Sir Michael Parkinson, the legendary broadcaster known as the “King of British Chat Show Hosts,” has died at the age of 88, according to his family.
A statement from Mr Parkinson’s family said: “After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family.
“The family requests that they are given privacy and time to grieve.”
Throughout his successful career, the chat show presenter interviewed some of Hollywood’s top personalities, including Jimmy Cagney, Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall, and Ingrid Bergmann.
Because of his close celebrity interviews, most notably on the BBC show Parkinson, Mr Parkinson became a recognized face on both the BBC and ITV.
Parkinson premiered on the BBC on June 19, 1971, and ran successfully until 1982. The BBC relaunched the conversation program in 1998, and it was an instant success.
Over the course of seven decades, Parkinson interviewed many of the world’s most prominent personalities, including Hollywood stars, Grammy-winning musicians, Olympic athletes, and politicians.
Among those included in Parkinson’s series were Muhammad Ali, Sir Elton John, Madonna, Sir Michael Caine, John Lennon, and Orson Welles. Lauren Bacall, David Bowie, Kenneth Williams, Bette Davis, Tom Hanks, Fred Astaire, John Wayne, and George Michael were among the other celebrities featured on his shows.
Parkinson, the presenter’s main talk program, aired on the BBC for 11 years beginning in 1971. It was later resurrected in 1998 and ended in 2007.
Parkinson returned to the airways in 2012 for the Sky Arts series Parkinson: Masterclass after resigning from presenting that year.
Following the death of founder Roy Plomley, he hosted the BBC’s legendary radio series Desert Island Discs from 1986 to 1988.
Parkinson was born in 1935 in Cudworth, South Yorkshire, the son of a miner.
His career began in local media, where he worked compiling sports results. During a two-year tour in the military beginning in 1955, during the time of the Suez crisis, he became the British army’s youngest captain at the time.
Parkinson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013 and successfully had spinal surgery in 2017.
He and his wife Mary, whom he married in 1959, had three kids.