Michael Aspel
Encyclopedia
Michael Terence Aspel, OBE
(born 12 January 1933) is an English
television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom
since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life
, Strange But True?
and Antiques Roadshow
. Aspel is married to but separated from the actress Elizabeth Power
, best known for her role in EastEnders
. His current partner is Irene Clarke. In April 2008 he was made a Freeman of the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey.
, in the London Borough of Wandsworth
. During the Second World War he was evacuated
and spent nearly five years in Chard
, Somerset
. He had been packed on a train, aged just seven, with a label tied to his clothes - 'like a parcel' and like so many of his generation (3.5 million British children were evacuated to the countryside, away from the threat of Nazi German bombs
), the young Michael spent the formative years of his life with strangers, many miles from his home.
He then attended Emanuel School
after passing his eleven-plus in 1944. He served as a National Service
conscript
in the ranks of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
from 1951-53.
. He also took up jobs at publishing houses, before his National Service. In his words:
He then took up a job at the David Morgan
department store
in Cardiff
, which was shortlived as he spent most of his time pursuing a job as a radio actor for a children's play on BBC Wales
, before working as newsreader for the BBC in Cardiff in 1957:
By the early sixties, he had become one of four regular newseaders on BBC national television, along with Richard Baker, Corbet Woodall and Robert Dougall
.
At the BBC he began presenting a number of other programmes such as the series Come Dancing
, Crackerjack, Ask Aspel, and Miss World
, a beauty contest, which he covered 14 times. He narrated the now cult BREMA cartoon documentary, The Colour Television Receiver (aka Degaussing), a film to "familiarise engineers of some differences between a mono receiver and a colour receiver, from the point of view of adjustment and installation..", which was shown regularly on BBC2 between August 1967 and January 1971. He also provided narration for the BBC nuclear war documentary The War Game
, which was judged too horrifying and politically charged to be shown on BBC TV. It won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1966, but it was not shown on British television until 1985.
In 1969 and 1976 he hosted the BBC's A Song for Europe
contest and provided the UK commentary twice at the Eurovision Song Contest
in 1969 and 1976, also presenting the contest previews
. He also had a regular joke slot on the Kenny Everett radio show on Capital Radio, and guest-starred twice on The Goodies
, appearing as himself, notably in the episode "Kitten Kong", which won the Silver Rose at the Montreux
Light Entertainment Festival.
In 1977 Aspel appeared with a number of other newsreaders and presenters in a song-and-dance routine ("There ain't Nothing Like a Dame") on The Morecambe and Wise
Show. The sketch, in which the presenters were dressed as traditional sailors, is often cited as one of the classic moments of British TV comedy. In another episode, Morecambe refers to him as "Michael Aspirin". Aspel also presented a mid-morning music and phone-in programme on Capital Radio
in London
, In the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in popular ITV programmes such as Give Us a Clue
, Child's Play
and The 6 O'Clock Show, a live current affairs and entertainment programme shown only in the London Weekend Television
region.
During the early 1990s, Aspel presented two documentaries on BBC Radio 2 written by Terence Pettigrew, on subjects with which they shared a personal knowledge. Caught In The Draft
was a nostalgic look back at compulsory National Service. Both had served, at different times, in West Germany, Aspel in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and Pettigrew in the REME
. Also taking part in the programme were comedian/compere Bob Monkhouse
, Leslie Thomas
, author of The Virgin Soldiers
, and BBC Radio 2 drivetime host John Dunn.
This was followed by Nobody Cried When The Trains Pulled Out, a documentary about the evacuation of children from major British cities during World War 2. Again, the writer and presenter compared evacuation experiences. Aspel had been sent with his younger brother and sister to Chard in Somerset, whilst Pettigrew was shipped along with his older brother to maternal grandparents in Co Waterford, Ireland. Aspel admitted later that the experience had left deep scars on the family. Also taking part in the programme were champion boxer Henry Cooper
, actor Derek Nimmo
and author Ben Wicks
. Both documentaries were produced by Harry Thompson
.
. Aspel and Company was successful in attracting high-profile guests, including then-Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
giving a rare non-political interview, and George Harrison
and Ringo Starr
together in a unique post-Beatles Q&A.
In 1993, Aspel and Company was censured by the Independent Television Commission
over a deal with the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood
and Matthew Freud
's PR company to secure an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger
, Bruce Willis
and Sylvester Stallone
. The trio effectively hijacked the programme, and at one point Aspel started reading from the menu, asking the guests if hamburgers and fries were really the way to "body beautiful".
For a time, Aspel and Company performed well for ITV
in the highly competitive Saturday night ratings. After the Planet Hollywood
controversy, Aspel vowed never to host a chat show again.
in 1980, and when host Eamonn Andrews
died in 1987 he became presenter of the programme until its run ended in 2003. Although he had guested on The Goodies
(see above), Bill Oddie
did not return the favour - when Aspel approached him, big red book in hand, and uttered the famous line: “Bill Oddie, this is your life”, Oddie replied: "No it f****** isn’t."
In 1993, Aspel began presenting the ITV
supernatural
programme Strange But True?
, a series exploring supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. The programme ran between 1993 and 1997. He presented a new version of the ITV gameshow Blockbusters for the BBC in 1997; 60 programmes were made.
He presented BBC's Antiques Roadshow
from 2000 until 2008, his last programme (recorded at Kentwell Hall
, Suffolk) was shown on 30 March 2008 being a tribute to himself.
In 2003, Aspel starred in a BBC Three
spoof documentary
which claimed he had affairs with Pamela Anderson
, Valerie Singleton and Angie Best
, among others. Several well known celebrities were claimed to be love children from these and other conquests, including Daniella Westbrook (with Pamela), Shane Lynch
(with Valerie), Mel B (with a West German
Eurovision Song Contest
entrant), Melinda Messenger
, Gail Porter
, Michelle Heaton
and Ben Shephard
.
He has guest hosted the topical quiz show Have I Got News for You
on two occasions (October 2005 and November 2007).
In 2006, he played the role of the narrator in the UK tour of Richard O'Brien
's The Rocky Horror Show
.
He was at one point favourite to be the new host of Countdown
, though on 16 October 2006 the Daily Express
reported that he had told an audience at a book launch he had already turned the job down.
During July and August 2008, Michael Aspel filmed Evacuees Reunited, a five-part documentary series made by Leopard Films for ITV1, which aired from 15–19 December 2008. Along with fifteen other wartime evacuees, he returned to the locations of his own youth, including his wartime home in Chard, Somerset. He was reunited with his childhood gang of evacuees at Forde Abbey, just outside the town. Later he caught up with his 96 year-old former school teacher, Audrey Guppy.
His third marriage was to actress Lizzie Power and lasted 17 years. Lizzie gave birth to a stillborn daughter, then a baby boy who lived only three days. Finally son Patrick was born 11 weeks premature and had cerebral palsy and Lizzie then suffered a miscarriage before giving birth to a second son, Daniel.
Since 1994, when their affair made headlines and ended his marriage to Lizzie, an affair which he revealed to Lizzie by telephone when she was hundreds of miles away on tour, he has lived with Irene Clark, a production assistant on This Is Your Life. Aspel also has family in Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire.
In 2004, Aspel announced that he had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
His sanguine attitude toward his health is borne of family tragedy. One of his brothers was killed in a motorbike accident; his son James died at three days old; another son, Patrick, suffers from cerebral palsy. Most poignantly he watched his son Greg fight a long battle against cancer of the sinuses through the second half of his 20s, succumbing to the disease just weeks after turning 30 in 1989. He said:.
(OBE) "for services to broadcasting", and has been voted TV Times and Variety Club Television Personality of the Year. He was also voted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame
for outstanding services to television.
He is a supporter of the charity Cancer Research UK
and on 9 April 2008 Elmbridge
Borough Council, Surrey
, appointed him an Honorary Freeman of the Borough
:
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 12 January 1933) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life
This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64...
, Strange But True?
Strange But True?
Strange But True? was a British supernatural documentary television series, presented by Michael Aspel, which explored supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. It was produced by LWT and broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1993 and 1997...
and Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
. Aspel is married to but separated from the actress Elizabeth Power
Elizabeth Power
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Power is a British actress. Power began her career in repertory theatre and went on to appear in several West End musicals. However, she best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as Christine Hewitt in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders . She has since...
, best known for her role in EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. His current partner is Irene Clarke. In April 2008 he was made a Freeman of the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey.
Early life
Aspel was born in BatterseaBattersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, in the London Borough of Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
. During the Second World War he was evacuated
Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II
Evacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
and spent nearly five years in Chard
Chard
Chard , is a leafy green vegetable often used in Mediterranean cooking. While the leaves are always green, chard stalks vary in color. Chard has been bred to have highly nutrious leaves at the expense of the root...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. He had been packed on a train, aged just seven, with a label tied to his clothes - 'like a parcel' and like so many of his generation (3.5 million British children were evacuated to the countryside, away from the threat of Nazi German bombs
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
), the young Michael spent the formative years of his life with strangers, many miles from his home.
He then attended Emanuel School
Emanuel School
Emanuel School is a co-educational independent school in Battersea, south-west London. The school was founded by Lady Dacre and Elizabeth I in 1594. Today it has some 710 pupils, aged between ten and eighteen.-History:...
after passing his eleven-plus in 1944. He served as a National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
conscript
Conscription in the United Kingdom
Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1919, the second was from 1939 to 1960, with the last conscripted soldiers leaving the service in 1963...
in the ranks of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
King's Royal Rifle Corps
The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...
from 1951-53.
Early career
He worked as a drainpipe-layer and gardener, and sold advertising space for Western Mail newspaper in CardiffCardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. He also took up jobs at publishing houses, before his National Service. In his words:
"National Service was the catalyst that got me to Wales. Before that I was a teaboy in William Collins publishersHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, in London, serving tea to all these famous authors like Peter CheyneyPeter CheyneyReginald Evelyn Peter Southouse Cheyney, known as Peter Cheyney, was a British crime fiction writer who flourished between 1936 and 1951...
."
He then took up a job at the David Morgan
David Morgan (department store)
thumb|David Morgan Ltd logoDavid Morgan was an independent department store in Cardiff that ceased operating in January 2005 after 125 years of trading. It opened on October 31, 1879 and closed its doors for the final time on Saturday 30 January 2005....
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, which was shortlived as he spent most of his time pursuing a job as a radio actor for a children's play on BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
, before working as newsreader for the BBC in Cardiff in 1957:
"I only got into news broadcasting because Richard BakerRichard Baker (broadcaster)Richard Baker OBE is a British broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the BBC News from 1954 to 1982. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first person to read the BBC Television News in 1954. At one time he lived in Barnet, North London...
had a cold one day and I was asked to pop up for that weekend and ended up staying for eight years, until 1968. But that was because it was such bloody good fun with such a wonderful team which made me so thoroughly happy."
By the early sixties, he had become one of four regular newseaders on BBC national television, along with Richard Baker, Corbet Woodall and Robert Dougall
Robert Dougall
Robert Dougall MBE was a British broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer.-Television news:...
.
At the BBC he began presenting a number of other programmes such as the series Come Dancing
Come Dancing
Come Dancing was a BBC TV ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off from 1949 to 1998, becoming one of television's longest-running shows....
, Crackerjack, Ask Aspel, and Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
, a beauty contest, which he covered 14 times. He narrated the now cult BREMA cartoon documentary, The Colour Television Receiver (aka Degaussing), a film to "familiarise engineers of some differences between a mono receiver and a colour receiver, from the point of view of adjustment and installation..", which was shown regularly on BBC2 between August 1967 and January 1971. He also provided narration for the BBC nuclear war documentary The War Game
The War Game
The War Game is a 1965 television documentary-style drama depicting the effects of nuclear war on Britain. Written, directed, and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC's The Wednesday Play anthology series, it caused dismay within the BBC and in government and was withdrawn from television...
, which was judged too horrifying and politically charged to be shown on BBC TV. It won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 1966, but it was not shown on British television until 1985.
In 1969 and 1976 he hosted the BBC's A Song for Europe
A Song for Europe
A Song for Europe may refer to:*A Song for Europe, former name of British pre-selection competition for the Eurovision Song Contest, now known as Eurovision: Your Country Needs You...
contest and provided the UK commentary twice at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
in 1969 and 1976, also presenting the contest previews
Eurovision Song Contest Previews
The Eurovision Song Contest Previews are annually broadcast TV shows showcasing the entries into the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They were inaugurated in 1971 for the contest in Dublin, Ireland, and have been provided by the European Broadcasting Union to all participating countries ever...
. He also had a regular joke slot on the Kenny Everett radio show on Capital Radio, and guest-starred twice on The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
, appearing as himself, notably in the episode "Kitten Kong", which won the Silver Rose at the Montreux
Montreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...
Light Entertainment Festival.
In 1977 Aspel appeared with a number of other newsreaders and presenters in a song-and-dance routine ("There ain't Nothing Like a Dame") on The Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
Show. The sketch, in which the presenters were dressed as traditional sailors, is often cited as one of the classic moments of British TV comedy. In another episode, Morecambe refers to him as "Michael Aspirin". Aspel also presented a mid-morning music and phone-in programme on Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, In the 1970s and 1980s he appeared in popular ITV programmes such as Give Us a Clue
Give Us A Clue
Give Us a Clue is a British televised game show version of charades which was broadcast on ITV from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel from 1979 to 1983, followed by Michael Parkinson from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two teams, one captained by Lionel Blair and the other by Una...
, Child's Play
Child's Play (UK game show)
Child's Play was an ITV game show, which ran from 7 January 1984 to 26 August 1988 and it was hosted by Michael Aspel.-Transmission Guide:*Series 1: 16 editions from 7 January 1984 - 21 April 1984...
and The 6 O'Clock Show, a live current affairs and entertainment programme shown only in the London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
region.
During the early 1990s, Aspel presented two documentaries on BBC Radio 2 written by Terence Pettigrew, on subjects with which they shared a personal knowledge. Caught In The Draft
Caught in the Draft
Caught in the Draft is a 1941 comedy/war film, directed by David Butler.-Plot:Don Bolton is a famous Hollywood star who tries to get married in order to avoid the draft, as he feels it will interfere with his career...
was a nostalgic look back at compulsory National Service. Both had served, at different times, in West Germany, Aspel in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and Pettigrew in the REME
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance, servicing and inspection of almost every electrical and mechanical piece of equipment within the British Army from Challenger II main battle tanks and WAH64 Apache...
. Also taking part in the programme were comedian/compere Bob Monkhouse
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan "Bob" Monkhouse, OBE was an English entertainer. He was a successful comedy writer, comedian and actor and was also well known on British television as a presenter and game show host...
, Leslie Thomas
Leslie Thomas
Leslie Thomas, OBE is a British author.- Virgin Soldiers :His novels about 1950s British National Service such as "The Virgin Soldiers" spawned two film versions, in 1969 and 1977, whilst his Tropic of Ruislip and Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective have been adapted for television Leslie...
, author of The Virgin Soldiers
The Virgin Soldiers
The Virgin Soldiers is a 1966 comic novel by Leslie Thomas, inspired by his own experiences of National Service in the British Army.The novel was turned into a film The Virgin Soldiers in 1969, directed by John Dexter, with a screenplay by the British screenwriter John Hopkins. It starred Hywel...
, and BBC Radio 2 drivetime host John Dunn.
This was followed by Nobody Cried When The Trains Pulled Out, a documentary about the evacuation of children from major British cities during World War 2. Again, the writer and presenter compared evacuation experiences. Aspel had been sent with his younger brother and sister to Chard in Somerset, whilst Pettigrew was shipped along with his older brother to maternal grandparents in Co Waterford, Ireland. Aspel admitted later that the experience had left deep scars on the family. Also taking part in the programme were champion boxer Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper may refer to:*Sir Henry Cooper , British Heavyweight boxer*Henry Cooper from Tennessee*Henry Cooper , English recipient of the Victoria Cross...
, actor Derek Nimmo
Derek Nimmo
Derek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor. He was particularly associated with upper-class "silly-ass" roles, and clerical roles.-Career:...
and author Ben Wicks
Ben Wicks
Ben Wicks, CM was a British-born Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, journalist and author.Wicks was a Cockney born into a poor, working class family in London's East End near London Bridge. He learned to play the saxophone in the British Army and toured Europe in a band with author Leonard Bigg...
. Both documentaries were produced by Harry Thompson
Harry Thompson
Harry William Thompson was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer....
.
Aspel and Company
One of his best-known roles was as host of his own chat show, Aspel and Company, which ran for several series in the 1980s and 1990s on ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. Aspel and Company was successful in attracting high-profile guests, including then-Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
giving a rare non-political interview, and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
together in a unique post-Beatles Q&A.
In 1993, Aspel and Company was censured by the Independent Television Commission
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
over a deal with the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood, a restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood, was launched in New York on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.-History:...
and Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud
Matthew Freud is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
's PR company to secure an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
and Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
. The trio effectively hijacked the programme, and at one point Aspel started reading from the menu, asking the guests if hamburgers and fries were really the way to "body beautiful".
For a time, Aspel and Company performed well for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the highly competitive Saturday night ratings. After the Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood, a restaurant inspired by the popular portrayal of Hollywood, was launched in New York on October 22, 1991, with the backing of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.-History:...
controversy, Aspel vowed never to host a chat show again.
Later career
Aspel was featured on the show This is Your LifeThis Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
in 1980, and when host Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, CBE , was an Irish television presenter based in the United Kingdom.-Life and career:...
died in 1987 he became presenter of the programme until its run ended in 2003. Although he had guested on The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
(see above), Bill Oddie
Bill Oddie
William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies....
did not return the favour - when Aspel approached him, big red book in hand, and uttered the famous line: “Bill Oddie, this is your life”, Oddie replied: "No it f****** isn’t."
In 1993, Aspel began presenting the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
programme Strange But True?
Strange But True?
Strange But True? was a British supernatural documentary television series, presented by Michael Aspel, which explored supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. It was produced by LWT and broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1993 and 1997...
, a series exploring supernatural phenomena and unexplained mysteries. The programme ran between 1993 and 1997. He presented a new version of the ITV gameshow Blockbusters for the BBC in 1997; 60 programmes were made.
He presented BBC's Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
from 2000 until 2008, his last programme (recorded at Kentwell Hall
Kentwell Hall
Kentwell Hall is a stately home in Long Melford, Suffolk, England. It includes the hall, outbuildings, and a rare breeds farm and gardens. Most of the current building facade dates from the mid 16th century, but the origins of Kentwell are much earlier, with references in the Domesday Book of...
, Suffolk) was shown on 30 March 2008 being a tribute to himself.
In 2003, Aspel starred in a BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
spoof documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
which claimed he had affairs with Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson is a Canadian-American actress, model, producer, author, activist, and former showgirl, known for her roles on the television series Home Improvement, Baywatch, and V.I.P. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in February 1990...
, Valerie Singleton and Angie Best
Angie Best
Angie Best is a former Playboy Bunny and model, probably best known as the first ex-wife of footballer George Best.- Biography :...
, among others. Several well known celebrities were claimed to be love children from these and other conquests, including Daniella Westbrook (with Pamela), Shane Lynch
Shane Lynch
Shane Lynch is an Irish singer-songwriter, actor and professional drift driver, best known for his distinctive body art, outlandish sense of style, and as a member of Boyzone...
(with Valerie), Mel B (with a West German
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
entrant), Melinda Messenger
Melinda Messenger
Melinda Jayne Messenger is an English ex-glamour model, Page 3 Girl and a former presenter on the magazine programme Live from Studio Five. She is currently co-broadcaster of the reality show Cowboy Builders.-Biography:...
, Gail Porter
Gail Porter
Gail Porter is a Scottish television presenter.- Life and career :Porter attended Portobello High School. She studied a BTEC HND in Media Production at West Herts College...
, Michelle Heaton
Michelle Heaton
Michelle Christine Heaton is a British pop singer, television personality, and recently a glamour model as well. She was married to former boyband member Andy Scott-Lee.-Career:...
and Ben Shephard
Ben Shephard
Benjamin Peter "Ben" Shephard, also known as "Sheps" is an English television presenter who currently works for Sky Sports, as well as ITV.-Personal life:...
.
He has guest hosted the topical quiz show Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
on two occasions (October 2005 and November 2007).
In 2006, he played the role of the narrator in the UK tour of Richard O'Brien
Richard O'Brien
Richard Timothy Smith , better known under his stage name Richard O'Brien, is an English writer, actor, television presenter and theatre performer. He is perhaps best known for writing the cult musical The Rocky Horror Show and for his role in presenting the popular TV show The Crystal Maze...
's The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
.
He was at one point favourite to be the new host of Countdown
Countdown (game show)
Countdown is a British game show involving word and number puzzles. It is produced by ITV Studios and broadcast on Channel 4. It is presented by Jeff Stelling, assisted by Rachel Riley, with regular lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be aired on Channel 4, and over sixty-five...
, though on 16 October 2006 the Daily Express
Daily Express
The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
reported that he had told an audience at a book launch he had already turned the job down.
During July and August 2008, Michael Aspel filmed Evacuees Reunited, a five-part documentary series made by Leopard Films for ITV1, which aired from 15–19 December 2008. Along with fifteen other wartime evacuees, he returned to the locations of his own youth, including his wartime home in Chard, Somerset. He was reunited with his childhood gang of evacuees at Forde Abbey, just outside the town. Later he caught up with his 96 year-old former school teacher, Audrey Guppy.
Personal life
He has been married three times, first to Dian Sessions a "stunning domestic science student" in 1957. "She was particularly fecund," he says, "and we had two children [Greg and Richard] in barely the time it takes to have two [sic]." They divorced in 1961 and, on a whim - "I suggested a holiday become a honeymoon" - he married Anne Reed, a TV scriptwriter, in 1962. They had twins, Tom and Jane, but divorced in 1967.His third marriage was to actress Lizzie Power and lasted 17 years. Lizzie gave birth to a stillborn daughter, then a baby boy who lived only three days. Finally son Patrick was born 11 weeks premature and had cerebral palsy and Lizzie then suffered a miscarriage before giving birth to a second son, Daniel.
Since 1994, when their affair made headlines and ended his marriage to Lizzie, an affair which he revealed to Lizzie by telephone when she was hundreds of miles away on tour, he has lived with Irene Clark, a production assistant on This Is Your Life. Aspel also has family in Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire.
In 2004, Aspel announced that he had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
The non-Hodgkin lymphomas are a diverse group of blood cancers that include any kind of lymphoma except Hodgkin's lymphomas. Types of NHL vary significantly in their severity, from indolent to very aggressive....
His sanguine attitude toward his health is borne of family tragedy. One of his brothers was killed in a motorbike accident; his son James died at three days old; another son, Patrick, suffers from cerebral palsy. Most poignantly he watched his son Greg fight a long battle against cancer of the sinuses through the second half of his 20s, succumbing to the disease just weeks after turning 30 in 1989. He said:.
"It has made everything else seem no more than a vague toothache. In remission, Greg was reinstated as the handsome, healthy person he had been before, but then it came back to get him. He went through dreadful operations and fought so hard, but he was a ruin when he died. If I'd gone a week later myself, I'd have not cared. It has put my own illnesses into perspective."
Honours
In 1993, Aspel became an Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(OBE) "for services to broadcasting", and has been voted TV Times and Variety Club Television Personality of the Year. He was also voted into the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
for outstanding services to television.
He is a supporter of the charity Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
and on 9 April 2008 Elmbridge
Elmbridge
Elmbridge is a local government district and borough in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Esher. The district has only one civil parish, which is Claygate...
Borough Council, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, appointed him an Honorary Freeman of the Borough
Freedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
:
"...in recognition of the eminent service to the community and local charities, which he has given consistently for more than 30 years. In addition to being very involved with cancer charities, he has continued to support local events, whether to celebrate a resident’s 100th birthday or give his time freely to help raise the profile of local charities."