Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', ''

This is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'', '' Strange but True?'' and ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

''.

Early life

Aspel was born on 12 January 1933 in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

in London. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he was evacuated from the area and spent nearly five years in

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf bl ...

, Somerset. He attended

Emanuel School Emanuel School is an independent, co-educational day school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded in 1594 by Anne Sackville, Lady Dacre and Queen Elizabeth I and occupies a 12-acre (4.9 ha) site close to Clapham Junction ra ...

after passing his

eleven-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...

in 1944 and served as a

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

during his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, in the ranks of the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United ...

, from 1951 to 1953.

Career

Aspel worked as a drainpipe-layer and gardener and sold advertising space for the '' Western Mail'' newspaper in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. He worked as a teaboy at William Collins publishers in London and then entered National Service. He took up a job at the David Morgan

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appe ...

until 1955, before working as newsreader for the BBC in Cardiff in 1957. He also acted in Cardiff, in a BBC Children's Hour serial '' Counterspy'', produced by BBC Wales and written by and starring John Darran. Aspel played "Rocky" Mountain, a Canadian. By the early sixties, he had become one of four regular newsreaders on BBC national television, along with Richard Baker,

Robert Dougall Robert Dougall, MBE (27 November 1913 – 18 December 1999) was an English broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer. Early life and radio broadcasting Dougall was born and educated in Croydon, Surrey. He at ...

and Corbet Woodall. At the BBC, Aspel began presenting a number of other programmes such as the series ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

'', '' Crackerjack'', '' Ask Aspel'', and the

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss In ...

beauty contest, which he covered 14 times. He narrated the BREMA cartoon documentary, ''The Colour Television Receiver'' (aka ''Degaussing'' or ''The Colour Receiver Installation Film''), which was shown every day (except Sunday) on BBC2 between 14 October 1967 and 8 January 1971. He also provided narration for the BBC nuclear war drama documentary '' The War Game'', which won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1966, but was not shown on British television until 1985. Aspel was a studio announcer at the BBC on 14 February 1969 during a live broadcast from the Dorchester Hotel of an awards ceremony, when the host,

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...

, died of a heart attack. Aspel filled in unscripted until the show resumed. He was later quoted as saying: "I got round this in a suitably dignified way. But it was awful as Kenneth Horne was not only a great performer, but such a wonderful man." In both

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, Aspel hosted the BBC's ''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'' contest to choose Britain's Eurovision entry and provided the UK TV commentary twice at the ''

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

'' in the same years,

and

, in which year he also presented the contest previews. He provided the Eurovision radio commentary for the UK in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

. Aspel also had a regular joke slot on the

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

radio show on Capital Radio, and guest-starred twice on '' The Goodies'', appearing as himself, including in the episode "

Kitten Kong "Kitten Kong" is an episode of the British comedy television series '' The Goodies'', written by The Goodies, with songs and music by Bill Oddie. Plot Bill is cooking when Graeme and Tim return from chess championships. Graeme and Tim are hu ...

", which won the Silver Rose at the

Montreux Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...

Light Entertainment Festival. From 2 September 1974 until 27 July 1984, Aspel also presented a three-hour weekday, mid-morning music and chat programme on

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

in London. He then presented a Sunday show on Capital (which only lasted for a few months, ending on 30 December 1984) before moving to

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadcast ...

for the remainder of the decade. He also presented weekend shows on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

in the late 1980s and again in the 1990s. In 1977, Aspel appeared with a number of other newsreaders and presenters in a song-and-dance routine ("There ain't Nothing Like a Dame") on ''The

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, workin ...

Show''. The sketch, in which the presenters were dressed as traditional sailors, is often cited as one of the classic moments of British TV comedy. In another episode, Morecambe refers to him as "Michael Aspirin" (a name also used by 'Disc' music magazine when Aspel was at Capital Radio). In the 1970s and 1980s he presented popular ITV programmes such as '' Give Us a Clue'', '' Child's Play'' and '' The 6 O'Clock Show'', a live current affairs and entertainment programme shown only in the

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

region. In 1989, he hosted a televised interactive murder mystery set at a wedding called Murder Weekend, devised and written by

Joy Swift Joy Angela Swift MBE (born 2 October 1956) is a businesswoman, writer and events organiser from Liverpool, who is best known as the inventor of the murder mystery weekend. Early life and family background Swift was born in Blundellsands, Li ...

, which invited viewers to solve a whodunnit to win a prize. During the early 1990s, Aspel presented two documentaries on BBC Radio 2 written by Terence Pettigrew, on subjects of which he and Pettigrew had personal knowledge. ''Caught in the Draft'' was a nostalgic look back at compulsory

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

. Both had served, at different times, in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

, Aspel in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and Pettigrew in the

REME The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's f ...

. Also taking part in the programme were comedian/compere

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Ear ...

Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel '' The Virgin Soldiers''. Early life Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his mariner fa ...

, author of ''

The Virgin Soldiers ''The Virgin Soldiers'' is a 1966 comic novel by Leslie Thomas, inspired by his own experiences of National Service in the British Army. It was Thomas' debut novel; he had previously published an autobiography. ''The Virgin Soldiers'' sold mil ...

'', and BBC Radio 2 drivetime host John Dunn. This was followed by ''Nobody Cried When The Trains Pulled Out'', a documentary about the evacuation of children from major British cities during World War 2 that included champion boxer

Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer, best remembered internationally for a 1963 fight in which he knocked down a young Cassius Clay before the fight was stopped because of a cut eye from Clay's punches. C ...

, actor

Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''All ...

and author

Ben Wicks Ben Wicks, (born Alfred Wicks; October 1, 1926 – September 10, 2000) was a British-born Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, journalist and author. Biography Wicks was a Cockney born into a poor, working-class family in London's East End nea ...

. Aspel was the host of the chat show ''Aspel & Company'', which ran in the 1980s and 1990s on ITV. The show was successful in attracting high-profile guests including then-Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

. In 1993, ''Aspel & Company'' was censured by the Independent Television Commission because of an interview with

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

and

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

who were promoting their joint business venture Planet Hollywood. For a time, ''Aspel & Company'' performed well for ITV in the highly competitive Saturday night ratings but after the Planet Hollywood controversy, Aspel vowed never to host a chat show again. Aspel was featured on ''

'' in 1980, and when host

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

died in 1987 he became presenter of the programme until its run ended in 2003. In 1993, Aspel began presenting the ITV

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

programme '' Strange but True?'', a series exploring supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. The programme ran between 1993 and 1997. He presented a new version of the ITV game show '' Blockbusters'' for the BBC in 1997; Aspel presented 60 episodes in total. In 1993, Aspel became an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) "for services to broadcasting", and has been voted ''TV Times'' and Variety Club Television Personality of the Year. He was also voted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame for outstanding services to television. He presented BBC's ''

'' from 2000 until 2008; his last programme (recorded at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk) was shown on 30 March 2008, being a tribute to himself. In 2003, Aspel starred in a

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

spoof documentary, ''Sex, Lies & Michael Aspel'', which claimed he had affairs with

Pamela Anderson Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997). Ander ...

, Valerie Singleton and

Angie Best Angela Best (née MacDonald-Janes; born 26 July 1952) is an English model and former Playboy Bunny, known as the first wife of footballer George Best. Biography Born in Westminster, London and raised in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, Angela MacDonald- ...

, among others. Aspel guest hosted the topical quiz show '' Have I Got News for You'' on two occasions (October 2005 and November 2007). In 2006, he played the role of the narrator in the UK tour of

Richard O'Brien Richard Timothy Smith. known professionally as Richard O'Brien, is a British-New Zealand actor, writer, musician, composer, and television presenter. He wrote the musical stage show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' in 1973, which has remained in conti ...

's ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

''. During July and August 2008, Aspel filmed ''Evacuees Reunited'', a five-part documentary series made by Leopard Films for ITV1, which aired from 15 to 19 December 2008. Along with 15 other wartime evacuees, he returned to the locations of his own youth, including his wartime home in Chard, Somerset. He was reunited with his childhood gang of evacuees at Forde Abbey, just outside the town. Later he caught up with his 96-year-old former school teacher, Audrey Guppy.

Personal life

Aspel has been married three times and has seven children. He married Dian Sessions in 1957; they had two children and

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

d in 1961. Aspel married Anne Reed, a TV scriptwriter, in 1962 and they had twin children, divorcing in 1967. In 1977, Aspel married actress

Elizabeth Power Elizabeth Power is an English actress. Power began her career in repertory theatre and went on to appear in several West End musicals. However, she best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as Christine Hewitt in the ...

, best known for her role as

Christine Hewitt Christine Hewitt (often credited as Mrs Hewitt) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Elizabeth Power. Introduced in 1992 as a lonely divorcée, she becomes besotted with married Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher ...

in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

''; the couple had two sons, but Aspel left her in 1994 for a production assistant on ''This Is Your Life'', Irene Clarke. As a supporter of the charity

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

, Aspel was made a Freeman of the

borough of Elmbridge Elmbridge is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. Its principal towns and villages are Esher, Cobham, Walton-on-Thames, Weybridge and Molesey. It directly borders the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and t ...

, Surrey, in April 2008. A 2004 article in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported that Aspel had a dormant case of

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredne ...

Charity work

Aspel is a Vice-President of The Children's Trust, a UK charity for children with brain injury. He is also a Patron and long time supporter of Princess Alice Hospice, Esher and The British Evacuees Association. Aspel is one of nine presidents of The Young People's Trust for the Environment.

Other works

References

External links

*
Michael Aspel biography
at BFI Screenonline
Interview with ''Liverpool Daily Post''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspel, Michael 1933 births 20th-century British Army personnel BBC Radio 2 presenters Beauty pageant hosts British radio presenters English game show hosts English male journalists English television presenters English television talk show hosts Military personnel from London King's Royal Rifle Corps soldiers Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Emanuel School People from Battersea