Marjorie Anderson (7 November 1913 – 14 December 1999) was a British actress and leading

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 ...

broadcaster for over thirty years, including on the programme ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' from 1958 to 1972.

Early life

Marjorie Enid Anderson was born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London. Her father Harold Anderson was a naval intelligence officer, who died in Belgium just after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when Marjorie was a little girl; she was raised by her mother, Charlotte Augusta Boyle Anderson, a property dealer. Anderson attended school at Felixstowe College in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and trained as a reader at the Central School of Speech Training in London. She earned a diploma from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

in diction and drama.

Career

Anderson began her career as an actress, appearing in

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

's ''

Murder in the Cathedral ''Murder in the Cathedral'' is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot, first performed in 1935 (published the same year). The play portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170. El ...

'' on the West End and in a 1938 touring company in the United States. She also taught voice classes, and worked with children who had speech defects. From 1940 to 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Anderson presented ''Thank You for your Letters'' and ''Forces Favourites'' on the

BBC Forces Programme The BBC Forces Programme was a national radio station which operated from 7 January 1940 until 26 February 1944, when it was replaced by the BBC General Forces Programme. History Development Upon the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1 ...

and

BBC General Forces Programme The BBC General Forces Programme was a national radio station operating from 27 February 1944 until 31 December 1946. History Development Upon the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the BBC closed both existing National and Regio ...

s. She also presented the latter programme's peacetime successor, ''Family Favourites'', on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

. Her "disciplined, upbeat manner" was considered helpful to wartime and postwar morale. On American radio, Anderson played Margot Lane, female lead in popular crime drama ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

'', from 1939 to 1940 and again from 1943 to 1944. Between 1955 and 1968 Anderson presented ''Home for the Day'' on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

. She was a presenter of ''Woman's Hour'' from 1958 until her retirement in 1973. Anderson had

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

which, as it progressed, affected her speech and thus her radio career, prompting her retirement. Anderson's contribution to UK radio is commemorated in the

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...

's Hall of Fame. She was appointed MBE in the

1974 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1974 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 7 June 1974 for ...

Personal life

Marjorie Anderson married advertising executive Anthony Sykes in 1947. They had a son, Jeremy, born in 1948. She was widowed when Sykes died in 1961. She died in 1999, aged 86 years, in Kensington.

References

External links

"Thank you for your letters, Marjorie Anderson"
a 1945 newsreel clip from

British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Marjorie 1913 births 1999 deaths BBC people British radio personalities Members of the Order of the British Empire British women in World War II Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama