Christopher Nicholas Parsons OBE, normally known as Nicholas Parsons (born October 10, 1923) is a British actor, radio and 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... October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in Leap years). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A television presenter is a British term for a person who introduces or hosts television programmes. ...

Early life and broadcasting career

Parsons was born on 10 October 1923, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, where his father was a GP whose patients included the family of Margaret Hilda Roberts (later Thatcher). Although Parsons' father is sometimes credited with having delivered the future Prime Minister in 1925, Nicholas Parsons himself has never made this claim. October 10 is the 283rd day of the year (284th in Leap years). ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Grantham aka G-Town is a small market town in Lincolnshire, England with about 38,000 inhabitants. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... A general practitioner (GP) or family physician (FP) is a physician/medical doctor who provides primary care. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the head of Her Majestys Government and so exercises many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Parsons attended St Paul's School and the University of Glasgow. St Pauls School St Pauls School is one of Britains oldest and most pre-eminent public schools. ... The University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, is the largest of the three universities in Glasgow, Scotland. ...

He made his film début in 1947, but first became well known to TV audiences during the 1950s as the straight man to comedian Arthur Haynes and a regular on The Benny Hill Show from 1969-1974. After Haynes' sudden death, Parsons went on to appear as a personality in his own right, his fame culminating in the long-running game show, Sale of the Century. For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... The 1950s were the decade that traditionally speaking, spanned the years 1950 through 1959. ... A straight man is a role in a comedy double act where a performer works with a comedian by setting up the situations or feeding the lines that allow their partner to make a joke. ... [A forgotten king of British comedy, remembered primarily for Johnny Speights scripts. ... Born Alfred Hawthorn Hill (January 21, 1924/1925 - April 20, 1992), Benny Hill was a prolific comic British actor. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... A game show involves members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... Sale of the Century is an international television game show format that has screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969, but is most reknown in Australia, where it aired for 21 years and has returned under a new title, Temptation, in mid-2005. ...

Parsons has been the host of the BBC Radio 4 panel game, Just a Minute, since its first broadcast on December 22, 1967. He was also the non-singing voice of Tex Tucker in the TV series Four Feather Falls. BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... A game show is a radio or television program, involving members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, playing a game, perhaps involving answering quiz questions, for points or prizes. ... Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game which has been running continuously since its first broadcast on December 22, 1967. ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Four Feather Falls was the third puppet TV show produced by Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, from an idea by Barry Gray. ...

In 1988 he appeared as himself in The Comic Strip Presents ' episode Mr Jolly Lives Next Door, in which he had the extreme misfortune to encounter two incompetent escort agency directors (Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in their usual cheerfully-violent, dypsomaniac personas) followed by the psychotic and misnamed Mr. Jolly himself (played by Peter Cook). In 1989 he made a guest appearance in the long running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who as the doomed Northumberland vicar Reverend Wainwright in the Seventh Doctor serial The Curse of Fenric. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the British comedy group; for the published art form, see comic strip. ... Mr Jolly Lives Next Door Mr Jolly Lives Next Door is a 1987 Comedy film made for British television as part of the Comic Strip Presents series. ... Escort agencies in theory exist to supply attractive and well-mannered escorts. ... Rik Mayall (born on March 7, 1958 in Harlow, Essex) is an English comedian and actor. ... Edmondson (left) with Rik Mayall in Bottom Adrian Edmondson (sometimes credited as Ade Edmondson, born 24 January 1957 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state in which thought and perception are severely impaired. ... 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. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, invariably known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest public broadcasting corporation in the world. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known only as The Doctor, who explores time and space with his companions, fighting evil. ... The Seventh Doctor is the name given to the seventh incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Curse of Fenric is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from October 25 to November 15, 1989. ...

In April 2005 he was the weekly guest presenter on the BBC news quiz Have I Got News For You, having been turned down some time previously. According to Guy Adams, writing in The Independent's "Pandora" column, Have I Got News For You team captain Paul Merton, also a regular panellist on Parsons's show Just a Minute, had commented shortly before the decision, "I have two contenders for the job, who represent the best possible choices. One would be Nicholas Parsons. The other would be Bagpuss." 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Have I Got News for You (sometimes abbreviated to HIGNFY) is a long-running UK television topical panel game. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... Paul Merton on the Room 101 set Paul Merton (born January 17, 1957) is a British actor, deadpan comedian and writer, who is best known as a panellist on Have I Got News For You and Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4 and as the host of Room 101. ... Bagpuss was a popular UK childrens television series of the 1970s, made by Smallfilms. ...

Roles outside broadcasting

Between 1989 and 1992 Parsons served as Rector of the University of St. Andrews. In the New Year's Honours List of 2004, he was appointed as an OBE by the Queen. In 2005 he became honorary Chairman of the International Quizzing Association (IQA), a body which organises the World and European Quizzing Championships. He is a leading member of the Grand Order of Water Rats charity. Parsons is also a high-profile supporter of the Liberal Democrats. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings. ... University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews was founded between 1410-1413 and is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the United Kingdom. ... The British honours system is a means of rewarding individuals personal bravery, achievement or service to the United Kingdom. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Commanders Badge of the 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. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; born 21 April 1926) is the Queen of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth Realms. ... Banner publicising the championship in Bangalore, one of a number of cities simultaneously holding the July 2005 event The World Quizzing Championship is an individual quiz contest organised by the International Quizzing Association - a not-for-profit organisation based in England. ... The Grand Order of Water Rats is a United Kingdom entertainment industry charity. ... The Liberal Democrats, often shortened to Lib Dems, are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom. ...

External links

• Official website
• Nicholas Parsons talking about Just a Minute (RealPlayer video)
• Nicholas Parsons at the Internet Movie Database