Web Page No 2504
26th August 2018
Firstly: This really is the very last book in the Drayton series it will be available in the next two weeks. As I am now winding down the project (9 books on Drayton is enough) this last book will be a limited edition as I do not want to be left with a pile at the end of it all. So, if you would like a copy please let me know so I can reserve one for you.
The front cover is below and features another of Peter Westcott's superb pictures
Eamon Andrews
Firstly: This really is the very last book in the Drayton series it will be available in the next two weeks. As I am now winding down the project (9 books on Drayton is enough) this last book will be a limited edition as I do not want to be left with a pile at the end of it all. So, if you would like a copy please let me know so I can reserve one for you.
The front cover is below and features another of Peter Westcott's superb pictures
Eamon Andrews
1st Picture. This is Your Life pose
2nd Picture. The Singer
3rd Picture. What’s my Line
4th Picture. Crackerjack (Double or Drop)
For many of our formative years Eamon Andrews the genial Irishman was a
feature on our television screens. He was born in Dublin on 19th
December 1922 and he began his career as a clerk in an insurance office. He was a keen
amateur boxer and won the Irish junior middleweight title in 1944.
In 1946 he became a
full-time freelance sports commentator, working for Radio Éireann, Ireland's state
broadcaster. In 1950, he began presenting programmes for the BBC, being
particularly well known for boxing commentaries and soon became one of
television's most popular presenters. The following year, the game
show What's My Line? began with Eamon
Andrews as the host.
Throughout the 1950s, he commentated
on the major British heavyweight fights on the BBC Light Programme. On 20th
January 1956, he reached No 18 in the UK Singles Chart with a "spoken
narrative" recording named "The Shifting Whispering Sands (Parts 1
& 2)", which was produced by George Martin with musical backing by the Ron Goodwin Orchestra, released by Parlophone as a
double-sided 78rpm record. The song later reappeared on Kenny Everett's compilation album The World's Worst Record Show, which
was released in June 1978.
Between
1955 and 1964, he presented the long-running Sports Report on BBC's Light Programme (now Radio 2). In
1965, he left the BBC to join the ITV contractor ABC, where he
pioneered the talk show format in the UK. He hosted a chat show on ITV, The Eamonn
Andrews Show for five years. He was known for coming up with
off-the-cuff linkings that did not work – such as: "Speaking of cheese
sandwiches, have you come far?" This was parodied by the character Seamus
Android on Round the Horne in the 1960s, performed by Bill Pertwee. Then in the 1960s and 1970s he presented Thames Television's Today news magazine programme.
He
was probably best known as the presenter of the UK version of This Is Your Life,
between its inception in 1955 and his death in 1987. He himself was the
first This Is Your Life subject
on British television when he was surprised by the show's creator, Ralph Edwards.
He
also chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now
the RTÉ Authority) between 1960 and 1964,
overseeing the introduction of state television to the Republic of Ireland.
About this time, he also acquired a number of business interests in Ireland,
including recording studios and a dance hall. He stepped down from the RTE
Authority amidst a bitter political storm started by the Catholic Church
hierarchy over what was seen as the controversial content of The Late, Late
Show.
After months of
illness during 1987, originally caused by a virus contracted during a plane
journey (but which was not recognised at the time), he died from heart failure on 5th November 1987 aged 64 at
the Cromwell Hospital in
London.
(He had recorded
his last edition of This Is Your
Life six days previously on 30th October 1987. After his
death, the show, and two others that had yet to be broadcast, were postponed
until, with his widow's permission, they were broadcast in January 1988).
A funeral service
was held at St. Anne's Church in Portmarnock where he had his home, and his body was
buried in Balgriffin Cemetery to the north of Dublin. A memorial mass was also held
for him in Westminster Cathedral.
He had married Gráinne in 1951 and
they raised three adopted children.
But
to us he will always be the host of ‘Crackerjack’ (did you shout out with
everyone else?) along with Pip Hinton, Gillian Comber, Peter Glaze and Leslie
Crowther.
Keep in
touch
Yours
Peter
gsseditor@gmail.com
You Write:
News and Views:
On this day 26th August 1960-1965
On 26/08/1960 the
number one single was Apache - The Shadows
and the number one album was South Pacific
Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the
box office smash was Psycho.
A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way
to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 26/08/1961 the
number one single was You Don't Know -
Helen Shapiro and the number one album was South Pacific
Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Blackpool Tower Circus (ATV)
and the box office smash was One Hundred and
One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and
Ipswich were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big
news story of the day was Actress Rebecca De Mornay born.
On 26/08/1962 the
number one single was I Remember You -
Frank Ifield and the number one album was Pot Luck - Elvis Presley.
The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to
becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 26/08/1963 the
number one single was Bad to Me - Billy J Kramer and the number one album was
Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of
today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the
Season's Division 1 champions.
On 26/08/1964 the
number one single was Have I the Right? - Honeycombs and the number one album
was A Hard Day's Night
- Beatles. The top rated TV show was Labour Party Political
Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove.
A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way
to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.
On 26/08/1965 the
number one single was I Got You Babe -
Sonny and Cher and the number one album was Help - The Beatles.
The top rated TV show was Coronation Street
(Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound
of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the
Season's Division 1 champions.
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