Henry Franklin Engelmann (4 March 1908 – 2 March 1972) was a

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

personality popular in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly as the host of ''

Down Your Way ''Down Your Way'' was a BBC radio series which ran from 29 December 1946 to 1992, originally on the Home Service, later on BBC Radio 4, usually being broadcast on Sunday afternoons. It visited towns and villages around the United Kingdom, spoke t ...

'' and ''

Gardeners' Question Time ''Gardeners' Question Time'' is a long running BBC Radio 4 programme in which amateur gardeners can put questions to a panel of experts. History The first programme was broadcast in the North and Northern Ireland Home Service of the BBC at ...

''.

Life and career

Franklin Engelmann was born in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

, London, the son of Friedrich August E. Engelmann (1874–1950), a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

importer, and his wife, Ida Josephine Cox (1875–1967), born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

. He first worked as a dealer in oil shares on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

, and was a member of the Stock Exchange Dramatic and Operatic Society. His first broadcast followed a request by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

to stand in as a commentator on London events, and in 1940 he joined the BBC as an announcer. He served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and worked with the Allied Expeditionary Forces.''Glasgow Herald'', "Death of Franklin Engelmann", 3 March 1972
Accessed 30 October 2012 In 1946 he became a presenter with the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, later working freelance. He was best known for hosting ''

'' (1955–1972), in which he took part in 730 programmes; ''

'' (1961–1972); and the quiz show ''What Do You Know?'', which later became ''

Brain of Britain ''Brain of Britain'' is a BBC radio general knowledge quiz, broadcast on BBC Radio 4. History It began as a slot in ''What Do You Know?'' in 1953. The main part of the show was the "Brain of Britain" quiz itself, originally called "Ask Me An ...

''. In October 1955 he was also the original host of ''

Pick of the Pops ''Pick of the Pops'' is a long-running BBC Radio programme; it was based originally on the Top 20 from the UK singles chart and was first broadcast on the BBC Light Programme on 4 October 1955. It transferred to BBC Radio 1 (simulcast on BBC Rad ...

'', before it was hosted by

Alan Freeman Alan Leslie Freeman MBE (6 July 1927 – 27 November 2006), nicknamed "Fluff", was an Australian-born British disc jockey and radio personality in the United Kingdom for 40 years, best known for presenting '' Pick of the Pops'' from 1961 to 20 ...

and later David Jacobs. He was nicknamed "Jingle". He narrated

A.J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (Cronogue) (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981) was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is '' The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish physician who serves in a Welsh mining village before achieving succes ...

's 1937 novel ''

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

''. He married in 1945 at the British Embassy church in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and had two daughters. He died of a heart attack two days before his 64th birthday, when he was due to host the 1000th edition of ''Gardeners' Question Time''. The Radio Academy: Franklin Engelmann
. Accessed 30 October 2012

Filmography

References

1908 births 1972 deaths British radio personalities {{UK-radio-bio-stub