical adventure series that ran for three years from 1969.
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