- Anne Gregg
Anne Deirdre Gregg (
February 11 1940 –September 5 2006 ) was a travel writer and TV presenter fromNorthern Ireland . She is perhaps best known for presenting theBBC 's travel programme "Holiday" throughout the 1980s. She was one of the first people from Northern Ireland to become a national British television personality. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/5321726.stm TV star Anne Gregg dies of cancer] ,BBC News ,6 September 2006 .]Early life
Gregg was born in
Belfast . Her father was acivil servant who worked for theOrdnance Survey ; her mother was a dressmaker. An uncle, R. H. McCandless, was an actor. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2349094,00.html Obituary] , "The Times ",9 September 2006 .] She had one brother.Gregg was educated at
Strathearn Grammar School for Girls in Belfast. After leaving school, she worked for a short time as a bookkeeper in the Ministry of Finance, but quickly left to pursue a television career.Career
Gregg joined
Ulster Television at the age of 19 in 1959, starting as an announcer and later becoming a local news reporter and presenter of "Roundabout ". She was reputed to be the youngest current affairs presenter in theUnited Kingdom . [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=DA3VKBE1X4T3TQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2006/09/07/db0701.xml Obituary] , "The Daily Telegraph ",9 September 2006 .] She moved toEngland in 1963, where worked at an advertising agency before moving toAnglia Television , inNorwich , to present a current affairs programme. She moved toLondon to work for theBBC , first as acontinuity announcer , and later becoming anews reader on national television.She changed to print journalism in 1966, [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1369575.ece Obituary] , "
The Independent ",9 September 2006 .] working as a features editor and later deputy editor on the "Good Housekeeping " magazine. She was editor of "Woman's Journal" from 1978 to 1980.Gregg returned to television broadcasting in 1980, as a presenter on the "Holiday" programme from 1980 to 1991. She was its main studio presenter in 1990 to 1991, attracting a weekly audience of 12 million. With a warm, personable manner, described by "
The Guardian " as "unstuffy directness and warmth combined with an impish sense of fun", [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1871972,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian ",14 September 2006 .] she was popular with viewers. She was counted as "thinking man's crumpet ", alongsideJoan Bakewell ,Joanna Lumley andFelicity Kendal . However, in 1991, a new producer replaced her as the main presenter of "Holiday" withAnneka Rice (Rice was herself replaced one year later byJill Dando ). Rather than face demotion, Gregg resigned. The "Daily Mail " reported that she had been sacked, and perceptions that she had been rejected for being too old at 51 (Rice was 17½ years younger) led to hundreds of viewers writing in to protest, pushing the issue of her departure to seventh on the BBC's list of viewer complaints, famously between complaints about bad language (sixth) and about a series of programmes on homosexuality on BBC2 (eighth). She, however, rejected allegations ofageism , pointing to successful older women at the BBC, such asEsther Rantzen andSue Lawley .In retrospect, Gregg was glad to have been given a chance to explore other interests. She continued as a television presenter. She co-presented coverage of the
Chelsea Flower Show forBBC Two from 1991 to 1994; presented a ten-part series on BBC Northern Ireland, "Places Apart" in 1996-1997; and appeared as a guest on "Call My Bluff " and "Countdown ". She presented two programmes that mixed travel with religion, "Annie Across America" on religion in theUnited States , in 1992 and "Package Pilgrims" in 1993; and also "Folio", an arts programme produced by Anglia.Gregg also continued with the freelance interests that she had pursued while presenting "Holiday". She produced videos for
English Heritage ; she wrote in newspapers and magazines; and she appeared on radio programmes. In 1997, she presented one series of "Breakaway" onBBC Radio 4 .For many years, she produced magazines for the French Tourist Office in London with business partner Ken Wright. In 2003, she was awarded the
Médaille d'Or du Tourisme . She wrote several books, including "The Perfect Holiday" (1989), "Dalton's Directory of British Holidays" (1993), a series of "Heritage Guides to Great Britain" (1995), and "Tarragon and Truffles" (2006).She lived in London, but also kept a house in
Provence . She never married. She died ofcancer , aged 66.References
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