Eric Norman Thompson (9 November 1929 – 30 November 1982) was an English actor, scriptwriter and stage director. He is best remembered for creating and performing the English narration for ''

The Magic Roundabout ''The Magic Roundabout'' is an English-language children's programme that ran on BBC Television from 1965 to 1977. It used the footage of the French stop motion animation show '' Le Manège enchanté'' but with completely different scripts a ...

'', which he adapted from the original French '' Le Manège enchanté''.

Early life

Eric Norman Thompson was born on 9 November 1929 in

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. On the edge of the The Fens, Fenlands, it is north-east of Grantham, west of Boston, Lincolnshire, Boston, and sou ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, England, the son of Annie (née Jackson) and George Henry Thompson, a hotel waiter, and grew up in

Rudgwick Rudgwick is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village is west from Horsham on the north side of the A281 road. The parish's northern boundary forms pa ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, attending Collyer's School,

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

. He trained to be an actor at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

acting school in London and joined the Old Vic theatre company in 1952.

Career

Thompson worked regularly for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, and was a presenter of the children's television programme '' Play School'' from 1964 to 1967. He was best known as the narrator of ''

'', for which he also wrote the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

scripts, using the visuals from the original French '' Le Manège enchanté''. These were transmitted from October 1965 to January 1977. Thompson rarely worked in television after his voice became well known, but occasionally appeared in programmes including '' Doctor Finlay's Casebook'' (episode: "Beware of the Dog"), ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' in the serial '' The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve'' in 1966, and in two episodes of ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', in 1964 and 1969 (playing two different characters).

Personal life

Thompson married Scottish actress Phyllida Law, whom he met while at the Old Vic in 1957. Their daughters Emma and Sophie Thompson followed their parents into acting. In 1967, he had a heart attack, attributed to overwork and heavy smoking, and he therefore changed his focus to directing.Eric Thompson article, ''The Scotsman'', Friday 31 March 2006
/ref> He directed Kenneth Williams in '' My Fat Friend'' in 1972 and the conflicts between the two are extensively discussed in Williams' diaries. On 30 November 1982, Thompson died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in London.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Eric 1929 births 1982 deaths English male television actors English television presenters English television producers English male voice actors People educated at The College of Richard Collyer People from Sleaford, Lincolnshire People from Rudgwick Male actors from Lincolnshire 20th-century English male actors BBC television presenters Male actors from West Sussex Actors from North Kesteven District Actors from Horsham District