Letters: Tony Kinsey obituary
Tony Kinsey's jazz group provided the music in the studio each Saturday as we recorded BBC TV's That's Life! in front of an audience for airing later that evening. As a fan of bebop, I loved his crisp style behind the drums and I bought my first drum kit from his music shop in Hammersmith.Paul Foxall
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Daily Mirror
4 days ago
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BBC's Tony Soper left wife eye-watering sum as will revealed year after his death
Tony Soper who worked for the BBC as an acclaimed wildlife TV presenter left his family a whopping six-figure sum of money following his death last year aged 95 BBC TV presenter Tony Soper left his family £628,000 in his will following his death last year at the age of 95. Tony, who specialised in presenting wildlife TV shows, had instructed his legal team to leave the six-figure sum to his wife, Hilary, with whom he shared a home in Devon. Tony first launched his career with the broadcaster in 1947 when he landed a job as a trainee engineer. He then progressed to starting to navigate his way within radio and producing. Through determination, Tony's first break into the world of wildlife presenting came when he stepped in as an assistant floor manager for Wild Geese in Winter, in 1954. But he finally made his debut as a TV presenter when he landed a slot on Animal Magic alongside Johnny Morris during the sixties. Tony then became a co-founder of the broadcaster's Natural History Unit which was launched in 1957 and went on produced a host of wildlife TV shows. The unit was responsible for creating shows including Planet Earth, which was narrated by the iconic Sir David Attenborough. The Sun reported that according to Tony's website he worked as a freelancer from 1963 in order to be close to the sea in Devon, where he lived until his death. Tony's career took on many avenues as he not only became a film producer, led wildlife cruises to the Artic and Antartica, but was also an author. Following his death last year, a string of celebrities and friend rushed to social media to pay their respects. Lorraine Kelly posted a message on her social media that read: "On one of my very first shows presenting on TVam, this wonderful kind man came on to talk about his book on owls." She added: "He was a joy and a delight." Wildlife TV presenter wrote: "Very sad news - Tony Soper was a huge influence on generations of birders and broadcasters." He went on to add: "I had the huge privilege of working with Tony and getting to know him. "The last person who was there at the start of the BBC Natural History Unit - a lovely man." Tony has left behind his wife and two sons Tim and Jack, along with his five grandchildren.
Times
5 days ago
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Iris Williams obituary: Welsh singer compared to Shirley Bassey
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'She is a great singer, with a wonderful voice, but I hate being compared to her and have tried everything to rid myself of it. I want to be me.' Certainly, there were differences as well as the obvious similarities. In Williams's own words she was not as 'gregarious' as Bassey, less inclined towards 'the big belter numbers' and in the view of many her singing boasted a greater emotional depth. 'I don't use half of the voice that she does because I don't need to — as I see it, I am telling a story,' she noted. Yet when she chose to let rip there was no doubting the strength, power and sheer vivacity of her delivery. Terry Wogan, who championed her on his radio shows, was a particular fan of the creamy resonance of what he called her 'basso profundo'. Her singing took her from the factory floor to the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and then into the charts and to her own BBC series. She later moved to the United States but remained proud of her Welsh heritage. Alongside Bassey, Tom Jones and a 13-year-old Charlotte Church, she sang at a concert to mark the opening of the Welsh National Assembly in 1999 in front of an audience that included Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and the future King Charles. 'Wales will always be my great passion,' she said. When she was the subject of a 2002 documentary film on Welsh TV, she gamely insisted on being interviewed in Welsh. She had learnt Welsh as a child but had barely spoken the language in decades and 'brushed up' by practising on her dog Mimi. She was subsequently admitted to the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. Her two marriages, to Clive Brandy and Edward Jones, both of whom served as her manager, ended in divorce. 'A lot of female singers make the mistake of making their husband their manager,' she said. 'It generally doesn't work because you should be able to go home and leave work behind. When you're married to your manager all you do is talk showbusiness.' She is survived by her son Blake from her first marriage. She was born in 1946 in Rhydyfelin, near Potypridd, in south Wales, the illegitimate daughter of an African-American GI who was stationed in Britain during the Second World War and who met her mother — who was already married — in a local dance hall. A romance blossomed but the taboo-breaking relationship was doomed and the daughter who resulted was given up for adoption. Williams spent her first five years in a children's home until she was fostered by Bronwen Llewellyn, a miner's wife from Tonyrefail, who encouraged her to sing. She was subsequently reunited with her birth mother and a half-brother in the mid-1980s after she found them via an advert placed in a local newspaper. Growing up as the only black child in her village was 'a bit of a problem', but she argued that the prejudice made her tougher, which served as an asset as she began to 'mingle into the world'. 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Daily Record
7 days ago
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John Torode seduced wife Lisa Faulkner with 'cowardly' letter to win her over
John Torode was sacked from BBC's MasterChef yesterday, the show he met his wife Lisa Faulkner on in 2010 whilst they were both married to different partners. Former BBC TV personality John Torode once 'petrified' his wife Lisa Faulkner when they first met on Celebrity MasterChef, before finally seducing her with a 'cowardly' letter two years later. Lisa appeared on the celebrity version of the BBC cooking show in 2010 when she met John - who has now been sacked from the programme following allegations of racism, which he strongly denies - and the pair were married to other people at the time. At the time, both Lisa and John were in other marriages but formed a strong friendship after Lisa blew him away with her cooking skills on MasterChef. Actress Lisa was previously married to former EastEnders actor Chris Coghill, who played Tony King in the soap from 2008 to 2009. While John was married to Jessica, who was formerly known as Jessica Thomas, the pair had two children together before they parted ways in 2011. Despite separating in 2011 their divorce wasn't finalised until 2014, when their union was reportedly dissolved in a matter of seconds at the High Court. When they both split from their previous partners and were single, John asked Lisa out on a dinner date and the pair realised they had great chemistry and hit it off instantly during a shared dinner. Eventually they tied the knot, after John proposed on Christmas in 2018 and they married in October 2019 in a lavish star-studded ceremony at Aynhoe Park, a sprawling 17th century estate in the Northamptonshire countryside. Previously speaking about how they met, Lisa stated: "He was a judge on a show I loved and I was petrified of him. He was brilliant and gave us all tips so you didn't want to let him down." "All I could think was, 'That sauce hasn't worked'. I didn't see anything but food for three months. After I won, we did The Good Food Show and stuff. John and I always got on, but I never thought about me and him," she confessed. Revealing how the pair eventually got together, Lisa told the Daily Mail in 2013 that their friendship changed after John wrote her a letter asking her out on a dinner date. She shared: "John and I were friends. Neither of us thought of it as anything else until..." "I don't know how things change, but something does. He asked me on a date. We went out for dinner. Then it was slightly different. I'm really, really happy. John and I are having such a nice time but we're taking things slowly. There are lots of other people to consider." John later went on to confess that his letter to Lisa was "cowardly," but he did it because it meant there would be no awkwardness for him if she rejected him as it wouldn't be asked face to face. He told the Daily Mail: "I'd separated from my wife [Jessica] which was awful, and I was reluctant to approach Lisa face to face as I didn't fancy the prospect of her saying no, so I wrote her a letter. If I'd got no response, it wouldn't matter. Cowardly? S***, yeah. I'm as cowardly as they get." John previously shared the secret to their happy marriage was a properly made bed. He stated: "A really well-made bed. You spend lots of time in it! Honestly, the bedroom – having that sanctuary of a place to go to, I think that's really important. And nice towels... Looking after yourself is as important as looking after each other."
