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).
…Cadzow, Alma
Alma joined the BBC in London in 1964 as a studio manager. She was then known as Alma Bickerton. She later took advantage of the BBC’s attachment system, which allowed staff to gain up to six months experience working in areas that interested them. She spent time as an announcer at BBC Radio 3 in the 1970s, where, she tells us, “her Scots accent provoked protests from the more reactionary listeners”.
…Malhi, Manju
Manju was raised in north west London, surrounded by Indian cultures, traditions and lifestyles. She was a BBC TV network announcer (mainly BBC Two, 1990 – 1999 and 2001 – 2006 (freelance)) and a BBC World Service TV announcer (1992). She provided voiceovers for trails featured on BBC News 24 and she was also an announcer on UKTV’s Good Food channel. She presented the early (4am – 6am) weekend show on BBC Radio 2 (January/February 1997).
…Constantinis, Jayne
Jayne was born in Yorkshire. She has an acting diploma from the Royal Academy of Music and a modern languages degree from Cambridge. She studied journalism at the LCP and has written for publications including Condé Nast Traveller and Good Housekeeping.
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