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John Richard Whiteley, OBE, DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was a British 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 4:45pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel, discounting a programme montage. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for bad puns; and bold wardrobe (particularly jackets and ties).

Early life

Whiteley was born in Baildon, in Yorkshire near Bradford, in 1943. His father, Kenneth Whiteley, was the third (and last) generation to run the family worsted mill, Thomas Whiteley & Co, in nearby Eccleshill. The mill was sold in 1963 and became Studley Wools Ltd, a knitting wool company, who continued to operate the mill until 1978 when they re-located to a new building in Greengates and became part of Robert Glew Wool Industries Ltd. The old mill on Stone Hall Road, Eccleshill was demolished around 1990 and replaced by a new apartment complex.

Whiteley showed early academic talent, and won a scholarship to Giggleswick School: there, he was taught English by Russell Harty, and took his A levels at the age of 16; later, until his death, he was a Governor of the School. He studied English at Christ's College, Cambridge where he received, in his words, "a crappy Third". While at Cambridge, he edited the university's newspaper, Varsity.

Early career

Immediately after graduating in 1965, Whiteley joined Independent Television News in London as a graduate trainee. In 1968, he moved to Leeds to become a reporter on Yorkshire Television's early evening news bulletin, Calendar. His colleagues included Jonathan Aitken and Austin Mitchell. In due course, he became the on-screen presenter of the programme, remaining in that position until 1995. He interviewed every British Prime Minister from Harold Macmillan to Tony Blair, and was one of the first journalists at the scene of the 1984 Brighton bombing, having attended the Conservative Party conference and been in Brighton's Grand Hotel at the time of the explosion. He secured the scoop of being the first journalist to interview the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, after the bombing.

Despite being a serious journalist, Whiteley had moderate international fame from a much-used clip of him being bitten by a ferret in a 1977 Calendar interview. This unfortunate incident was copied by comedian Kenny Everett in a later interview.

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 his co-presenter, 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 made more than 10,000 television appearances over the course of his career, presenting more programmes than anyone else in history. 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.

Private life

Whiteley was married in 1971 to Caroline Straw, but divorced after 18 months. He had a relationship with TV presenter Lesley Ebbetts, becoming a father in 1987 to a son, James Ebbetts Wilson. After the relationship with Lesley Ebbetts, Whiteley lived with a PR consultant, Jennifer Cropper. In later years, Whiteley's romantic partner was Kathryn Apanowicz, an actress and radio presenter. His son is the residuary legatee in his will, but both Cropper and Apanowicz also received substantial legacies, as did his old school in Giggleswick. His sister, Helen, died of cancer in 1998.

Death

Whiteley died on 26 June 2005 at Leeds General Infirmary shortly after an operation to combat an infection in a heart valve following a serious case of pneumonia. He had suffered with asthma since he was very young, and was diabetic, leaving him particularly vulnerable to chest infections. The edition of Countdown due to be broadcast on 27 June was postponed as a mark of respect. Carol Vorderman, his co-presenter, gave an emotional tribute to him on 28 June, when Countdown returned after the postponed episode on the previous day. Having recorded a number of shows in advance of going into hospital, his final show was broadcast on July 1, 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 finished early, also remain in the vaults to be screened at a later date.

Memorial

On 10 November 2005, thousands of friends and admirers gathered at York Minster for a memorial service to celebrate Whiteley's life. Guests included his co-host 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."

Bibliography

  • Himoff!: The Memoirs of a TV Matinee Idle by Richard Whiteley (London, Orion Books, 2001) ISBN 0752843451.

References

External links

1943 births | 2005 deaths | Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge | British game show hosts | English television presenters | Countdown | Officers of the Order of the British Empire | Old Giggleswickians | Diabetics | Entertainers who died in their 60s

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Richard Whiteley".

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