John was born in Camberwell, south London. He was an evacuee during the early years of World War II and went to three different grammar schools before joining his parents in Bristol for his final school years at Cotham Grammar School.
…Stevens, Julie
Julie is an actress and former ABC contract artist. She was a great children’s favourite on both Play School (1964 – 1978) and Play Away (1971 – 1979) and is remembered for her zany appearances.
…Thomas, Ben
Ben was born in 1955. He is an actor who is perhaps best known as a Play School presenter. He made his debut appearance on the programme on 28th January 1980. Ben was popular with viewers. Who can forget his performance of the classic Wibbly Wobbly song with his elastic body? He later presented Play Away (1982 – 1984); BBC Manchester’s production Knock Knock (1982); All Star Record Breakers (1982); Stop Go! (1983); Up Our Street (1985).
…Peters, Sylvia
Born Sylvia Lucia Petronzio, she was a former musical actress who appeared in revues including one at The Coliseum marking VE Day.
…Lankester, Barry
Barry was a pioneer of regional broadcasting in the West Midlands. He presented the first edition of Midlands Today on 28th September 1964 and six years later he was the first voice on Radio Birmingham. He joined the BBC in October 1955 as a studio manager and one of his roles was providing sound effects for The Archers. He introduced the programme by telling “the story so far…” for ten years from 1960. He was a BBC Radio announcer (1959 – 1960), presenter for BBC Midlands (1959 – 1960 and 1964) and relief BBC TV newsreader (1959 – 15th June 1963). Later he was a commentator/producer for BBC Radio Birmingham and Radio WM.
…Hobley, McDonald
McDonald was born in Stanley, Falkland Islands. He began his acting career in repertory theatre, under the stage names Val Blanchard and Robert Blanchard, using his mother’s maiden name.
…Malcolm, Mary
Mary was bought up in Poltalloch, Argyll and was the granddaughter of Victorian socialite Lillie Langley, mistress of King Edward VII.
…Parker, Graham
Graham was born in the East End of London. He was stationed at RAF Coltishall during his National Service.
…Crane, Jenni
Jenni was born in Pontypool, South Wales. She is a Welsh TV producer/presenter and voiceover artist.
…Thomas, Guy
Guy was born in May 1931. He was invited to join Television Wales and West (TWW) in 1959 as the first newsreader/interviewer at their newly opened Bristol studio before becoming anchorman of the nightly news magazine TWW Reports, covering Wales and the West Country.
…Shaw, Clem
Born Clement Murphy-Shaw, he sold antiques and cars before training at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
…Carlton, Amanda
Amanda has voiced English language audio courses (e.g. Linguaphone, Pearsons, Hugo, Longmans, de Agostini) since 1986. From 1988, she voiced trails for Anglia TV, Living, Granada Plus, Disney and TVS. Amanda got an attachment as a BBC TV network announcer (1988 – 1990) and was one of the voices on BBC TV’s Points of View (1987 – 1990). She also voiced BBC TV programme trails (1991).
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