Gordon Clyde was born in St Andrews, Scotland.
…Stride, Virginia
Born Virginia Thomas in 1936 in Yokohama, Japan, Virginia trained at RADA, where she met her first husband, the actor John Stride; the couple married in 1958.
…Judd, Lesley
Born in London, Lesley Judd trained at the Arts Educational School of Ballet and Drama.
…West, Anita
Born in Lambeth, London, as Ann Edith Dorothy West in 1935, Anita West was an actress.
…Leigh, Deborah
Born in Manchester on 4th January (year unknown), Leigh holds an MA in voice studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (2011) and is a master practitioner of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
…Thompson, Eric
Born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, Eric Thompson established himself as a distinguished actor and stage director whose career spanned theatre, television and film.
…Glover, Jon
Jon completed his training at the Central School of Speech and Drama between 1968 and 1971, subsequently embarking on a distinguished career across radio, television, and theatrical platforms.
…Kay, Ian
Ian Kay was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and graduated with a BA (Hons) in acting from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wigan.
…Munroe, Carmen
Born Carmen Steele in Guyana, Carmen Munroe arrived in the United Kingdom during the early 1950s.
…Connell, Miranda
Miranda was born in Stanstead, Essex. She began acting at the age of 18, playing Maria in a 1958 production of Twelfth Night at Stratford.
…Castle, Roy
Roy was born in Holmfirth. He was a gifted all-round entertainer and accomplished jazz trumpet player, who could play many other instruments.
…Nissen, Brian
Brian was born in Kingston-upon-Thames. His stage career began at the age of 14 in Peter Pan.
…Trueman, Brian
Brian was born in Manchester. In 1946, he made his acting debut in Plover Patrol for BBC Radio in Manchester.
…Ashcroft, Chlöe
Chlöe is an actress and the niece of actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft.
…Jones, Kathy
Kathy was born in Crewe. She is an actress/singer, who is best remembered for her role as Tricia Hopkins in 123 episodes of Coronation Street (ITV, 24th – 26th September 1973; 8th July 1974 – 28th April 1975 and 23rd June 1975 – 9th June 1976).
…Harris, Fred
Fred is a former schoolteacher. He is an actor, who became a popular Play School presenter, making his debut on 16th July 1973 (earning £45 a programme). This began a 15-year association with the programme, which would see Fred appear in 382 editions.
…Arthur, Toni
Toni was born Antoinette Alice Priscilla, in Oxford. She won a music scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music at the age of nine and gave a concert at the Wigmore Hall in the same year. She trained as a nurse at University College Hospital. She was a folk music singer and was married to fellow musician Dave Arthur (1963 – 1977). They released several folk music albums (1964 – 1975).
…Hewer, John
John was born in Leyton, Essex. He was an actor/writer, who was a long-time member of the London’s Players Theatre.
…Oxley, Mel
Mel was born in South Africa. He was a former DJ with Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s. He later moved into TV and worked as an ITV announcer for Southern TV (1959 – 1961), ATV, ABC Television and Associated Rediffusion. He moved to BBC Television as a network out-of-vision announcer, who also appeared in-vision conducting interviews on BBC Two (1965 – 1972). He presented BBC Two’s Line-Up (1969) and narrated The Curious Character of Britain (1970) and Sights and Sounds of Britain (1971) for BBC One.
…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.
…Scott, Avis
Avis was born in 1918, with the surname Scutt. Many people tried to persuade her to alter her name but it was Noel Coward who finally succeeded when he said “my dear, the name Scutt sounds like a great piece of rabbit!”.
…Tooth, Pauline
Pauline was an actress and a BBC TV in-vision network announcer (1955 – 1961). She also appeared in a one-off show called Afternoon Hostesses Tea-Party (20th December 1955), hosted by McDonald Hobley, with Vera McKechnie and Nan Winton amongst the contributors.
…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).
…Edwardes, Olga
Olga was a South African-born British actress and artist. She appeared in several films and plays from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, including Contraband (1940), The Angel with the Trumpet (1950) and Scrooge (1951), where she played the unnamed wife of Scrooge’s nephew Fred. She was also a major character in Black Orchid (1953).
…Peters, Sylvia
Born Sylvia Lucia Petronzio, she was a former musical actress who appeared in revues including one at The Coliseum marking VE Day.
…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.
…Walsh, Kate
Kate is a native Lancastrian with a husky, lilting quality to her voice. She studied at the Central School of Speech and graduated from the University of Birmingham with a bachelor’s in psychology.
…Trace, Christopher
Chris – a former actor – was born in Hambledon, Surrey. After working as a farm labourer, he joined the British Army and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and in 1953 received a commission in the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army. He was promoted to lieutenant in February 1955, but resigned his commission in September 1956. He had a relatively undistinguished acting career – his greatest screen role being Charlton Heston’s body double in Ben-Hur (1959). He later appeared as an interviewer in Ask Mr Pastry (1961) and as himself in Mr Pastry’s Pet Shop (1962).
…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.
…Pitts, Valerie
Valerie was an actress. She was RADA-trained (1955 – 1957) and worked in the theatre initially.
…Hayes, Geoffrey
Geoffrey was born in Stockport and attended drama school in Manchester. For generations of pre-school viewers, he was the popular presenter known to viewers as ‘Geoffrey’. He appeared in over 1,000 editions of Thames TV’s long-running children’s series Rainbow (1973 – 1991). He joined after the original presenter, actor/writer David Cook, decided to leave to concentrate on other work. He tipped off Hayes, having performed alongside him in repertory theatre. Geoffrey would remain with the show for the next two decades. He also wrote for the programme and appeared on The Sooty Show (ITV, 1977) and Altogether (ITV, 1981).
…Chell, Carol
Carol was born in 1941. An actress, she studied drama at The Royal Academy of Music and was a qualified teacher who presented many schools series for Granada TV and Central TV including: The Messengers and Enough to Eat.
…Lewis, Anthony
Anthony was born in Leeds. He began acting at the age of nine, with roles in television shows including Heartbeat (1994), Cracker (1995), The Detectives (1995) and A Touch of Frost (1996).
…Muncaster, Martin
Martin was born in Tillington, near Petworth, Sussex and was educated at Stowe.
…Griffiths, Derek
Derek is fondly remembered by a certain generation as a children’s TV presenter during the 1970s on Play School and Play Away.
…Cant, Brian
Brian was a much-loved actor and iconic children’s TV presenter. He enthralled generations of children with his contributions to many classic series including Play School (1964 – 1987) and Play Away (1971 – 1984).
…Aspel, Michael
Michael was born in London. He was evacuated during World War II, for four-and-a-half years, to Chard in Somerset. He worked as a tea boy at William Collins publishers and completed his National Service in the ranks of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps (1951 – 1953).
…Polhill-Thomas, Siân
Born on The Wirral, Siân is an ex-international sprint hurdler. She gained a BA (hons) in acting from LIPA.
…McKechnie, Vera
Born in 1929, Vera worked as an actress in the theatre and began her broadcasting career in Children’s Hour on BBC Radio in Manchester (1948 – 1954), working with Violet Carson and Uncle Mac, before going for an audition for BBC Children’s Television in London.
…Ap Brinley, Alun
Alun is an actor who has occasionally freelanced as an announcer. Announcing jobs include S4C and BBC Wales TV.
Hayden-Smith, Andrew
Andrew is a former CBBC presenter. He’s currently an announcer on ITV.
Bower, Colin
Colin Bower was born in Cheltenham Spa, and took his first steps in broadcasting as a disc jockey with radio stations in Africa before embarking on a television career that would span decades.
…Brydon, Rob
Rob was a continuity director/announcer with BBC Wales TV (late-1980s). He also presented The Chart Show and Rave on BBC Radio Wales into the early 1990s. Rob also voiced network BBC TV programme trails (late-1980s/early 1990s). These days, Rob is better known for his stand-up, presenting and acting roles: Human Remains (BBC); Marion and Geoff (BBC); Gavin and Stacey (BBC); presenter, Would I Lie to You? (BBC); Live from the Apollo (BBC).
Bale, Jenni
Jenni worked as a continuity announcer for BBC TV Presentation (1978 – 1980).
…Flynn, David
In 2005, David began announcing duties for the UKTV network (on UKTV Food, UKTV Gold and UKTV People), whilst training to be an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
…Gray, Donald
Donald was an accomplished actor. He was a relief BBC TV in-vision network announcer (1952 – 1953, 1955). He later announced at ATV in London at the weekends. Gray also provided the voice of Colonel White in the cult 1960s children’s television classic, Captain Scarlet.
…Shoesmith, Peter
Peter Shoesmith was born in 1936 and raised in the south coast town of Bexhill-on-Sea.
…Leeson, John
He was born John Ducker in Leicester. He is an actor who is best known as the much-loved voice of computer dog K9, trusty sidekick to Doctor Who (1977 – 1981, 1983, 2006 and 2008).
…Le Moighan, Michael
Michael is a former Granada Television continuity announcer. He continued with his acting career after leaving the announcer’s chair.
Elwes, Polly
Born Mary Freya Elwes and known as Polly. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, now part of the University of London.
…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.