Michael Parkinson

He was called up for National Service in 1955 and took part in the Suez operation. At the age of 19, he became the youngest Captain in the British Army.

One of the first celebrities he interviewed was Laurence Olivier on Cinema (1964).

Michael Parkinson was educated at Barnsley Grammar School. He left at the age of 16 and his ambition of becoming a professional cricketer was dashed when he was rejected by Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He turned to journalism, worked on several local newspapers in Yorkshire before joining the Manchester Guardian. Michael covered all sorts, from chip pan fires in Oldham to political conferences. He joined the Observer to write about sport and became a columnist with The Sunday Times. His first work in television was as a current affairs producer at Granada Television. He joined the BBC as a reporter for "24 Hours". In 1969 he became the presenter of Granada's Cinema series.

In 1971 he presented Thames Television's regular afternoon show, Teabreak. The BBC decided to give the still relatively young broadcaster his own evening chat show, "Parkinson", the same year. With his working class accent, Michael Parkinson was a breath of fresh air and over the next 11 years he interviewed many of the leading celebrities of the time. The programme established him as one of the best known faces on television, and his fame resulted in his writing for the first edition of the British Cosmopolitan Magazine and his appearance with Jon Pertwee on the front of the Radio Times.

In 1972, he was interviewed in the first issue of the British Cosmopolitan Magazine. The article was entitled 'The most beautiful thing a man can do for a woman'.

In 1973, he was photographed with Doctor Who (1963) star Jon Pertwee, pop singer and actor Paul Jones and actress Vanessa Miles for the front cover of the Radio Times. He also revealed in an interview in the same issue that he was a keen follower of the science-fiction series.

His relaxed chat show was axed in 1982. Parkinson moved to ITV and became part of the Famous Five that launched TV AM.

He memorably panned Paul Verhoeven's Flesh+Blood (1985) in his stint as a film reviewer standing in for Barry Norman.

On 24 November 2000, he was presented with the CBE by Prince Charles for "outstanding services to broadcasting".

He is based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, in England. In 2001, he became the landlord of the Royal Oak public house in Paley Street, Berkshire.

The October 2003 appearance of episode of American movie star Meg Ryan on Parkinson's chat show has become part of British television history due to the actress's bizarre behavior in which she gave only one word answers to questions and stared icily at the host. Ryan appeared on the program to promote her erotic thriller, In the Cut (2003), but refused to answer Parkinson's questions about the drastic change from her typical romantic comedy roles. At one point Parkinson said in exasperation, "What would you do now if you were me?" to which Ryan replied, "Why not wrap it up?" About the televised debacle, Parkinson later said that Ryan was his "most difficult TV moment." He felt her rude behavior toward his fellow guests, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, whom she deliberately turned her back on, was unforgivable. Parkinson said, "I should have closed it. But listen, it happens. She was an unhappy woman. I felt sorry for her. What I couldn't forgive her for was that she was rude to the other guests." In a 2006 interview with "Marie Claire" magazine, Ryan blamed Parknson's paternal manner for the failure of the interview. Ryan said, "I don't even know the man. That guy was like some disapproving father! It's crazy. I don't know what he is to you guys, but he's a nut. I felt like he was berating me for being naked in the movie. He said something like: 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. And I thought, are you like a disapproving dad right now? I'm not even related to you. Back off, buddy. I was so offended by him." Ryan also underscored the difference between American and British TV interviewing styles. "I realized it's not like an American talk show where it's seven minutes and then there's a commercial break. I had to do 20 minutes straight with this guy, and I could either walk off - which wouldn't be good - or try to disagree with him very respectfully.".

He was presented with the Music Industry Trusts' Award in 2005 for his outstanding contribution to the British music industry.

He was awarded Knighthood of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to broadcasting.