Robert Robinson (television presenter)

Robert Robinson (born 17 December 1927 in Liverpool) is an English radio and television presenter.

Biography and career

His father was an accountant and he was educated at Raynes Park Grammar School and Exeter College, Oxford. He then became a journalist for the "Sunday Chronicle" (TV columnist), the "Sunday Graphic" (film and theatre columnist), the "Sunday Times" (radio critic and editor of "Atticus") and the "Sunday Telegraph" (film critic).

He began working on television as a journalist in 1955. During the 1960s and 1970s, he presented the series "Open House", "Picture Parade" [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020912/ai_n12647600 TV Heroes: #39: Robert Robinson] "The Independent" (London), Sep 12, 2002 by Gerard Gilbert] , "Points of View", "Ask the Family" [ [http://www.ukgameshows.com/page/index.php?title=Robert_Robinson UKgameshows.com] ] , "BBC3" – including the discussion during which Kenneth Tynan became the first person to say "fuck" on British television – and "Call My Bluff". He wrote and presented "The Fifties" on BBC1.Robinson was the presenter of "The Book Programme" on BBC2 from 1973-80 and a number of spin off documentaries, notably "B.Traven - A Mystery Solved" (1979). He wrote and presented several BBC1 documentaries under the title "Robinson's Travels", among them "The Mormon Trail" (1976), "Cruising" and "Indian Journey". In 1986 he wrote and presented "The Magic Rectangle", one of the BBC1 documentaries marking the fiftieth anniversay of television. He also presented "Today", BBC Radio 4's flagship morning news show, and "Stop The Week", a fiercely competitive talking programme ["Skip All That", p 221] . Robinson fronted "Brain of Britain" on BBC Radio 4, but was replaced by Russell Davies during the 2004 series owing to illness. He returned to host the new series in 2005 until handing over the reins to Peter Snow in 2007. In September 2008 Robinson chaired the special "Brain of Brains" and "Top Brain" editions of the quiz and has returned again to host the current series in 2008.

"Private Eye" used to lampoon Robinson under the nickname 'Smuggins'. In a sketch on the BBC's "Not the Nine O'Clock News" he was impersonated by an actor wearing a cricket box over his forehead. Robinson has also been the subject of a sketch by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie in the second series of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", and Fry frequently does an affectionate impression of Robinson when hosting the quiz show "QI". He has also been lampooned by comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb in the second series of "That Mitchell and Webb Look", where he was shown as the presenter of an early version of their fictional gameshow "Numberwang".

He is the father of the actress Lucy Robinson [ [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/597912 Robinson, Lucy] Film & TV Database, British Film Institute (accessed 6 Oct 2008)] and the soprano Suzy Robinson.

Books

*"Inside Robert Robinson" (journalism)
*"The Dog Chairman" (journalism)
*"Prescriptions of a Pox Doctor's Clerk" (journalism)
*"Landscape with Dead Dons" (mystery novel)
*"The Conspiracy" (novel)
*"Bad Dreams" (novel)
*"The Everyman Book of Light Verse" (as editor)
*"Skip All That" (1997) (autobiography)

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0733035/ Robert Robinson] at the IMDb