Norman Giller

Norman Giller
Born	Norman Giller 18 April 1940 (1940-04-18) (age 71) Stepney, London, England
Occupation	Journalist, writer
Spouse(s)	Eileen Giller (1936-2006)
Children	Lisa and Michael
Ethnicity	English
Notable credit(s)	90 books TV series Journalist See the main article for an extensive list.

Norman Giller (born 18 April 1940 Stepney, East End, London) is a prolific English author, a sports historian and television scriptwriter.

With 90 books to his name, Norman Giller is a prolific author who served his writing apprenticeship as a notable Fleet Street journalist. He was chief football reporter with the Daily Express in London (1964–74), and has been a freelance writer since leaving Fleet Street in 1974. He was 14 years a member of the This Is Your Life scriptwriting team, and has devised several television series including Who's the Greatest? (ITV, 1980s), The Games of 48 and Over the Moon, Brian (ITV 1990s), Petrolheads (BBC2 2006); he co-produced 63 editions of Stand and Deliver (Sky TV, 1990s), and has been scriptwriter and co-producer with Top Gear director Brian Klein of more than 50 sports-based videos/DVDs, featuring celebrities such as Gordon Ramsay, Ray Winstone, Alan Hansen, John Motson, Dickie Bird, Frank Bruno, Frankie Dettori, Lawrence Dallaglio, Harry Carpenter, and Jimmy Greaves. His output has also included crosswords and puzzle games with The Times, Daily and Sunday Express, The Sun, Sunday Telegraph and London Evening News. He has compiled the annual Times Sports Jumbo Crossword for 27 consecutive years

Giller was the argument-settling Judge of The Sun for ten years, and he and his sports statistician son Michael set the 2,000 questions for the DVD version of Football Trivial Pursuit. With his then partner Peter Lorenzo and associate Malcolm Rowley, Giller created one of the first major pub quiz competitions in 1974. It was called What's Yours? and had 64 competing pubs in a series sponsored by the Charrington's chain in south-east England.

In the Autumn of 2011, Giller had his 90th book published: Tottenham, the Managing Game, written with the help of his Facebook and Twitter friends. His 91st book, a personalized tribute to boxing legend Sir Henry Cooper will be published in 2012.

His 81st book was a collaboration with Pelé and Gordon Banks and in partnership with their UK agent Terry Baker, a limited edition featuring an in-depth look at their careers and, in particular, the famous Banks save against Pelé for England against Brazil in the 1970 World Cup finals. Giller has a regular Fleet Street nostalgia blog at the Sports Journalists' Association website ^[1]

Giller's 82nd book was The Lane of Dreams,^[2], a complete history of the Tottenham Hotspur ground at White Hart Lane before the bulldozers move in. The book is introduced by two Spurs legends, Jimmy Greaves and Steve Perryman. It is a self published book by Giller, who experimented by having the second-half written on line by Tottenham supporters. Giller provided the facts; the fans provided the feelings. He had six books published in 2010, written in collaboration with his sports statistician son, Michael Giller, and leading sports agent Terry Baker: Jimmy Greaves At Seventy [1] and The Golden Double [2], 'the story of Tottenham's historic League and FA Cup triumph in 1960-61, Greavsie's Greatest (The 50 greatest post-war British strikers, selected by Jimmy Greaves), World Cup 2010 [3] (a day to day diary of the tournament), Chopper's Chelsea in collaboration with former Stamford Bridge captain Ron Harris, and Hammers-80, the story of West Ham United's FA Cup success of 1979-80, introduced by Sir Trevor Brooking. His 88th book is a powerful novel about corruption in football, The Glory and the Greed [4], which has been produced ahead of traditional publication as an e-Book for reading on screen.

Giller, whose 50-year writing career started with a typewriter and carbon paper, has set up his own website as he attempts to keep a toehold in the modern world [5]. He is a keen Wikipedian, a disciple of the Jimmy Wale creed of Free Information for All, and is dedicated to the first Wikipedia commandment of Accuracy At All Times.

Biography

Giller was born in London's East End in the first year of the Second World War, and was evacuated with his mother and three brothers to a Devonshire farm. Educated at Raine's Foundation Grammar School in Stepney, he left at 15 to become a copyboy with the London Evening News. He started his reporting career with the Stratford Express in West Ham (1957), and arrived at the Daily Express after employment as a sports sub-editor with Boxing News, the London Evening Standard and the Daily Herald.

Giller has worked extensively in PR and for ten years represented former boxing world champions Frank Bruno, John H Stracey, Jim Watt, Maurice Hope (all managed by his best friend Terry Lawless), and (for his European fights) Muhammad Ali ("He needed a PR like Einstein needed a calculator", says Giller). He wrote regular newspaper and magazine columns in harness with Eric Morecambe for nine years, and also had collaborations with comedians Benny Hill and Tommy Cooper. Giller was commissioned to write six Carry On novels, sequels to the popular films. He also scripted an adult pantomime for EastEnders co-stars Mike Reid and Barbara Windsor, and was chief scriptwriter for the Laureus World Sports Awards when they were staged in Monte Carlo.

He was married for 45 years to Eileen, who passed on in 2006. Giller has two grown children, Lisa and Michael and four grandchildren, his favourite being Kate. When Eileen died following renal failure, Giller raised more than £15,000 for the Dorset Kidney Fund by building a Wall of Love on the internet.^[3]

Hoping to reach 100 books before he leaves this mortal coil, Giller is currently based in Dorset where he runs a sports facts, figures and research service with his son, Michael. They organize themed quiz nights. Giller and his partner, Jackie Wright, specialise in Powerpoint-supported presentations on such themes as the life and music of Rodgers and Hart, the Gershwin brothers and Frank Sinatra; also the Footballing Fifties and Sixties, and the life and times of Billy Wright and Denis Compton, plus an illustrated lecture for literary associations and clubs entitled 'If You Can Write A Postcard, You Can Write A Book'. Giller was webmaster for the recently disbanded Wessex branch of the Frank Sinatra Music Society.

Bibliography

Banks of England (with Gordon Banks) Pelé v Banks, The Save that Shook the World (with Terry Baker) "The Lane of Dreams" (with Jimmy Greaves and Steve Perryman) "Tottenham, The Managing Game" The Glory and the Grief (with George Graham) Football And All That (an irreverent history of the game) The Seventies Revisited (with Kevin Keegan) The Final Score (with Brian Moore[disambiguation needed ]) ABC of Soccer Sense (Tommy Docherty) Billy Wright, A Hero for All Seasons (official biography) [4] The Rat Race (with Tommy Docherty) Denis Compton (The Untold Stories) McFootball, the Scottish Heroes of the English Game Chopper's Chelsea (with Ron Harris and Terry Baker) Hammers-80 (with Terry Baker and introduced by (Sir Trevor Brooking The Book of Rugby Lists (with Gareth Edwards) The Book of Tennis Lists (with John Newcombe) The Book of Golf Lists TV Quiz Trivia Sports Quiz Trivia Satzenbrau-sponsored Sports Puzzle Book Satzenbrau-sponsored TV Puzzle Book Know What I Mean (with Frank Bruno) Eye of the Tiger (with Frank Bruno) From Zero to Hero (with Frank Bruno) The Judge Book of Sports Answers Watt's My Name (with Jim Watt) My Most Memorable Fights (with Henry Cooper) How to Box (with Henry Cooper) Henry Cooper's 100 Greatest Boxers Mike Tyson Biography

Mike Tyson, the Release of Power (Reg Gutteridge) Crown of Thorns, the World Heavyweight Championship (with Neil Duncanson Fighting for Peace (Barry McGuigan biography, with Peter Batt World's Greatest Cricket Matches World's Greatest Football Matches Golden Heroes (with Dennis Signy) The Judge (1,001 arguments settled) The Great Football IQ Quiz Book (The Judge of The Sun) The Marathon Kings The Golden Milers (with Sir Roger Bannister) Olympic Heroes (with Brendan Foster) Olympics Handbook 1980 Olympics Handbook 1984 Book of Cricket Lists (Tom Graveney) Top Ten Cricket Book (Tom Graveney) Cricket Heroes (Eric Morecambe) Big Fight Quiz Book TVIQ Puzzle Book Lucky the Fox (with Barbara Wright) Gloria Hunniford's TV Challenge Footballing Fifties The concorde club - The First 50 Years (with Cole Mathieson Jimmy Greaves At Seventy (with Terry Baker and Michael Giller) The Golden Double (with Terry Baker and Michael Giller) World Cup 2010 (with Michael Giller)

Comedy novelizations

Carry On Doctor Carry On England Carry On Loving

Carry On Up the Khyber Carry On Abroad Carry On Henry What A Carry On eBook

Novels

A Stolen Life (novel) Mike Baldwin: Mr Heartbreak (novel, introduced by Johnny Briggs) Hitler's Final Victim (novel)

Affairs (novel) 'The Glory and The Greed (novel)

Books in collaboration with Ricky Tomlinson

Football My Arse Celebrities My Arse

Cheers My Arse Reading My Arse (The Search for the Rock Island Line)

Books in collaboration with Jimmy Greaves

This One's On Me The Final (novel) The Ball Game (novel) The Boss (novel) The Second Half (novel) Let's Be Honest (with Reg Gutteridge) Greavsie's Heroes and Entertainers World Cup History GOALS! The greatest ever scored Stop the Game, I Want to Get On

The Book of Football Lists Taking Sides Funny Old Games (with Ian St John) Sports Quiz Challenge Sports Quiz Challenge 2 It's A Funny Old Life Saint & Greavsie's World Cup Special The Sixties Revisited Don’t Shoot the Manager Greavsie's Greatest The 50 Greatest post-war British strikers

Television

• This Is Your Life scriptwriter (1981–1995)

Including programmes featuring Sir Richard Branson, Sir Jimmy Savile, Frank Bruno, Paul Daniels, Simon Weston, Ruth Madoc, Dan Maskell, Cliff Morgan, Denis Compton, Billy Wright, Peter Shilton, John Surtees, Nigel Mansell, Peter Alliss, Henry Cotton, Terry Lawless, Joe Johnson^{[disambiguation needed ]}, James Herbert, Jack 'Kid' Berg, Reg Gutteridge, Mike Reid, Stan Boardman, Benny Green, George Shearing, Helen Shapiro

• Who's the Greatest, devisor and scriptwriter of an ITV series that involved celebrities such as:

Sir David Frost, Sir Michael Parkinson, Sir Jeffrey Archer, Tom Graveney, Gloria Hunniford, Eamonn Andrews, Tom O'Connor, Stan Boardman, Bernie Winters, Dennis Waterman, Willie Rushton and Sir Henry Cooper.

• Stunt Challenge for ITV (in the 1980s, scriptwriter with Derek Thompson.

• Stand and Deliver for Sky TV (co-producer with Brian Klein of On the Box Productions)

63 comedy programmes featuring, among others, Mike Reid, Norman Collier, Frank Carson, Jim Bowen, Stan Boardman, Ted Rogers, Cannon and Ball and Bernard Manning.

• The Games of 48 (ITV 1998, devisor and scriptwriter with Brian Moore^{[disambiguation needed ]})

Guests included Olympic legends Emil Zátopek, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Bob Mathias

• Petrolheads (2006 for BBC2), devisor and scriptwriter

Regular panellists were Richard Hammond, Chris Barrie and presenter Neil Morrissey. Featured guests included Eamonn Holmes, Murray Walker, Ricky Tomlinson, Ronan Keating, James May, Philip Glenister.

• Over the Moon, Brian (ITV), devisor and scriptwriter

Tribute series to Brian Moore, with guests including Brian Clough and Jack Charlton

References

1. ^ http://www.sportsjournalists.co.uk/blog/?cat=35
2. ^ http://www.thelaneofdreams.co.uk
3. ^ index.htm
4. ^ England Book Review Billy Wright: A Hero for All Seasons

External links

• Norman Giller at Google Book Search
• Norman Giller books

Persondata
Name	Giller, Norman
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 April 1940
Place of birth	Stepney, London, England
Date of death
Place of death