- Miriam Stoppard
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Miriam Stoppard OBE (née Stern and subsequently Miriam Moore-Robinson, born 12 May 1937), is a British doctor, author, television presenter and agony aunt.
Contents
Early life and medical career
Miriam was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. Her parents were Orthodox Jews.[1] Her father Sidney was a nurse and her mother Jenny worked for the Newcastle school dinners service. She was born in Newcastle upon Tyne attended the Central High School on Eskdale Terrace there and trained as a nurse at the Newcastle General Hospital (Royal Free Medical School). She went on to study medicine at King's College, Durham (which became Newcastle University in 1963). After qualifying as a doctor she worked at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary and specialized in dermatology as a senior registrar at Bristol Royal Infirmary. She then became a research director and then managing director in the pharmaceutical industry for Syntex.
Television presenter
Stoppard became well known during the 1970s and 1980s as a television presenter on scientific and medical programmes such as Don't Ask Me and Where There's Life.
Writing
She has written several books about health, including the Children's Medical Handbook, but particularly on the subject of women's health.
She writes on health issues and acts as an agony aunt for the Daily Mirror newspaper, having previously answered readers' letters for The TV Times magazine. Her company, Miriam Stoppard Lifetime, sells her books and health products.
She is currently[when?] writing a book with Magnus Scheving about healthy lifestyles for kids.[2]
Stoppard was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to healthcare and charity.[3]
Family
Her niece is the former MP Oona King who unsuccessfully contested the Labour Party nomination for Mayor of London in 2010.[2]
From 1972 to 1992 she was married to the playwright Tom Stoppard. One of her sons is the actor Ed Stoppard.
Popular culture
Stoppard was mentioned in the song "Architecture and Morality; Ted and Alice" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit:"The horrible sincerity of Miriam Stoppard makes me want to go out and commit mass murder". She was named Journalist of the Year at the Stonewall Awards[4] on 6 November of that year.
She was mentioned in Coronation Street on 31 July 2009 when Maria asked a stressed Tony "Who are you? Miriam Stoppard?"
Stoppard was also mentioned in the popular television show Psychoville on June 18, 2009 when the character Joy Aston (Dawn French) sarcastically mistakes one of the ante-natal parents she coaches as Dr. Miriam Stoppard after the ante-natal parent had corrected Joy's use of the term "soft spot" instead of "fontanelle".
References
External links
- Her website
- Miriam Stoppard at the Internet Movie Database
- Miriam Stoppard Books
- Miriam Stoppard Blog - Daily Mirror
Video clips
Categories:- 1937 births
- British advice columnists
- English Jews
- English television presenters
- 20th-century English medical doctors
- Alumni of Durham University
- Alumni of Newcastle University
- Living people
- People from Newcastle upon Tyne
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Central Newcastle High School
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