Born in London, Lesley Judd trained at the Arts Educational School of Ballet and Drama.
…Mills, Ivor
Ivor Mills received his education at Stranmillis College and Queen’s University, Belfast.
…James, Aline
Aline was born in Maryport, Cumberland. She attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College.
…Nissen, Brian
Brian was born in Kingston-upon-Thames. His stage career began at the age of 14 in Peter Pan.
…Elsmore, Philip
Philip was born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire.
…O’Keeffe, Meryl
Meryl was born in Nairobi, Kenya and educated in South Africa. In 1950, she began her radio career in the South African Broadcasting Corporation, based in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
…Edwards, Adrian
Adrian was born in Windsor. He was an actor/writer with the Cambridge Footlights and a former maths teacher. He was an in-vision Southern Television continuity announcer (1975 – 1980).
…Bance, Greg
By passing the 11-Plus, Greg gained entry to his local grammar school in north London, but education seemed to gain little purchase on his mind, which was focussed on tuning around the short wave, discovering the existence of offshore radio and determination to escape as soon as possible.
…Edwards, Tom
Tom was born in Norwich. He began his career as a newspaper journalist on the Eastern Evening News and when Anglia TV opened, he worked on in-house commercials and even had a small role in one of their dramas. He compered a weekly live pop show, Beat on the Border, from Border TV in Carlisle and returned years later to the ITV regional company as an announcer/newsreader.
…King, Martin
Martin was a former actor, whose distinctive, rich voice was heard as an announcer, first at Southern TV (1973) and then for 16 years on network BBC Television (1973 – 1989).
…McGavin, John
Also known as John McGavin Gordon. John was an ABC and ATV London announcer in the 1950s, but had an ambition to become an actor and went to drama school.
…Baker, Trevor
Trevor was always affectionately known as Trevor ‘The Weather’ Baker.
…Young, Muriel
Muriel was born in Bishop Middleham, near Sedgefield, Co Durham. On leaving school, she worked briefly as a librarian. She attended art college, before deciding to embark on a career as an actress. She joined a repertory theatre in Henley-on-Thames, where her uncle was directing. She subsequently performed at the Gateway Theatre, London and the Theatre Royal in Chatham. Trying to get into the film industry, she did modelling for advertising agencies, including promoting products such as toothpaste. She also studied to be a dental nurse and used her artistic talents to paint glassware. Starting out as an actress, she starred with Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall in The Constant Husband (1955) and also featured in The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) in a segment featuring The Mikado.
…Brook, Peter
Peter had a very distinctive, deep, rich voice. He was an announcer at Southern TV (1969 – 1971) and a newsreader for BBC Norwich’s Look East.
…Muncaster, Martin
Martin was born in Tillington, near Petworth, Sussex and was educated at Stowe.
…Martin, Keith
Keith was born in Sandwich and was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral. He trained in catering, then joined the Merchant Navy but illness brought him home and he started work in the advertising department of Granada Television in London.
…Kendall, Kenneth
Born in India, Kenneth was educated at Felsted School and Oxford, where he gained a degree in modern languages. He was a school master and later captain in the Coldstream Guards during World War II. He was injured on D-Day.
…Webber, Christine
Born in Redhill, Christine Webber was a musical child and learned the piano from the age of seven.
…Weston, Colin
Colin was born in London. He left school and joined the press and PR department of ABC Studios in Teddington and stayed for four years. After they lost their ITV franchise, he applied for various announcer jobs across the ITV network.
…Caine, John
John was a zany Southern Television reporter (1979 – 1981). He joined Central in 1982 to present the Newshound slot on Central News. He was also a continuity announcer at Central.
Bagguley, John
Southern Television presenter and in-vision continuity announcer in the 1960s.
…Marshall, Peter
Peter was a continuity announcer in various ITV regions: Ulster TV (1967 – 1969); Anglia TV (1970 – 1973); Southern (dates TBC); Thames Television (dates TBC); ATV (Midlands) (dates TBC); HTV West (dates TBC). He was also the national host of the TV Times Awards and Miss United Kingdom on the ITV network (1970s and 1980s). He also presented the BBC’s Come Dancing (1980 – 1983), and regularly reported for ITV’s Wish You Were Here? Marshall originally trained as a teacher, and then an actor with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before joining a Bournemouth rep company.
Shoesmith, Peter
Peter Shoesmith was born in 1936 and raised in the south coast town of Bexhill-on-Sea.
…Blackmore, Guy
Australian-born former pirate radio disc jockey (known as Jim Gordon, or Jumbo Jimmy Gordon during his time on Radio Caroline North), who went on to become an in-vision continuity announcer for Thames Television, a relief announcer at Southern TV and also a voice-only announcer on the BBC.
Sadly, Guy died of lung cancer in 2000.
Robbie, Christopher
Christopher was an announcer for Associated Rediffusion, Southern, Anglia and Thames TV. He had a friendly air and a great screen presence. He presented Southern’s final programme, It’s Goodbye from Us with great panache, and was one of only two continuity announcers featured, the other one being veteran colleague Brian Nissen. After Southern lost its contract, Christopher popped up from time-to-time as an announcer on TVS, before going into theatre.
He later went on tour with a one-man play about Charles Darwin. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. In the theatre he has achieved notable success in the plays of Shakespeare, Ibsen, Lope de Vega, Calderon, Euripedes and Miller. For four years he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, during which time he played the title role in King Lear. On television his portrayal of the Cyberleader in the Doctor Who adventure The Revenge of the Cyberman won him a cult following. Christopher has also worked as a director and designer and his play The Sirens of Eroc, was written under the nom-de-plume of James Alan. As an artist he has held successful exhibitions of his photographs.
Prebble, Simon
In 1960, Simon attended Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and began his acting career in one of Britain’s first television soap operas, Home Tonight with David Hemmings. For the next eleven years he worked extensively on radio and television and in provincial repertory theatre, including a year with Ian McKellen’s Hamlet.
After working as a continuity announcer and newsreader at Southern TV (1970), Prebble joined the newsroom at Capital Radio, the second commercial radio station in Britain, where he hosted London’s Day. He then embarked on a career as a presenter and voiceover, including thirteen years as the promo voice of Thames Television, as well as regular promo work for HTV and Anglia TV. He was also an announcer for Anglia TV. From 1984 he was the announcer for the British version of the phenomenally successful game show The Price Is Right with Leslie Crowther.
In 1990, Prebble moved to New York where he continued doing voiceover work. As well as recording numerous radio and television commercials, he also character-voiced cartoon series, such as Courage the Cowardly Dog; he hosted and presented several television documentary series, notably Target Mafia; and narrated the IMAX film Endurance about the Shackleton expedition. In 1996, he was a lead actor for a year (as villain Martin Chedwyn) on the American daily soap opera As the World Turns.
In the US, he also began narrating audio books. His work has gained him more than eighteen Earphone awards, nine nominations for the Audies (the audiobook Oscars), and in 2005, he was named Narrator of the Year by Publishers Weekly.
Apart from his acting career, in 1967 Prebble designed and produced the ‘executive toy’ called Newton’s Cradle.
In 2003, at Chiswick House London, he married Swedish graphic artist, Marie-Janine Hellstrom. In 2007, along with his wife, he became a US citizen.
Prince, Mike
Mike is a former ATV continuity announcer. He joined the company in the 1960s and stayed with its successor, Central, until the mid-1980s. Mike also announced, occasionally, for HTV Wales, HTV West, Thames and Southern Television.
…Hamilton, David
David started his television career as a continuity scriptwriter for ATV, but soon moved to the glamorous side of the camera as an announcer and programme presenter.
…Martindill, Verity
Verity was an LWT in-vision continuity announcer (late-1970s – early 1980s). She was also a regular continuity face on several other ITV stations, including Southern Television, Central and TVS.
Swindells, Clifford
Clifford is a former ABC TV and Southern TV announcer.
Fox, Liz
Liz is a former actress and continuity announcer at Southern TV, Ulster TV, Tyne Tees TV and BBC Radio External Services. She was also an announcer at Anglia TV and compere for Yorkshire TV’s Stars on Sunday.
Gray, Sharon
Sharon was a freelance announcer for LWT (1970s). She was also an announcer for Southern TV (1980 – TBC) and then Anglia (1983 – TBC).
Benson, John
John was born in 1928 (date unknown). He was one of ITV’s legendary, long-serving announcers.
…Ashley, Philip
Former Southern Television announcer.
Bond, Sidonie
Sidonie is a former ABC Television and Southern Television announcer.
Alexander, Michael
Former Southern Television announcer.
Kennedy, Sarah
Sarah was an LWT announcer in the 1970s. She also worked as a reporter and newsreader for Southern TV in the 1970s. Sarah went on to become one of the presenters of the BBC’s Sixty Minutes news magazine, and, famously, LWT’s Game for a Laugh. Since then she has presented many television and radio programmes.
Taylor, Alec
Alec was born in Dublin. He went to university in Dublin and worked as a publicity assistant for Oxam, then as a market researcher and teacher.
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