Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE (born April 7, 1939) is an English television presenter. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Biography

He was born at Tenterden, Kent, the son of a Methodist minister, the Rev. W.J. Paradine Frost, and attended Barnsole Road Primary School in Gillingham, Kent, then Gillingham Grammar School and finally Wellingborough Grammar School. He subsequently won a place at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a First in English. Location within the British Isles Tenterden is a small town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent in the United Kingdom, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Full name Gonville and Caius College Motto - Named after Edmund Gonville & John Caius Previous names Gonville Hall (1348), Gonville & Caius (1557) Established 1348 Sister College Brasenose College Master Neil McKendrick Location Trinity St Undergraduates 468 Graduates 291 Homepage Boatclub Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, generally known as Caius (though pronounced...

He is married to Lady Carina Frost, a daughter of the 17th Duke of Norfolk. He was previously married 1981-82 to Lynne Frederick (widow of Peter Sellers). Major-General Miles Francis Stapleton-Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk, KG, GCVO, CB, CBE, MC DL (July 21, 1915 – June 24, 2002), was the eldest son of Bernard Fitzalan-Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Glossop and his wife Mona Stapleton, 11th Baroness Beaumont. ... Lynne Frederick (July 25, 1954 – April 27, 1994) was a British actress. ... Richard Henry Peter Sellers, CBE (September 8, 1925 – July 24, 1980) was an English comedian, actor, and performer, who came to prominence on the BBC radio series The Goon Show and later became a film star. ...

From early on, Frost allegedly declared his ambition to become a TV personality. Frost's well-known ability to network with the right people was in evidence at Cambridge, where he edited the literary magazine Granta and was the secretary of the famous Footlights drama society, which included people of note such as Peter Cook and John Bird. The University of Cambridge, located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Granta 37, published September 1991 Granta is a literary magazine which publishes new writing — fiction, personal history, reportage and investigative journalism — four times a year. ... The ADC Theatre is the home of the Footlights. ... Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937–9 January 1995) was an English satirist, writer and comedian who is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. ... John Bird (born November 22, 1936) is a British satirist, actor and comedian. ...

After leaving university, he became a trainee at Associated-Rediffusion and worked for Anglia Television. At the same time, he kept up his cabaret performances. Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British Independent Television (commercial television) contractor for London, on weekdays between 1954 (transmissions started on September 22, 1955) and July 29, 1968. ... Current ITV Anglia logo Anglia Television is the ITV station for East Anglia. ...

That Was The Week That Was (TW3)

After several others declined the role (including Peter Cook, John Bird, and Brian Redhead), he was chosen by writer and producer Ned Sherrin to host a pioneering satirical programme called That Was The Week That Was. This caught the wave of the satire boom in 1960s Britain and became enormously popular as well as influential, although it often riled politicians. TW3 was put on as the last piece of scheduled programming broadcast by the BBC on a Saturday, and regularly overran its time slot. But by the second series it was followed by Repeats of 'The Third Man', starring Michael Rennie. Frost took note of this, and at the end of each edition of TW3, Frost would reveal the plot featuring the key twists and turns of each episode to show that there would be very little point in watching the programme. After three weeks the BBC took note; 'The Third Man' was taken off the air and TW3 got its full hour (and a bit) back. Brian Redhead (28 December 1929 _ 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. ... Ned Sherrin (born 18 February 1931 in Somerset, England) is a broadcaster, author and stage director. ... That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, was a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. ... The satire boom is a general term to describe the emergence of a generation of English satirical writers, journalists and performers at the end of the 1950s. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of £4 billion. ...

After TW3

Frost fronted a number of programmes following the success of TW3, most notably The Frost Report (1966-67), which launched the television careers of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. He signed for Rediffusion, the ITV weekday contractor in London, to produce a "heavier" interview-based show The Frost Programme. This was a ground-breaking British "chat show", on which Frost interviewed many controversial characters. Guests included Sir Oswald Mosley and Rhodesian premier Ian Smith (he accused Smith of denying promotion to black members of Rhodesia's army, navy and air force, only to be told by Smith that landlocked Rhodesia didn't have a navy). His memorable dressing-down of insurance fraudster Emil Savundra was generally regarded as the first example of 'trial by television' in the UK. The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by Sir David Frost. ... John Marwood Cleese (born October 27, 1939 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England) is an English comedian and actor best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for co-writing the TV series Fawlty Towers in which he played Basil Fawlty. ... Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker OBE (September 25, 1929 – October 3, 2005), popularly known as Ronnie Barker and (as a writer) Gerald Wiley , was an English comic actor and writer. ... On left, with partner Ronnie Barker Portrait of Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett, OBE (born December 4, 1930 in Edinburgh, commonly credited as Ronnie Corbett) is a Scottish comedian and actor, best known as one of The Two Ronnies. ... Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British Independent Television (commercial television) contractor for London, on weekdays between 1954 (transmissions started on September 22, 1955) and July 29, 1968. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A talk show (U.S.) or chat show (Brit. ... My Life, the autobiography of Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (November 16, 1896 – December 3, 1980), was a British politician principally known as the founder of the British Union of Fascists. ... National motto: Sit Nomine Digna (Latin: May she be worthy of the name) Official language English Capital Salisbury Political system Parliamentary system Form of government Constitutional monarchy (until 1970) Republic (March 2, 1970) - Last President John Wrathall - Prime Minister Ian Smith Area  - Total  - % water 390 580 km² 1% Population  - 1978... The Rt Hon Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia, 1964 (official portrait) The Right Honourable Ian Douglas Smith, GCLM ID, (born April 8, 1919) was the Premier of the British Crown Colony of Southern Rhodesia from April 13, 1964 to November 11, 1965 and the Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now... Emil Savundra, (1923 - 1976), was a convicted fraudster and swindler. ...

In 1963 a moving tribute to recently-assassinated President John F. Kennedy on That Was The Week That Was saw Frost's fame spread to the USA. LP recordings of TW3 became best sellers and so began an intensely busy period for Frost, including his practically commuting across the Atlantic (mostly by Concorde). His show Frost On America featured guests such as Jack Benny, Tennessee Williams and, in 1977, Richard Nixon. He was an organiser of the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. President Kennedy, with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Texas Governor John Connally in the Presidential limousine shortly before the assassination. ... The Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST), along with the Tupolev Tu-144, was one of only two models of supersonic passenger airliners to have seen commercial service. ... Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974), an American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor, was one of the biggest stars in classic American radio and was also a major television personality. ... Tennessee Williams, courtesy of Masters of Photography [2] Thomas Williams III (March 26, 1911–February 25, 1983), better known by the pen name Tennessee Williams, was a major American playwright and one of the prominent playwrights of the twentieth century. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... The event was broadcast on NBC in the United States The Music for UNICEF Concert: A Gift of Song was a benefit concert of popular music held in the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on January 9, 1979. ... The United Nations General Assembly (GA) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

He is perhaps best known to most ordinary people in the UK for presenting various panel games, including Through the Keyhole, which featured house expert Loyd Grossman and, more recently, Catherine Gee. After transferring from ITV, his Sunday morning interview programme Breakfast with Frost ran on the BBC from January 1993 until May 29, 2005. Through the Keyhole is a light-hearted BBC (originally ITV) Panel game, where panelist must attempt to identify the celebrity who lives in a house, after they are given a video tour of it. ... Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman OBE (born Boston, September 16th 1950) is an English-American television presenter and cookery chef who mainly works in the UK. Grossman graduated from Boston University (B.A. History) before coming to Britain in 1975 to study at the London School of Economics (M.Sc. ... ITV (Independent Television) is the name popularly given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. In England, Wales and southern Scotland, the network has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of... Breakfast with Frost was a talk show hosted by Sir David Frost on the BBC on Sunday mornings. ... May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Frost was instrumental in starting up two important TV franchises: LWT in 1967, and as one of the Famous Five who launched TV-am in 1982. He owns a production company called Paradine Productions, after his middle name. London Weekend Television logo, 1978-1996 London Weekend Television Limited (LWT) is the ITV contractor for London, Friday 5:15pm to Monday, 5:59am. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992. ...

Frost is the only person to have interviewed all of the past six British prime ministers and the past seven US presidents. He was also the last person to interview HIM Mohammad Reza Shah, the last Shah of Iran. His Majesty Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (اعلیحضرت محمدرضا شاه پهلوی; October 26, 1919 – July 27, 1980) also knows as Aryamehr, was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 until... One of the worlds longest-lasting monarchies, the Iranian monarchy went through many transformations over the centuries, from the days of Persia to the creation of what is now modern day Iran. ...

He received a BAFTA Fellowship at the 2005 BAFTA Television awards ceremony. The highest accolade that the British Academy gives. Sir David's latest project is to present a live weekly current affairs programme for Al-Jazeera International, the English-language version of the Arab broadcaster, starting when the network launches in November 2006 (see [1]). Al Jazeera International, a 24-hour English language news and current affairs channel, headquartered in Doha, Qatar, aims to broadcast globally in the 1st quarter of 2006. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Criticism

Frost has had numerous critics throughout his career. The satirist and contemporary Peter Cook disliked him, perhaps because he stole his act on Beyond The Fringe, impersonating UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. (Whilst Cook was performing the act at one theatre, Frost was performing exactly the same act at another.) Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937–9 January 1995) was an English satirist, writer and comedian who is widely regarded as the leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. ... Album of Beyond the Fringe Published by EMI in 1996 Beyond the Fringe was a British comedy stage revue written and performed by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. ...

Though Frost demonstrated a great deal of respect for Cook, Cook was critical of Frost's career, feeling he had done little more than stolen Cook's early image. Cook often claimed, tongue-in-cheek, that the biggest mistake he ever made was saving Frost from drowning in a swimming pool. Further borrowing of comedy material from others caused Beyond The Fringe performer Jonathan Miller to dub Frost 'the bubonic plagiarist'. For these reasons and others, the satirical magazine Private Eye has been a persistent critic of Frost, particularly during the 1970s. Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller, CBE (born July 21, 1934) is a British physician, theatre and opera director and television presenter. ... Private eye may mean: Look up Private eye on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Private Eye a fortnightly British satirical magazine-newspaper, edited by Ian Hislop (as of 2005) A private investigator, a private detective for hire (see also crime fiction and detective fiction) Private Eye, a song by Alkaline Trio...

In the early-1970's, Simon Dee was critical of Frost and accused him of sabotaging his own chat show, Dee Time, for the benefit of Frost's own. Frost was a share-holder at London Weekend Television and his show aired immediately before Dee Time. Carl Nicholas Henty-Dodd (born July 28, 1935) is better known by his stage name Simon Dee. ... London Weekend Television (LWT) was (and for legal formalities still is; see below) the ITV contractor for London and the South East, Friday 7:00pm (1968-1982)/5:15pm (1982-2002) to Monday, 5:59am. ...

In addition, Frost's interview style of late has been described as sycophantic, and markedly different to his performance in the 1960s and 1970s, which almost bordered on verbal bullying; it was from such fiery encounters that the phrase "trial by television" was popularised. Look up sycophant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

WJLA, Washington, DC Inside Edition promo featuring Bill OReilly, 1993. ... William James Bill OReilly, Jr. ...

External links

• Book Sir David Frost For After-Dinner Speaking Engagements
• BBC News Profile of David Frost
• TV Cream on Paradine Productions