Richard Whiteley

Infobox Actor
name = Richard Whiteley


caption =
birthname = John Richard Whiteley
birth_date = Birth date|1943|12|28|df=y
birth_place = Baildon,
Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
death_date = Dda|2005|06|26|1943|12|28|df=y
death_place = Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
occupation = Journalist,
Television presenter
spouse = Candy Watson (1973–1975;div.)
domesticpartner = Kathryn Apanowicz (1994–2005)

John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005), usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English television presenter, and journalist.

He was most famous for his 23-year stint as presenter of "Countdown", a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast daily on Channel 4. An edition of "Countdown" was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel, discounting a programme montage. Despite being a highly intelligent man, he enjoyed projecting an image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for excruciatingly bad puns; and bold wardrobe, particularly jackets and ties.

Early life and career

He was born in Bradford and spent his childhood in Baildon. His family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill, which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School, Yorkshire, where his English teacher was Russell Harty, the late chat-show host. He later became a governor of the school. Leaving school with seven O-levels and three A-levels, in 1962 he read English at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he gained a third class degree, coincidentally the same class of degree as his "Countdown" co-star Carol Vorderman attained at the same university.

Upon leaving Cambridge in July 1965, Whiteley served three years as a trainee at ITN but left to join the newly-created Yorkshire Television in July 1968.

Thanks to over twenty years worth of nightly instalments of "Countdown" as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme "Calendar" and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked-up more hours on British television screens - and more than 10,000 appearances - than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee, the young girl who appeared on the BBC's iconic Test Card F. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4102712.stm Richard Whitely Obituary] - BBC website]

Whiteley was famously bitten by a ferret on an edition of "Calendar" in 1977. The animal remained clamped to his finger for half a minute before its indifferent owner finally prised it free. The clip is often repeated on programmes showing television out-takes. In an example of his famous self-deprecating humour, Whiteley once joked that when he died, the headlines would read, "Ferret man dies". He said, "It's made a lot of people laugh and it's been shown all over the world. It's 30-odd years since it happened and I think I've been a great PR man for the ferret industry. Ferrets have a lot to be grateful for, to me, you see they've become acceptable because one of them bit me."

"Countdown"

In 1982, Yorkshire Television started making "Calendar Countdown", copying a popular French quiz show format, "Des chiffres et des lettres". Whiteley was chosen as host, and continued with the show when Sir Jeremy Isaacs brought it to Channel 4 as the first programme broadcast by the new station. After a successful first broadcast, with an audience of over 3.5 million viewers, the programme lost 3 million viewers for its second show.

However, it gradually rebuilt its audience over the following weeks, and it was as the host of "Countdown" that Whiteley became known to a wider audience in the United Kingdom outside Yorkshire. He was nicknamed "Twice Nightly Whiteley", in reference to the time when he would present the "Calendar" news programme and "Countdown" in the same evening, from 1982 to 1995. In a self-deprecating joke, he often altered this to "Once Yearly, Nearly".

As the presenter of "Countdown", Whiteley developed a reputation for wearing garish suits and ties, and it was common for Carol Vorderman to comment on this. Whiteley also told many anecdotes and puns, which were often met by groans from other presenters and members of the audience. He was granted the honorary title of "Mayor of Wetwang" in 1998, and was known for his amusement at the village's name.

"Countdown" was not intended to be a long-lasting format, but it quickly became a flagship programme for Channel 4. At the time of Whiteley's death, it still regularly attracted up to four million viewers. The Queen and The Queen Mother are both said to have been fans. He had a cameo appearance role as himself, presenting "Countdown", in the film "About a Boy". From series 54, broadcast in 2006, the series champion has received the "Richard Whiteley Memorial Trophy".

Whiteley also had his own chat show on ITV between 1995 and 1997.

Whiteley made more than 10,000 television appearances over the course of his career. He became a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2003, and was appointed OBE in the June 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to broadcasting. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/3799603.stm Whiteley gets an OBE in honours] - BBC News, 12 June 2004] On 15 June 2003, Whiteley appeared on the BBC show, "Top Gear". He set the slowest time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.

Death

In May 2005, Whiteley was taken into hospital with septicaemia. He made a slow recovery from the illness, but doctors discovered problems with his heart and carried out an emergency operation for endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves on 24 June. This operation was not successful, and on 26 June 2005 Richard Whiteley died at Leeds General Infirmary. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4625119.stm Presenter Richard Whiteley dies] - BBC News, 26 June 2005]

He had suffered with asthma since he was very young, and was diabetic. The edition of "Countdown" due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June when "Countdown" returned the following day. Having recorded a number of shows in advance of going into hospital, his final show was broadcast on 1 July 2005 which was the grand final of the 53rd season. Two standalone episodes featuring former contestants, and recorded in 2003 to be broadcast whenever Channel 4's cricket coverage finishes early, also remain in the vaults to be screened at a later date.

Memorial

On 10 November 2005, five months after his death, thousands of friends and admirers gathered at York Minster for a memorial service to celebrate Whiteley's life. Guests included Carol Vorderman who paid tribute to him, saying, "if he were here he would have welcomed you one-by-one, greeting every one of you by the hand and would have wanted a photograph taken".

He was described by "Countdown" regular Gyles Brandreth as "a love god ... but he was the most innocent love god you could imagine. He was like a ray of sunshine, and like sunshine we all warmed to him".

In 2007 Channel 4 announced its creation of the Richard Whiteley Memorial Bursary, a nine-month work experience placement at Yorkshire Television, working with True North Productions.
In 2008, some three years after Richard's untimely death, Giggleswick School, announced its plans to raise £2m to build a Theatre in Richard's honour. The 300 seat theatre will be built at the School where Richard was a pupil and governor, but be a resource for the whole dales community.
As of August 2008 over £625,000 has been raised. If you would like to know more about the theatre, there is more information on the School’s website [http://www.giggleswickschool.co.uk/foundation/index.php?pageid=30002&topsect=60&subchoice=30002] .

Vision Aid Overseas

Three pairs of Richard's spectacles were donated by Kathryn Apanowicz, his long-term partner, to optical charity Vision Aid Overseas (VAO), who sent them with a team of optical professionals to Ethiopia. VAO is a charity dedicated to helping people in the developing world whose lives are blighted by poor eyesight, particularly where spectacles can help. After setting up an eyecare clinic, the VAO team found three Ethiopians whose eyes fitted Richard's prescription. The BBC followed this story on their "Inside Out" programme which was broadcast on 19 September 2007.

Biography

* "Himoff!: The Memoirs of a TV Matinee Idle " by Richard Whiteley (London, Orion Books, 2001) ISBN 0-7528-4345-1.
* "Richard by Kathryn" by Kathryn Apanowicz (London, Virgin Books, 2006) ISBN 1-85227-375-5

References

Obituaries

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4102712.stm "Obituary: Richard Whiteley"] . (BBC News, 26 June 2005).
* [http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=100&ArticleID=1067123 "Richard Whiteley: I bet they'll report 'Ferret Man Dies'"] . ("Yorkshire Post", 27 June 2005).
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1492901/Richard-Whiteley.html "Richard Whiteley"] ("Daily Telegraph", 28 June 2005)
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1671624,00.html "Richard Whiteley"] ("The Times", 28 June 2005)
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/story.jsp?story=650155 "Richard Whiteley"] ("The Independent", 28 June 2005)
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4426242.stm "Thousands say farewell to 'Our Richard'"] ("BBCi", 10 November 2005)

External links

* [http://www.giggleswickschool.co.uk/foundation/index.php?pageid=30002&topsect=60&subchoice=30002 The Richard Whiteley Theatre at Giggleswick School]
*
* [http://www.vao.org.uk Vision Aid Overseas]
* [http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/Richard_Whiteley UKGameshows: Richard Whiteley]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1516361,00.html "Farewell to a jolly good egg"] ("The Guardian, 28 June, 2005)
* [http://www.cultidols.com/biography/celebrity/richard-whiteley Richard Whiteley] on CultIdols.com
* [http://tv.cream.org/specialreport/whiteley/index.htm TV Cream's tribute to Richard Whiteley]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9xHEj3Gk4Q Clip of the ferret biting Richard Whiteley on Youtube]