Wallace Greenslade

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name = Wallace Greenslade

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birth_name = Wallace P. Greenslade
birth_date = 1912
birth_place = Formby, Merseyside
death_date = death date and age|1961|04|21|1912|07|01|df=y
death_place = Old Avenue Lodge, Weybridge, Surrey
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resting_place = Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge
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occupation = Announcer, newsreader
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Wallace Greenslade (born 1912 in Formby, Merseyside [GRO Register of Births: SEP 1912 8b 1671 ORMSKIRK - Wallace P. Greenslade, mmn = Powers] ; died 21 April 1961 in Weybridge, Surrey) was a BBC announcer and newsreader. He is mainly remembered for being the announcerndash and frequently the straight manndash in the BBC radio comedy series "The Goon Show" during the height of its popularity.

He was born at Formby in Lancashire. During the Second World War, he served for two and a half years as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. He then became a purser for the P&O Line before joining the staff of the BBC in 1945.

His BBC career began in the European Service, where he was a presentation assistant and news reader. In 1949, he was appointed a Home Service announcer before becoming a newsreader in both radio and television from November 1955. In addition to "The Goon Show", he was announcer for "The Great Gilhooly", "Star Show" and "Variety Playhouse". In May and June 1960, he compèred the ""Today" programme".

He died suddenly at his home at Old Avenue Lodge, Weybridge, Surrey on 21 April 1961 [GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1961 5g 637 SURREY N.W. - Wallace F. P. Greenslade, aged 48] . After a funeral service at St Mary’s Oatlands, near Weybridge, on 27 April, he was buried at Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge. At the subsequent memorial service, his BBC colleague John Snagge gave an address. Greenslade left a wife, Carol. ["The Times" obituary, 22 April 1961.]

A radio play entitled "Ying Tong - A walk with the Goons" was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 4th April 2007. As well as stating that he died in 1960 instead of 1961, the broadcast also stated that he died in a pub toilet with a pint in his handndash "the way he'd want to go".

Greenslade himself became the subject of an episode of "The Goon Show", "The Greenslade Story", in December 1955.

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* The [news:alt.fan.wal-greenslade alt.fan.wal-greenslade] newsgroup was set up with the express purpose of announcing the formation of the [news:alt.fan.goons alt.fan.goons] newsgroup and has seldom had any real traffic since.