Key Points
- Sir Michael's chat show first aired in 1971.
- He is estimated to have interviewed more than 2,000 guests.
- He brought down the curtain on more than 30 years of his chat show at the end of 2007.
British broadcaster Michael Parkinson, best known for interviewing some of the world's biggest celebrities on his long-running eponymous chat show, has died aged 88, the BBC said on Thursday.
"After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family," a statement from his family said.
"The family request that they are given privacy and time to grieve."
Sir Michael Parkinson with his wife Mary. Source: AAP / Fiona Hanson
After moving into current affairs television in the late 1960s, he was given his own prime-time chat show 'Parkinson' by the BBC in 1971.
"Michael was the king of the chat show and he defined the format for all the presenters and shows that followed," said BBC Director General Tim Davie.
The chat show host interviewed some of Hollywood's biggest names throughout his illustrious career - including Jimmy Cagney, Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman.
Sir Michael became a familiar face on both the BBC and ITV because of his intimate celebrity interviews, most notably on the BBC show Parkinson.
Parkinson first aired on the BBC on 19 June 1971 and enjoyed a successful run until 1982.
Parkinson, who became affectionately known as 'Parky', estimated he had interviewed more than 2,000 guests in total, with the most high-profile including Muhammad Ali, Elton John, John Lennon and Madonna.
Sir Michael Parkinson (second left), who became affectionately known as 'Parky', estimated he had interviewed more than 2,000 guests in total, with the most high-profile including Muhammad Ali (far left), Elton John, John Lennon and Madonna. Source: AAP / ABC Photo Archives
In 1998, the chat show was revived on the BBC and proved an instant hit.
It switched from the BBC to ITV1 in 2004 and ran until 2007 - the same year Sir Michael retired from his Sunday morning Radio 2 program.
Parkinson was also known for two uncomfortable interviews with actors Helen Mirren and Meg Ryan.
With Mirren he was accused of sexism after he asked if her "physical attributes" had hindered her career and whether her figure could detract from her performance.
With Ryan, the two engaged in a frosty, terse interview before Ryan told him to "wrap it up". Parkinson later said he regretted getting angry with the actress.
Before his TV career, Sir Michael started life as an only child, growing up in a council house in the coal mining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
As a teenager, his father, a miner, took him down the pit to put him off working there. When his dreams of playing cricket for Yorkshire were dashed, he left school aged 16 and began working at a local paper, later joining the Manchester Guardian and then the Daily Express.
His first TV job was as a producer at Granada, and he later moved to Thames TV, before landing his chat show Parkinson at the BBC.
He had a short-lived term at TV-am as part of the original presenting line-up alongside Angela Rippon and David Frost and appeared on the shows Give Us A Clue, one-off drama Ghostwatch and Going For A Song.
Sir Michael brought down the curtain on more than 30 years of his chat show at the end of 2007 with a final show featuring Beckham, Sir Michael Caine, Sir David Attenborough, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Edna Everage, Sir Billy Connolly, Peter Kay and Jamie Cullum in a two-hour special.
"Over the years it has been a privilege to meet some of the most intelligent and interesting people," he said on the final show.
"It has always been a great joy and I shall miss it."
As well as his television career, he was a respected radio broadcaster, having hosted Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 as well as his own sports shows on Five Live.
He was also an award-winning sports writer, having been a lifelong cricket fan. He received an honorary doctorate in 2008, alongside cricket umpire and his good friend Dickie Bird, at the Barnsley campus of Huddersfield University.
He was knighted by the late Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2008, and said of the accolade: "I never expected to be knighted - I thought there was more chance of me turning into a Martian really."
In 2013, he spoke openly about being diagnosed with prostate cancer following a routine health check. He had three sons with his wife Mary, who he married in 1959.
- With Reuters
