Glyn Worsnip (2 September 1938 – 7 June 1996) was a British radio and television presenter. Born in Highnam,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, he was most famous for his appearances on ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 yea ...

'' (where he was teamed with

Kieran Prendiville Kieran Prendiville (born 25 December 1947) is an English-Irish television writer, producer, and presenter. Early life Prendiville was born on 25 December 1947 in Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of an Irish father from Killorglin, County Kerry, ...

from 1973 to 1978) and on '' Nationwide''.

Biography

Worsnip attended

Monmouth School Monmouth School was a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) for boys in Monmouth, Wales. The school was founded in 1614 with a beques ...

and after two years service in the RAF as a Photographic Intelligence Officer he graduated from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

, with an honours degree in English. He trained as a journalist and actor, was a prolific writer of revues and appeared on stage in

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

, farce and Shakespearian productions before his first appearance as a TV presenter on ''That's Life!''. In the late 1980s Glyn began experiencing the symptoms af a

cerebellar The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or e ...

disorder. In 1986 he developed

dysarthria Dysarthria is a speech sound disorder resulting from neurological injury of the motor component of the motor–speech system and is characterized by poor articulation of phonemes. It is a condition in which problems effectively occur with the ...

(slurred speech) as part of an initial

cerebellar ataxia Cerebellar ataxia is a form of ataxia originating in the cerebellum. Non-progressive congenital ataxia (NPCA) is a classical presentation of cerebral ataxias. Cerebellar ataxia can occur as a result of many diseases and may present with symptoms ...

diagnosis. In his autobiography, ''Up the Down Escalator'', he mentions being diagnosed with

multiple system atrophy Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by tremors, slow movement, muscle rigidity, postural instability (collectively known as parkinsonism), autonomic dysfunction and ataxia. This is caused by progr ...

(MSA) at the

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the f ...

.last page and last paragraph MSA is a progressive, adult onset disorder characterised by any combination of

parkinsonism Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements), Rigidity (neurology), rigidity, and balance disorder, postural instability. Both hypokinetic features (bradykinesia and akinesia) and hyperkinetic f ...

, autonomic failure (see

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the complex system, highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its behavior, actions and sense, sensory information by transmitting action potential, signals to and from different parts of its body. Th ...

) and

. In 1982, Worsnip wrote and presented the critically acclaimed documentary ‘ The Paras’, which charted the progress of the young recruits of 480 Platoon attempting to become members of the Parachute Regiment on the eve of the Falklands War. 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 ...

did not renew his contract in 1987. He made the programme, '' A Lone Voice'', about his struggle with the disease, which would claim his life in 1996 at the age of 57, and which was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in March 1988. It has been described as "the most engaging programme in Radio 4's history".

Autobiography

*Glyn Worsnip – ''Up the Down Escalator'' (1990)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Worsnip, Glyn 1938 births 1996 deaths English radio presenters English television presenters People from Highnam Royal Air Force officers Alumni of St John's College, Oxford People educated at Monmouth School for Boys Neurological disease deaths in the United Kingdom Deaths from multiple system atrophy