Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Infobox Person
name = Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

---

image_size = 200 px
caption = Llewelyn-Bowen engraving names into his latest collection of designer glassware (2007)
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date and age|1965|3|11
birth_place = London, England
death_date =
death_place =
body_discovered =
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = English
ethnicity = White
citizenship =
other_names =
known_for = "Changing Rooms" & other televison work
education = Fine Art degree
alma_mater = Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts
employer =
occupation = Interior designer, television personality
years_active = 1996-present
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
opponents =
boards =
religion =
spouse = Jackie
partner =
children =
parents = Trevor Bowen & Patricia Wilks
relations =
callsign =


website = http://www.llb.co.uk
footnotes =

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (born 11 March 1965 in London) is an interior designer and television personality best known for his appearances on the BBC television programme "Changing Rooms". He is noted for his flamboyant personality and for affecting a dandyish appearance.

Name

He is sometimes credited as "Laurence Llewelyn Bowen" [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/lighting_llbtips.shtml Laurence Llewelyn Bowen] bbc.co.uk] , and the components of his name are frequently misspelled "Llewellyn" [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/10_october/07/changingrooms_laurence.shtml Llewellyn] bbc.co.uk] and/or "Lawrence". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3982013.stm Lawrence] bbc.co.uk]

Early life

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen was born to parents Trefor and Patricia Bowen (nee Wilks). His father, an Orthopaedic surgeon died of leukemia in 1974, when he was just nine years of age. His mother, a teacher, died in 2002. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Laurence's Biography | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.llb.co.uk/laurence/biography.php | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-29 | language = ] He has a brother called Edward.

Education

Llewelyn-Bowen was educated at Alleyn's School in Dulwich before graduating from the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in 1986 with a Fine Art degree. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Laurence's Biography | date= | publisher= | url =http://www.llb.co.uk/laurence/biography.php | work = | pages = | accessdate = 2008-09-29 | language = ]

Career

Early career

Llewelyn-Bowen subsequently worked for the Harefield Group of Companies and the interior design firm Peter Leonard Associates. In 1989 he started his own design consultancy.

Television break

His wife Jackie, an author, had heard through her agent that a production company was searching for a designer and in 1996 he appeared on the first episode of "Changing Rooms".

Early 2000s

In 2002 Llewelyn-Bowen also made a cameo appearance in comedy series The League Of Gentlemen, in which he comes to decorate the garden of one of the characters. He acts as a depressed, smoking, and comically bald version of himself, and is killed by a collapsing wall.

He has also presented a three-part BBC special "Taste" (2002), about the history of interior design, and in autumn 2005 he began presenting the weekly BBC1 travel show "Holiday 2006". His books include "Fantasy Rooms: Inspirational Designs from the BBC Series" (1999), "Display" (2001), "Home Front": Inside Out" (2002), "Design Rules" (2003) and "A Pinch of Posh" (2006) co-written with his wife, Jackie. He has also made a guest appearance on "Changing Rooms"' American counterpart, "Trading Spaces".

In March 2005 he starred in a one-off mockumentary as a prospective candidate for Parliament. His party, the Purple Party, "lobbied" for a restoration of Britain's heritage, and several extreme architectural measures such as tearing down all buildings that did not conform to their surroundings.

"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" controversy

In January 2006, he and his wife Jackie were offered a place on the Valentine's Day celebrity couples edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". They appeared on the show managing to reach the £1 million question, before answering wrongly and losing £468,000. For the first time ever, Celador let Laurence and his wife retry the show after the company claimed that the last question "didn't meet their standards". After returning and being shown a different £1 million question, the couple decided not to risk losing £468,000 for the second time, and won £500,000 for their chosen charity, The Shooting Star Foundation, of which Laurence and his wife are both patrons. This amount is the highest that any celebrity couple has won on any British edition of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?". The £468,000 they originally lost was also the "greatest loss" ever seen on the show, and to date, no other contestant has answered the final question incorrectly. The allegedly misleading question was "Translated from the Latin, what is the United States motto?". The answer given was "In God we trust" which is original English and has in fact been the US motto since 1956. The intended answer had been "Out of many, one" which is a translation of the Latin phrase "E Pluribus Unum", which is not actually the current United States motto.

Recent work

In November 2007 he and his family were featured in the Living TV series "To The Manor Bowen". The designer created a line of wallpaper in collaboration with the British Home Decor Company Graham & Brown. In December of that year he and his family took part in the ITV1 game show All Star Family Fortunes.

In 2008 he began hosting a show "The Sunday Spa" on Classic FM.

A study of Laurence's family tree featured in the BBCs 'Who Do You Think You Are?' programme first aired on 29th September, 2008. It showed that Llewelyn-Bowen's had a seafaring history.

Personal life

Llewelyn-Bowen and his wife have two daughters: Cecile (born 1995) and Hermione (born 1998).

He and his wife Jackie are ambassadors to the aid agency CARE International UK and in February 2008 visited the cyclone-hit areas of Bangladesh. They are also active patrons for children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

He is known as "Larry" to his friends, in homage to his great hero Laurence Olivier.Fact|date=September 2008

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0515774
* [http://www.pinchofposh.com Pinch of Posh] pinchofposh.com
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/tv_and_radio/presenterbiogs_j.shtml#laurence_llewelyn_bowen BBC Biography] bbc.co.uk
* [http://www.amazon.co.uk/s?search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Laurence%20Llewelyn-Bowen Titles by Llewelyn-Bowen] on Amazon.co.uk
* [http://www.charmedincornwall.com Charmed in Cornwall] Jacqueline Llewelyn-Bowen's shop selling products designed by Laurence