Eric Stanley Taylor (26 October 1924 – 17 March 2015), known professionally as Shaw Taylor, was a British actor and television presenter, best known for presenting the long-running five-minute crime programme '' Police 5''.

Early life and career

Born in Hackney in the East End of London, Taylor's father worked as a fitter for the

Gas Light and Coke Company The Gas Light and Coke Company (also known as the Westminster Gas Light and Coke Company, and the Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company), was a company that made and supplied coal gas and Coke (fuel), coke. The headquarters of the company were l ...

, and his mother worked at a local box factory. Taylor served in the RAF and trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

. He then acted on stage in the West End and on tour. He was an announcer for

Associated TeleVision ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

(ATV) when the normal announcer was not available. He then had a variety of acting roles in film and television from the 1950s onwards, and presented various

game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...

s including ''

Password A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...

'', '' Tell the Truth'', ''

Dotto ''Dotto'' is a 1958 American television game show that was a combination of a general knowledge quiz and the children's game connect the dots. Jack Narz served as the program's host, with Colgate-Palmolive as its presenting sponsor. ''Dotto'' ro ...

'', ''This Is Your Chance'' and ''The Law Game'' (

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

). In the early 1960s, Taylor and

Muriel Young Muriel Young (19 June 1923 – 24 March 2001) was an English television continuity announcer, presenter and producer. Early life Young was born in 1923 in Bishop Middleham near Sedgefield, County Durham. As a child, she lived with her family ...

co-hosted a music programme on

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

, ''The Friday Spectacular''. Between 1960 and 1962, Taylor presented the quiz show ''Pencil and Paper''. In 1970, Taylor was the original presenter of the ''Clunk Click'' public information films. In 1972, he presented a pilot episode of '' Whodunnit?'' on ITV, before the show was taken over by

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. He began his career on stage, appearing in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider att ...

for the first series (1973). Taylor was also an occasional panellist on the popular talent show ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: ...

''. Taylor was best known for presenting '' Police 5'', a long-running five-minute television programme first broadcast in the London area in 1962 that appealed to the public to help solve crimes. He later presented a spin-off show for younger viewers, ''Junior Police 5'', a.k.a. ''JP5''. His catchphrase was "keep 'em peeled!" – asking viewers to be vigilant. This was originally used at the end of every ''JP5'' programme but, according to Taylor himself, "...at the suggestion of a friend I tried it out on the adult Police 5. I thought it sounded a bit naff at first but then the studio crew seemed to get withdrawal symptoms if I didn't say it at the end of the programme and it became a catchphrase that complete strangers still shout at me in the street". Taylor presented and produced several regional versions of ''Police 5'', including editions for ATV and Central in the Midlands, LWT for the London area and TVS in the South and South East of England, where the series ended its thirty-year run in December 1992. He was also involved with televised appeals for

Crimestoppers UK Crimestoppers UK, also known as the Crimestoppers Trust, is a charity independent of the police in the United Kingdom. Inspired by the American organization of the same name, it operates an anonymous online form and phone service tip line. T ...

. In 2008, at the age of 83, Taylor featured as himself hosting ''Police 5'' in the seventh episode of the BBC TV drama '' Ashes to Ashes'', set in October 1981, in which he uses the aforedescribed "keep 'em peeled!" catchphrase. In 2014, at the age of 89, he returned to television with a weekly segment on the new Channel 5 version of ''Police 5'', and revived his "keep 'em peeled!" catchphrase. He also played

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

and presented a television series on the subject.

Later life

Taylor died at his home in

Totland Totland is a village, civil parish and electoral ward on the Isle of Wight. Besides the village of Totland, the civil parish comprises the western tip of the Isle of Wight, and includes The Needles, Tennyson Down and the hamlet of Middleton. T ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

on 17 March 2015, aged 90. He was survived by his partner Shirley and his son Richard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Shaw 1924 births 2015 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English television presenters English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors Members of the Order of the British Empire Actors from the London Borough of Hackney 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Male actors from London ITV people Male actors from the Isle of Wight