By Elliott West
“Confidence has a lot to do with interviewing – that and timing”.
Michael Parkinson
Introduction
Debonair and slightly rugged, Michael Parkinson never pulled any punches when he interviewed someone. The son of a Barnsley coal miner, Parky as he fondly became to be known, loved nothing more than the spoken and written word. In love with the black and cinema of his youth and loved nothing more than watching a cricket match or having a round of golf. Born in 1935 in Cudley near Barnsley, Yorkshire, his journalistic and television career would span 70 years. Michael had the knack of getting the best out of an interview, making the comic, actor or sportsperson, relaxed and making them feel that were not in a studio but down the local pub having a chat. He knew when to pose the difficult questions, exposing the true personality of anyone who sat before him. A Yorkshire lad through and through, whose style was unique, silky smooth with an element of brash.
The Journalistic Eye
Michael Parkinson may not have been an academic at school, leaving school at 16, achieving only two OLevels and the prized 11 plus previously but he had natural talent, a prized possession that will get you places with recognition. Michael was a wordsmith and after leaving school, he went on to get a job working for a local newspaper, gathering sports results. This newspaper career would continued after a brief pause for two years while he joined the British army for national service during the Suez Crisis. He served as one of the youngest captains and as a press liaison officer. However, when he returned, Parkinson returned to the world of print and joined the Manchester Guardian before working at the Daily Express in London.
Newspapers would be swapped for television as Michael got a job with Granada Television as a current affairs presenter and would later switch to the same role at the BBC. Yet his big break would come in 1971 when the BBC offered him his own Saturday night chat show complete with his surname as the title. This was manna from heaven for the Yorkshireman. The black chairs and brown set admittedly didn’t complement this BBC gem and when one of the first guests, Orson Wells couldn’t fit in the provided chair, the production team had to scour the BBC for a big enough replacement.
Parkinson was a celebrity magnet. Most guests opened up to him but a few like Tommy Cooper, Frankie Howerd and Kenneth Williams couldn’t ditch their stage masks for a candid interview. Williams played the audience with his acid wit and was invited back several times for his raconteur entertainment value Frankie made his way through with well-rehearsed jokes and Tommy with his collection of magic tricks. Both nervous and perspiring as the questions were fired at them.
These early shows were for me the best. They showcased British and Hollywood greats, some ageing but never losing their magic spark. Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall, Jimmy Cagney, Jimmy Stewart, Bette Davis, Robert Mitchum, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Shirley Temple, Peter Ustinov, the cream of the crop of the cinema screen, Parkinson interviewed them all bar his ultimate hero, Humphrey Bogart who had long since passed in 1957. All gave him and ultimately us, a fascinating insight into cinema, a fly-on-the-wall look at a world that few experienced and showed how actors and actresses behaved and lived when the camera had stopped rolling.
The original series finished in 1982 but not before Parky had to avert the glaring stare of Muhammad Ali on four occasions, was mauled by Rod Hull and Emu and was romanced by Miss Piggy. Michael took a long break from the show. A run of 11 years ended after Parkinson was enticed away to become one of the teams on TV-AM, alongside Anna Ford, Robert Kee, David Frost and Peter Jay. However, Parkinson and the team were soon ousted due to their complete lack of managerial experience. This wasn’t a good time for Parky and he started drinking heavily as a result. A television car crash led him to make his decision to pack his bags and present his chat show in Australia.
However, thanks to the love and support of his wife Mary, Michael managed to beat the bottle and quickly returned to the more familiar shores of the UK. A job opportunity would soon arise after a vacancy became available for the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs following the death of Roy Plomley. Various presenting stints would also various television programmes including the game show Give Us A Clue. He would also keep his hand in a journalist, writing a sports column for the Daily Telegraph.
The Return
Class will always shine through and Michael jumped at the opportunity to revive his chat show, firstly on the BBC in 1998 and later when the show moved to ITV. This revamped version of the show would bring together past guests such as Sir Billy Connolly, Sir Elton John and Sir Michael Caine with the wave of modern-day celebrities such as Tom Hanks and George Michael. The format was essentially the same with guests interviewed individually and then encouraged to engage in the conversation between guests. Parkinson always maintained that he was the boss of his show and his guests were invited to converse in his virtual living room, the television studio.
Parkinson was the architect of the British chat show and many would try to emulate him. However good Russell Harty, Michael Aspel, Terry Wogan and later Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton and Piers Morgan are, none have reached Michael’s gold standard. Parkinson eventually hung up his chat show host title in 2007. Apart from occasional appearances at International cricket matches, Sun Life Assurance adverts, writing an autobiography and presenting compilations of his old chat shows, Parky decided to take the more relaxed style of life. However, he did do a stint as a presenter on Jazz FM in his last years.
The Final Crease
I was quite shocked to see how frail Michael Parkinson had become recently but sadly old age comes to us all eventually. To coin a cricketing phrase, Michael had a good innings and certainly a few sixes in his time. Never losing his wit, charm and that cheeky glint in his eyes, Parkinson can be very proud of his achievements in his 88-year life. His original BBC series commanded an audience of 12 million with 361 shows and more than 1,000 guests. His total of guests amounted to 2,000 over 40 years and his enthusiasm to question never waned. A true giant of television and a national treasure who will be sadly missed.
