Sydney Ross Benson (29 September 1948 – 8 March 2005) was a Scottish

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially in a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are written in a light, informal style, and relate opinions about the personal lives or conduct of celebrities fr ...

known for his personal style. Educated at

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

School in Scotland, he worked for ''London Life'' magazine after leaving school before joining the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' newspaper as the deputy diary editor at the age of 20. His uncle, the photographer Harry Benson, was an early mentor. In 1971, Benson moved to the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...

'' newspaper as deputy diary editor; he was appointed deputy foreign editor in 1975. In 1978, he travelled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as the paper's West Coast correspondent. He returned to London in 1982 in the position of Chief Foreign Correspondent and was named as International Reporter of the Year in the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named Ha ...

in 1983. In 1988, Benson was given his own gossip column to rival that of

Nigel Dempster Nigel Richard Patton Dempster (1 November 1941 in Calcutta, India – 12 July 2007 in Ham, Surrey) was a British journalist. Best known for his celebrity gossip columns in newspapers, his work appeared in the ''Daily Express'' and ''Daily Mail'' ...

of the ''Daily Mail''. Benson was the

ghost writer A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literature, literary or journalism, journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and pol ...

for

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

's autobiography, ''The Good, the Bad and the Bubbly'', published in 1990. Further books followed; ''Paul McCartney: Behind the myth'' in 1992 and ''Charles: The untold story'' in 1993. In 1997, Benson returned to the ''Daily Mail'' as a foreign correspondent, winning a

London Press Club The London Press Club was established in 1882 as a London gentlemen's club. For much of its history, it occupied premises in Wine Office Court, near Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east fro ...

Award in 2004 for his work covering

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Married three times, Benson had three children. His last marriage in 1987 was to writer Ingrid Seward, the editor of ''Majesty'' magazine. A keen Chelsea supporter and season ticket holder, he watched them beat

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

at Chelsea's home ground on the eve of his death. He died in his sleep at his London home on 8 March 2005 of a suspected heart attack.

References

External links

Remembering Ross Benson

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Ross 1948 births 2005 deaths People educated at Gordonstoun People from Newton Mearns Scottish journalists