Jennifer Gaylor Rignold (born 22 September 1935) is an English television announcer and ballerina who was an on-screen

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 ...

continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...

for the

BBC Television Service BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

(later to become BBC One, but then the only British television channel) between 1949 and 1953. She was a roving reporter for the

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

nightly news programme ''

ATV Today ''ATV Today'' is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ATV, serving the English Midlands. The programme aired from 5 October 1964 until 31 December 1981 – the final day of broadcasting from ATV before the c ...

'' in the early 1960s.

Early life

Jennifer Gay was born Jennifer Gaylor Rignold, to actress Molly Gay and composer

Hugo Rignold Hugo Henry Rignold (15 May 1905 – 30 May 1976) was an English conductor and violinist, who is best remembered as musical director of the Royal Ballet (1957–1960) and conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1960–1968). A ...

.''TV Announcers:'' "The Continuity Booth"
. Accessed 26 October 2008 She was educated at

St Margaret's School Hampstead St Margaret's School (Hampstead) is a private girls' school in Hampstead, North London. The school has 170 girls (ages 4 to 16) and 25 teachers. In 2008 and 2009 the school came top of the Sunday Times' Small Independent Schools' league table ...

and the

Royal Academy of Dancing The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

, the latter on a five-year scholarship that she won when she was nine years old and completed by 1950. Gay resumed her training at another ballet school in London for another three years before leaving to join the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

and then

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

one year later. She used a shortened version of her middle name for her professional career.

Television career

Gay was given an on-screen trial of holding paintings by the BBC television producer and Far Eastern affairs specialist Peter Thompson after being introduced to him at his wedding, and was primed by

Cecil Madden Cecil Charles Madden, MBE (29 November 1902 – 27 May 1987), was an English pioneer of television production. In 1936, he moved from BBC radio to its experimental television service, and was responsible for many programmes until the service was ...

, the head of BBC children's television. Gay began introducing children's programmes in June 1949, and aged 14 became the "first schoolgirl in the world to announce TV programmes as a regular job".Baily, Kenneth (ed.) "Kiddy-Vision, Once Daily" in ''The Television Annual for 1953'' For the next three years, she grew up on screen, her name intrinsically linked with early 1950s children's television. Introducing herself by name as "one of the

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

announcers", Gay appeared most days at 5pm to introduce that afternoon's hour of programming, which included such favourites as ''

Muffin the Mule Muffin the Mule is an animated puppet animal character in a British 1946 to 1955 television show for children. The puppet was made in 1933 for Ann Hogarth. The original TV shows featuring the animal character himself were presented by Annette ...

'', '' Mr. Turnip'', and ''Hank and Prudence''.Martin, Andrew & Gay, Jennifer ''The Bits in Between...: "Children's Announcers"''
at the BBC Archive Andrew Martin a BBC Archives expert described Gay as "the accepted way of presenting children to themselves". Her final on-screen appearance as an announcer was in May 1953, after which Gay left the BBC to continue the

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

training she had pursued throughout her television career. She made her television debut as a ballerina in the feature ''Shop Window'' in November 1952. Gay toured the United States for three months with the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company (of which she was a member) starting from 4 September 1955. When Gay was 25 years old, she decided to retire from The Royal Ballet after being persuaded to do so by her father so she could help him, working as his secretary. Gay returned to television at

in the Midlands during the early 1960s, and was one of the launch team of reporters for the nightly news magazine programme ''

''. She had been suggested the job by television broadcaster Leslie Dunn and she received a one-month trial following an audition at ATV.

Career highlights

In December 1949, Gay "announced the first children's programmes transmitted from the

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

transmitter", while the 1953 ''Television Annual'' described Gay's "most frightening afternoon", as the occasion upon which "she had to partner Mrs. Attlee in the programme which opened the

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...

," just five months later in May, 1950. Also in 1950, she battled

sea-sickness Motion sickness occurs due to a difference between actual and expected motion. Symptoms commonly include nausea, vomiting, cold sweat, headache, dizziness, tiredness, loss of appetite, and increased salivation. Complications may rarely include de ...

after journeying to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to "take part in TV's first-ever cross-

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

hook-up", which included scenes of "Jennifer... going through

Customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

and being shown round the Port of

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

". That same year saw Gay be presented with the

Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

's Silver Medal.

References

External links

A visual introduction to the early programmes and the bits in between...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay, Jennifer 1935 births Radio and television announcers English television presenters English ballerinas Living people Television people from London

Early life

Television career

Career highlights

See also

References

External links