Denise Robertson (9 June 1932 – 31 March 2016) was a British writer and television broadcaster. She made her television debut as the presenter of the ''Junior Advice Line'' segment of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

's '' Breakfast Time'' programme in 1985, though she is best known as the resident

agony aunt An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are wr ...

on the ITV show ''

This Morning This Morning may refer to: * ''This Morning'' (TV programme), a British daytime television programme * ''This Morning'' (radio program), a Canadian radio show which aired from 1997 to 2002 * '' CBS This Morning'', an American morning show, succe ...

'' from its first broadcast on 3 October 1988 until her death. In the course of her career, she dealt with over 200,000 letters from viewers seeking advice. In 2006 she was appointed as a

Member 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 ...

for services to broadcasting.

Early life

Born Margaret Denise Mary Broderick on 9 June 1932 in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, County Durham, she was the youngest of two daughters of Herbert Stanley (1889–1961) and Catherine Maud Broderick (née Cahill, 1896–1970). Herbert ran a shipping business that failed before she was born. She attended Sunderland High School.Remembering 130 years of Sunderland High School at Sunderland Echo
Retrieved 1 April 2016Meeting About Historic Sunderland School at St Helens Reporter
Retrieved 3 April 2016

Career

Her first job was as a clerk at Sunderland Royal Infirmary. She then progressed to the position of medical secretary and later became a counsellor. She won a

competition to write a play and became an agony aunt on

Metro Radio Metro Radio is an Independent Local Radio station based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to County Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear. As of September 2022, th ...

in Newcastle.Denise Robertson Obituary in ''The Telegraph''
Retrieved 2 April 2016 In addition to ''This Morning,'' Robertson briefly hosted her own television series ''Dear Denise'' in 2000. She also featured as a love and relationships pundit on '' Dave Gorman's Important Astrology Experiment'' in 2002. She ran an advice website called DearDenise.com and wrote a monthly column for national magazine, Candis. Robertson also made regular appearances on Channel 5's ''

Big Brother's Bit on the Side This is a complete list of shows about and relating to '' Big Brother UK'' and ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The civilian edition ran from 2000 to 2018 and the celebrity edition ran from 2001 to 2018. ''Big Brother'' ''Big Brother'' was a daily sh ...

''.

Personal life

Robertson was twice widowed; she married Alexander Inkster "Alex" Robertson (1919–1972) in 1960 and they had a son Mark Alexander (born 1962). Alexander Robertson died of lung cancer in 1972. In 1973, she married John "Jack" Tomlin (1921–1995); he died of a stroke in 1995. She then married her childhood friend Bryan Thubron in 1997. Robertson was a keen supporter of

Sunderland A.F.C. Sunderland Association Football Club (, ) is an English professional football club based in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Formed in 1879, Sunderland play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club has won six ...

and had worked with the

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Eme ...

, appearing as guest speaker at graduation ceremonies. She lived in

East Boldon East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, Sunderland.

Honours

In 1998, Robertson was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham. She was given the Freedom of the City of Sunderland in 2006 and appointed a

(MBE) in the Birthday Honours that year for "services to Broadcasting and to Charity".

Death

Robertson died on 31 March 2016, aged 83, at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London after being diagnosed in early 2016 with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

. She made the diagnosis public in February 2016 on the television show ''

'' after being absent from her usual posting as agony aunt. ''This Morning'' aired a special edition tribute programme on 1 April 2016. Her funeral took place on 13 April 2016 at

Sunderland Minster The Minster Church of St Michael and All Angels and St Benedict Biscop (commonly known as Sunderland Minster) is the minster church of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Formerly known as "St Michael & All Angels' Church", it served as the par ...

, and she was buried in Sunderland Cemetery in Grangetown.

Filmography

Works

* ''Don't Cry Aloud'' Hopcyn Press 2015 * ''Winds of War'' Little Books 2009 * ''None To Make You Cry'' Little Books 2009 * ''The Promise'' Little Books 2008 * ''The Second Wife'' Little Books 2008 * ''Agony? Don't Get Me Started...'' Autobiography Max Press 2006 * ''The Bad Sister'' Little Books 2005 * ''Relax It's Only a Baby'' Little Books 2005 * ''Men Are From Earth. Women Are From Earth.: Deal with It!'' Little Books 2005 * ''Sir Tom Cowie, A True Entrepreneur: A Biography'' University of Sunderland 2004 * ''A Relative Freedom'' * ''Wait For the Day'' * ''The Beloved People'' (Belgate Trilogy 1) 2004 * ''Strength for the Morning'' (Belgate Trilogy 2) 2004 * ''Towards Jerusalem'' (Belgate Trilogy 3) 2005 * ''A Year of Winter'' 1986 * ''The Land of Lost Content'' 1985 * ''Blue Remembered Hills'' 1987

References

External links

*
Denise Robertson returns to Uganda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Denise 1932 births 2016 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deputy Lieutenants of Durham English people of Irish descent English television presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Sunderland Writers from Tyne and Wear