Richard Whiteley

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Richard Whiteley bigraphy, stories - English television presenter

Richard Whiteley : biography

28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005

John Richard Whiteley, OBE, DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English broadcaster and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show Countdown. Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel (not counting a programme montage). Despite his intelligence, Whiteley enjoyed projecting the image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner, his fondness for excruciatingly bad puns, and his bold, sometimes garish wardrobe.

Thanks to over twenty years’ worth of nightly instalments of Countdown as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme Calendar and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee, the young girl who appeared on the BBC’s iconic Test Card F.

Honours and awards

Whiteley became a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2003, and was appointed OBE in the June 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to broadcasting.

TV appearances

  • Calendar News
  • Countdown (1982–2005)
  • The Richard Whiteley Show (1995–1996)http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/25686
  • Richard Whiteley Unbriefed (1999)http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/31570
  • Holiday: You Call the Shots (2001–2002)
  • Top Gear (2003)

Personal life

Whiteley was born in Bradford and spent his childhood in Baildon: his family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill, which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School, Yorkshire, where his English teacher was Russell Harty. He later became a governor of the school. Leaving school with seven O-levels and three A-levels, in 1962 he read English at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he gained a third class degree.In 2001, Whitely stood as rector for Dundee University http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1148562.stm

In May 2005, Whiteley was taken into hospital with pneumonia. He made a slow recovery from the illness, but doctors discovered problems with his heart and carried out an emergency operation for endocarditis on 24 June. This operation was not successful, and two days later Whiteley died at Leeds General Infirmary.

He had suffered from asthma since he was very young, and was a diabetic. The edition of Countdown due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June when Countdown returned the following day. A number of shows had already been recorded when he went into hospital and his final show was broadcast on 1 July 2005 which was the grand final of the 53rd series. Two standalone episodes featuring former contestants, and recorded in 2003 to be broadcast whenever Channel 4’s cricket coverage finishes early, also remained in the vaults to be screened at a later date. As Channel 4 no longer covers cricket they may remain in the archives indefinitely, however one game’s details has been leaked onto the internet.http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5055http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_S(25)

Vorderman has written of her close friendship with Whiteley "The special friendship I shared with Richard was to become one of the most enduring relationships of my life and one that has probably provided me with more fun than any other." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1310958/Countdown-heartache-Carol-Vorderman-relives-hours-beloved-star-Richard-Whiteley.html

Whiteley had a son, James, born in 1987 from a relationship with fashion journalist and television presenter Lesley Ebbetts.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0925809/bio

Obituaries

  • . (BBC News, 26 June 2005).
  • . (Yorkshire Post, 27 June 2005).
  • (Daily Telegraph, 28 June 2005)
  • (The Times, 28 June 2005) (requires account)
  • (The Independent, 28 June 2005)
  • (bbc.co.uk, 10 November 2005)