Muriel Gray
Encyclopedia
Muriel Gray is a Scottish
journalist
and broadcaster
.
tracing her Jewish roots on her mother's side, entitled 'The Wondering Jew', where she discovered her maternal line descended from Moldova.
She is married to television producer Hamish Barbour and they have three children. In 1997 their daughter nearly drowned in a garden pond, which left her permanently brain damaged.
, she worked as a professional illustrator and then as assistant head of design in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.
alternative pop show The Tube
from 1982 and presented The Media Show (1987–89) for the same channel. She was briefly a DJ
for Edinburgh's Radio Forth
in 1983 and 1984. She was a regular stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 1
during most of the eighties, most notably being John Peel
's replacement. She also presented regularly on BBC Radio 4
, for Start the Week
in Russell Harty
's absence and also during Jeremy Paxman
's leave.
In 1996, Gray appeared on French and Saunders
, with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders
, as an outspoken activist of Scottish
history, she ends up scaring off the English invaders at the Battle of Gleneagles
, with her behaviour, in a parody of Mel Gibson
's 1995 film, Braveheart
.
Later she presented The Munro Show (which documented her climbing Scotland's highest hills, the Munro
s). She accompanied this with the book The First Fifty – Munro Bagging Without A Beard. She also presented various other TV shows like Ride On, a motoring magazine show for Channel 4, The Design Awards, for BBC, and The Booker Prize awards for Channel 4.
Gray presented Art Is Dead – Long Live TV. This programme sparked a controversy when it was discovered that the series, covering the work of five artists, was a spoof.
Gray presented the definitive documentary on The Glasgow Boys, a group of influential 19th century painters, including Sir John Lavery and James Guthrie, who challenged the orthodox values of their day. The Glasgow Boys was shown on BBC 2.
, the Sunday Mirror, Bliss
magazine, and now writes a regular column in the Sunday Herald
. She won Columnist of the Year in the 2001 Scottish press awards.
She became a best selling horror novelist with the publication of her first novel The Trickster in 1995, which was followed by two more, Furnace and The Ancient. Stephen King
, the famous horror author, described The Ancient as "Scary and unputdownable."
She wrote the definitive history of Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
to mark its re-opening in 2006.
She appears on the BBC2 programme Grumpy Old Women
's company Wark Clements & Company in 2004 to form IWC Media. Gray, Wark and their partners then sold the new company in 2005 to media company RDF Media
for an estimated twelve million pounds.
when given an honorary degree
from the University of Abertay Dundee
.
In her guise as a mountaineer she appeared in the comic strip The Broons
.
She was the chair of the judges for the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction
.
She is a judge of the prestigious Robert Burns Humanitarian Award.
Gray is the vice chair of the committee choosing the architect for a new building to be constructed on a site facing Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous Glasgow School of Art.
In January 2009 she became the first patron of Scotland's Additional Support Needs Mediation Forum, RESOLVE:ASL.
which is working to restore the Caledonian Forest
.
She is also a patron of the Craighalbert Centre, a conductive education school in Cumbernauld Glasgow. She currently serves as a trustee on the following boards: The Glasgow Science Centre, The Scottish Maritime Museum, The Lighthouse, The Children's Parliament, and recently pledged support for Action Earth
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
.
Personal life
Gray is of partly Jewish ancestry. She presented a documentary in 1996 for Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
tracing her Jewish roots on her mother's side, entitled 'The Wondering Jew', where she discovered her maternal line descended from Moldova.
She is married to television producer Hamish Barbour and they have three children. In 1997 their daughter nearly drowned in a garden pond, which left her permanently brain damaged.
Early career
A graduate of the Glasgow School of ArtGlasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
, she worked as a professional illustrator and then as assistant head of design in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh.
Broadcasting career
After playing in punk band, The Family Von Trapp, she became an interviewer on the early Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
alternative pop show The Tube
The Tube (TV series)
The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five seasons, from 5 November 1982 until 1987...
from 1982 and presented The Media Show (1987–89) for the same channel. She was briefly a DJ
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
for Edinburgh's Radio Forth
Radio Forth
Radio Forth is a group owning two radio stations based in Edinburgh. The stations broadcast to Edinburgh, The Lothians and Fife.-History:Radio Forth was launched on 22 January 1975 by current chairman Richard Findlay. His opening speech included "This, for the very first time is Radio Forth"...
in 1983 and 1984. She was a regular stand-in presenter on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
during most of the eighties, most notably being John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
's replacement. She also presented regularly on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, for Start the Week
Start the Week
Start the Week is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor Andrew Marr...
in Russell Harty
Russell Harty
Russell Harty was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.-Early life:Born Frederick Russell Harty in Blackburn, Lancashire, he was the son of a fruit and vegetable stallholder on the local market...
's absence and also during Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians...
's leave.
In 1996, Gray appeared on French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
, with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
, as an outspoken activist of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
history, she ends up scaring off the English invaders at the Battle of Gleneagles
Gleneagles
Gleneagles may refer to the following:*Gleneagles, Scotland**The July 2005 G8 Summit held at Gleneagles, Scotland*Gleneagles Agreement*Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder*Gleneagles Hotel, Torquay, the inspiration for Fawlty Towers....
, with her behaviour, in a parody of Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
's 1995 film, Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...
.
Later she presented The Munro Show (which documented her climbing Scotland's highest hills, the Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
s). She accompanied this with the book The First Fifty – Munro Bagging Without A Beard. She also presented various other TV shows like Ride On, a motoring magazine show for Channel 4, The Design Awards, for BBC, and The Booker Prize awards for Channel 4.
Gray presented Art Is Dead – Long Live TV. This programme sparked a controversy when it was discovered that the series, covering the work of five artists, was a spoof.
Gray presented the definitive documentary on The Glasgow Boys, a group of influential 19th century painters, including Sir John Lavery and James Guthrie, who challenged the orthodox values of their day. The Glasgow Boys was shown on BBC 2.
Writing
Gray has been a columnist in many publications, including Time Out magazine, the Sunday CorrespondentSunday Correspondent
The Sunday Correspondent was a shortlived British weekly national broadsheet newspaper. Launched on 17 September 1989, it ceased publication on 25 November 1990. It was edited by Peter Cole....
, the Sunday Mirror, Bliss
Bliss (magazine)
Bliss is a monthly British magazine aimed at teenage girls which currently retails at £2.75 and often comes with a gift such as make-up or a bag...
magazine, and now writes a regular column in the Sunday Herald
Sunday Herald
The Sunday Herald is a Scottish Sunday newspaper launched on 7 February 1999. The ABC audited circulation in April 2011 showed sales of 31,123.From the start it has combined a centre-left stance with support for Scottish devolution...
. She won Columnist of the Year in the 2001 Scottish press awards.
She became a best selling horror novelist with the publication of her first novel The Trickster in 1995, which was followed by two more, Furnace and The Ancient. Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, the famous horror author, described The Ancient as "Scary and unputdownable."
She wrote the definitive history of Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The building houses one of Europe's great civic art collections...
to mark its re-opening in 2006.
She appears on the BBC2 programme Grumpy Old Women
Business interests
She started her own production company in 1989, originally named Gallus Besom (besom being a term of contempt for a woman and gallus bold or cheeky in Scots), then renamed to Ideal World in 1993. It merged with Kirsty WarkKirsty Wark
Kirsteen Anne Wark is a British journalist and television presenter best known for fronting the BBC Two's news and current affairs programme Newsnight since 1993, and its weekly arts annexe Newsnight Review which is now relaunched as "The Review Show".-Biography:Wark was born in Dumfries to Jimmy...
's company Wark Clements & Company in 2004 to form IWC Media. Gray, Wark and their partners then sold the new company in 2005 to media company RDF Media
RDF Media
Zodiak Media is a Anglo-American television production company. It was formed in 2010 when RDF Media Group was acquired by, and merged with Zodiak Entertainment...
for an estimated twelve million pounds.
Honours
She is a former Rector of the University of Edinburgh, the only woman ever to have held this post, and in 2006 was made a Doctor of LettersDoctor of Letters
Doctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
when given an honorary degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
from the University of Abertay Dundee
University of Abertay Dundee
The University of Abertay Dundee, usually known simply as Abertay University, is a modern university in Dundee, Scotland.- History :The University of Abertay Dundee was created in 1994, under government legislation granting the title University to the Dundee Institute of Technology...
.
In her guise as a mountaineer she appeared in the comic strip The Broons
The Broons
The Broons is a comic strip in Scots published in the weekly Scottish newspaper, The Sunday Post. It features the Broon family, who live in a tenement flat at 10 Glebe Street, in the fictional Scottish town of Auchentogle or Auchenshoogle . They are also shown as living on Glebe Street...
.
She was the chair of the judges for the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction
Orange Prize for Fiction
The Orange Prize for Fiction is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes, annually awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English, and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year...
.
She is a judge of the prestigious Robert Burns Humanitarian Award.
Gray is the vice chair of the committee choosing the architect for a new building to be constructed on a site facing Charles Rennie Mackintosh's famous Glasgow School of Art.
In January 2009 she became the first patron of Scotland's Additional Support Needs Mediation Forum, RESOLVE:ASL.
Charity work
In 2005, she became Patron of the Scottish charity Trees for Life (Scotland)Trees for Life (Scotland)
Trees for Life is a registered charity in Findhorn, Moray, formed in 1989 by Alan Watson Featherstone, as a direct result of the inspiration and example of Richard St. Barbe Baker, the 'Man of the Trees'...
which is working to restore the Caledonian Forest
Caledonian Forest
The Caledonian Forest is the name of a type of woodland that once covered vast areas of Scotland. Today, however, only 1% of the original forest survives, covering in 84 locations. The forests are home to a wide variety of wildlife, much of which is not found elsewhere in the British...
.
She is also a patron of the Craighalbert Centre, a conductive education school in Cumbernauld Glasgow. She currently serves as a trustee on the following boards: The Glasgow Science Centre, The Scottish Maritime Museum, The Lighthouse, The Children's Parliament, and recently pledged support for Action Earth
Fiction
- The Trickster 1994 (shortlisted for the 1995 British Fantasy SocietyBritish Fantasy SocietyThe British Fantasy Society began in 1971 as the British Weird Fantasy Society, an offshoot of the British Science Fiction Association. The society is dedicated to promoting the best in the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres....
Best Novel prize) - Furnace 1996
- The Ancient 2000
Non fiction
- The First Fifty: Munro-bagging Without a Beard 1991
- These Times, This Place 2005 ISBN 0-9546333-7-7
- Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum: Glasgow's Portal to the World. 2006 ISBN 0-902752-79-0