Arthur Robin Christiansen (27 July 1904 – 27 September 1963) was a British journalist, and editor of

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

's newspaper the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' from 1933 to 1957. Christiansen was born in

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the mouth of the River Mersey, on the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Peninsula. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county bou ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

to Louis Niels Christiansen, a

shipwright Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces i ...

, and his wife Ellen. From an early age, he demonstrated a talent for writing, producing a magazine for his grammar school. At 16, he became a reporter for the ''Wallasey and Wirral Chronicle'', where he worked for three years before moving to the '' Liverpool Evening Express'' and the Liverpool ''Daily Courier''. He was named the London editor of the ''Evening Express'' in 1925, a position he held for a year before moving to the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

''. Christiansen made his reputation four years later, when, as assistant editor, he produced a special late-morning edition of the ''Sunday Express'' to report the

R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was d ...

airship disaster.Edward Pickering, "Christiansen, Arthur Robin (1904–1963)", in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', H.C.G. Matthew and Brian Harrison, eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), vol. 11, p. 527. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1957, when he was surprised by

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 ...

at the BBC Television Theatre. In 1961, he was cast as the editor of the ''Daily Express'' in the

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

-based

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

thriller ''

The Day the Earth Caught Fire ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' is a 1961 British science-fiction disaster film directed by Val Guest and starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern, and Janet Munro. It is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era. The film opened at the Odeon Ma ...

'', directed by

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, ...

. He also played a news editor in the 1963 medical thriller '' 80,000 Suspects'', again directed by Guest. Christiansen's son,

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, also became a newspaper editor; his grandson Rupert Christiansen was the ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'' opera critic until 2020.

Bibliography

*''Headlines All My Life'' (1961)

Partial filmography

*''

'' (1961) – 'Jeff' Jefferson – Editor *'' 80,000 Suspects'' (1963) – Editor – Bath Evening Chronicle (Mr. Graney) (final film role)

References

1904 births 1963 deaths British male film actors British male journalists British newspaper editors British people of Scandinavian descent Daily Express people People from Wallasey {{UK-journalist-stub