One of the most famous British interviewers of the TV age, Sir Michael Parkinson, has died at the age of 88 and tributes have started pouring in.
Sir Michael, whose Saturday night chat show was regularly watched by an audience of 12 million people in the 1970s and early 1980s, died “peacefully” at home on Wednesday surrounded by his family.
He once estimated he had interviewed 2,000 of the world’s most famous people and among his most celebrated guests was Muhammad Ali, who appeared several times on his show and became a good friend.
Comedian Stephen Fry, writing on Instagram, said: “The genius of Parky was that unlike most people (and most of his guests, me included) he was always 100 percent himself. On camera and off. ‘Authentic’ is the word I suppose.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said he was a “broadcasting giant who set a gold standard for the television interview.”
Son of a Yorkshire Coal Miner
Sir Michael, nicknamed Parky by the tabloid press, was born in the coal mining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley in Yorkshire, in 1935 but was determined not to follow his father down the pit.He did national service in the British Army and saw action during the Suez crisis in 1956.
In 1959 he started work as a journalist with the Manchester Guardian and then, after stint at the Daily Express, joined Granada Television as a presenter of a current affairs programme in 1969.
Two years later he was hired by the BBC to host his own chat show, “Parkinson,” which would make him a household name.
The show was loosely based on the “Tonight Show” format, which Johnny Carson had made a success in the United States in the 1960s.
Sir David Attenborough, who appeared on “Parkinson” several times, said in a statement: “He was a proud Yorkshireman but he was beyond region or class, he was himself. He was also an ideal interviewer for asking interesting and often important questions because he genuinely wanted to know the answer. He also had a great sense of humour and didn’t take himself too seriously.”
Comedian Eddie Izzard wrote on X: “Very sad to hear that Michael Parkinson has left us. He was the king of the intelligent interview.”
Left to Present Breakfast News
In 1983 Sir Michael was head-hunted by the breakfast television franchise TV-AM but he left the troubled programme two years later and had a spell presenting the radio show “Desert Island Discs” on BBC Radio 4.He returned to hosting a chat show in 1998 and hosted his last ever episode in 2007.
Knighted in 2008, Sir Michael frequently commented on what he saw as the dumbing down of television, and the following year he caused offence when he described reality TV star, Jade Goody, who had recently died of cancer, as “a woman who came to represent all that’s paltry and wretched about Britain today.”
Sir Michael, who had been a talented cricketer as a young man, was a huge fan of sports and a devoted follower of both Barnsley Football Club and Yorkshire Cricket Club.
The singer Elton John described him as a “real icon who brought out the very best in his guests” and added on X: “Michael Parkinson was a TV legend who was one of the greats. I loved his company and his incredible knowledge of cricket and Barnsley Football Club.”
