Sir Gerald Clayton Beadle

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(17 April 1899 – 6 November 1976) was a British announcer and administrator for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, and later Director of

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

Life

Beadle was born in Belvedere, Kent, to Clayton Beadle (1868–1917), a chemist, and Helen Pears Beadle. He joined the BBC in 1923, as a radio announcer. He left in 1924 and rejoined in 1926 as station director in Belfast. He moved to the television team in 1936. He was instrumental in establishing the BBC's Television Centre, in London. He was knighted in December 1960. He appeared as a castaway on the

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' on 30 October 1961. His portrait, a 1961 photograph by Walter Bird, is in the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

. He died on 6 November 1976.

Bibliography

References

External links

Cactus Pryor Interviews Sir Gerald Beadle
Video of 1961 TV programme, with Cactus Pryor 1899 births 1976 deaths People from Belvedere, London BBC radio presenters BBC executives Knights Bachelor Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire {{BBC-tv-bio-stub