Vernon Corea

Vernon Corea
Radio Ceylon/SLBC and BBC Broadcaster
Birth name	Hector Vernon Ivan Corea
Born	(1927-09-11)11 September 1927 Kurana, Sri Lanka
Died	23 September 2002(2002-09-23) (aged 75) New Malden, United Kingdom
Show	Ponds Hit Parade
Station(s)	Radio Ceylon
Time slot	7 p.m. Weekdays
Show	London Sounds Eastern
Station(s)	BBC Radio London
Time slot	7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Sundays
Style	Eastern Music Show Host
Country	United Kingdom

Vernon Corea (11 September 1927 – 23 September 2002) was a pioneer radio broadcaster with 45 years of public service broadcasting both in Sri Lanka and the UK. He joined Radio Ceylon, South Asia's oldest radio station, in 1956 and later the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. During his time he presented some of the most popular radio shows in South Asia, including The Maliban Show, Dial-a-Disc, Holiday Choice, Two For the Money, Take It Or Leave It, Saturday Stars, To Each His Own,Kiddies Corner, and Old Folks at Home. He was well known not only in Sri Lanka, but right across the Indian Sub-Continent from the late 1950s to the 1970s – this was in the heyday of Radio Ceylon, the oldest radio station in South Asia.

Corea was born in Kurana, Katunayake in Ceylon on 11 September 1927. His parents were Reverend Canon Ivan Corea and Ouida Corea, and was the brother of Ernest Corea a prominent journalist and former Ambassador to the United States. Rev. Corea was Vicar of St. Luke's Church, Borella, and St. Paul's Church, Milagiriya. His family hailed from the west coast town of Chilaw in Sri Lanka and were direct descendants of General Dominicus Corea, also known as Edirille Rala who was tasked to take over Kotte in 1596 for King Vimala Dharmasurya I. His grandfather was Dr. James Alfred Ernest Corea, brother of the famed freedom fighters of Sri Lanka, Charles Edgar Corea and Victor Corea, founders of the Chilaw Association and the Ceylon National Congress. Recognising their role in the independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi, known as the 'Father of India,' visited Chilaw on his first and only visit to Ceylon in 1927 and met Vernon's grandfather in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya.'

Vernon Corea was educated at Royal College, Colombo a well known education institution, in Sri Lanka. He represented the school in tennis and was fully involved in the world of drama and the debating society. He was sent by his father to Bishop’s College, Calcutta,India for training into the priesthood. In Calcutta he was elected President of the Ceylon Students Association and acted in drama performances. He felt that the priesthood was not his vocation and returned to Ceylon, after the death of his mother.