Cliff Michelmore

Cliff Michelmore
Born	Arthur Clifford Michelmore 11 December 1919 (1919-12-11) (age 91) Cowes, Isle of Wight, England
Occupation	TV presenter and producer
Spouse	Jean Metcalfe
Children	Jenny Michelmore Guy Michelmore

Arthur Clifford "Cliff" Michelmore CBE (born 11 December 1919) is a British television presenter and producer. He is best known for the BBC television programme Tonight, which he presented from 1957 to 1965.

He also hosted the BBC's television coverage of the Apollo moon landings, the 1966 and 1970 UK general elections, and the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969. Many television viewers in 1966 remember his reporting of the Aberfan disaster. He was awarded the CBE in 1969.

Early life and broadcasting career

Born in Cowes, Isle of Wight, Michelmore attended Cowes High School, Loughborough College, and Leicester College of Technology and Art. He was an RAF squadron leader during World War II and began broadcasting on British Forces Network radio. After the war, he worked for BBC Radio and television as a freelance sports commentator, then as a news reporter and as a producer of children's programmes, including All Your Own.

On 4 March 1950, he married Jean Metcalfe, a BBC announcer whom he met when she presented Two-Way Family Favourites in London while he was presenting the Hamburg link in the programme for BFBS. They went on to have a daughter, actress Jenny Michelmore, and a son, broadcaster and composer Guy Michelmore. Jenny Michelmore and Guy Michelmore have both had children.

From 1955 to 1957, Michelmore presented the BBC TV programme Highlight, a current affairs show with a reputation for hard-hitting interviews. On 18 February 1957, he was made anchorman of BBC TV's new topical magazine show Tonight, broadcast on weekdays at 6.05pm to fill the time provided by the abolition of the Toddlers' Truce. Tonight ran for eight years and at its peak attracted 8 million viewers. In 1958, Michelmore was named Television Personality of the Year by the Guild of Television Producers.^[1]

When Tonight finished in 1965, Michelmore hosted a BBC One series called Twenty-Four Hours ^[2] until 1968. In 1967, he presented Our World, an ambitious worldwide TV broadcast. Our World was the first time satellite communication used extensively in an attempt to "connect the whole world by television."^{[citation needed]} The programme featured a performance by The Beatles of their song "All You Need Is Love". Michelmore recalls that the song was (at least in part) inspired by the Our World logo - a chain of figures holding hands around the world.

After leaving full-time work in television, Michelmore headed EMI's nascent video division. He was a regular presenter on BBC One's Holiday programme from 1969 to 1986, and has presented other shows for BBC TV, ITV and BBC Radio.

Michelmore returned to the BBC on 18 November, 2007 to introduce a programme on BBC Parliament recalling the 1967 devaluation of the pound.

Michelmore has otherwise retired from TV presenting and lives in South Harting, West Sussex near Petersfield, Hampshire.

References

1. ^ "TV Commentary: Annual Awards". Glasgow Herald. 6 December 1958. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ymhAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XpUMAAAAIBAJ. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
2. ^ Production paperwork, The Radio Times and BBC Archive library all list the title in words, while the programme's logo used numerals.

Persondata
Name	Michelmore, Cliff
Alternative names	Michelmore, Arthur Clifford
Short description	Television presenter and producer
Date of birth	1919-12-11
Place of birth	Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, UK
Date of death
Place of death