Sir Michael Parkinson, former talk show host and journalist, has died
Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson has died at the age of 88.
His agent said he died peacefully at home in the company of his family on Wednesday night, following a brief illness.
Sir Michael, a former journalist, was one of British television’s most famous faces through his talk show Parkinson, which initially ran on the BBC from 1971 to 1982. He relaunched the show in 1998 before it moved to ITV in 2004, remaining on air until he retired the programme in 2007.
Over more than 800 episodes, the TV host affectionately known as Parky interviewed some of the world’s most high-profile figures – including Muhammad Ali, Sir Elton John, Tom Cruise, Helen Mirren and George Michael – and helped make comedian Sir Billy Connolly a household name.
Reaction as ‘greatest interviewer of our time’ dies – updates
Sir Michael Parkinson interviewed a host of A-list stars – including Tom Cruise. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Sir Michael with Sir Billy Connolly in 1987. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Despite his long and illustrious career, it was his 2003 interview with Meg Ryan that went down in history as one of his most memorable shows.
The chat show king was faced with a stony-faced Ryan, who delivered one-word answers as she promoted her poorly received erotic thriller The Cut.
More than 20 years later, he offered an apology to the actress and admitted neither of them were on “top form”.
He was also famously attacked by Emu when the puppet appeared on the chat show sofa next to Rod Hull, and wrestled him to the ground. The star would often joke that he would always be remembered for “that bloody bird”.
Michael Parkinson obituary: The host A-listers wanted to share their secrets with
Pictured with football legend George Best, and below with Muhammad Ali in 1979
BBC to friends and interviewees – celebrities pay tribute
As tributes were shared following the announcement of his death, many remembered him as “the king of the chat show”.
Director-general of the BBC, Tim Davie, said in a statement: “Michael was the king of the chat show and he defined the format for all the presenters and shows that followed.
“He interviewed the biggest stars of the 20th century and did so in a way that enthralled the public. Michael was not only brilliant at asking questions, he was also a wonderful listener.
“Michael was truly one of a kind, an incredible broadcaster and journalist who will be hugely missed.”
Sir Michael received his Knighthood from the Queen at Buckingham Palace
Pictured with the late Cilla Black
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, BBC broadcaster Nick Robinson said: “He was the greatest interviewer of our age who owned Saturday night TV for year after year.”
Meanwhile, former BBC News anchor Simon McCoy posted: “Simply the Best. Anyone who was anyone was interviewed by him. What an amazing career he had. Thoughts with his family.”
Comedian Stephen Fry described being interviewed by Sir Michael as “impossibly thrilling” as he shared his memories.
“The genius of Parky was that (unlike most people… and most of his guests, me included) he was always 100% himself,” he wrote on Instagram. “On camera and off. ‘Authentic’ is the word I suppose.
“For one of the shows I was on with Robin Williams, a genius of unimaginable comic speed and brilliance. Now they’re both gone. One should get used to the parade of people constantly falling off the edge, but frankly one doesn’t. So long #parky.”
‘The coolest thing I ever saw pre-show’
BAFTA and Culture Secretary Lucy Fraser also shared tributes, with Ms Fraser describing the star as a “broadcasting giant who set a gold standard for the television interview”.
Comedian Eddie Izzard remembered Sir Michael as the “king of the intelligent interview”, while British singer and actress Elaine Paige described him as “legendary”.
Sharing a picture of the pair on X, she wrote: “Such very sad breaking news that Sir Michael Parkinson has died. Have known him for many years, sang on his TV chat show & attended many events with him.
“A legendary interviewer that will be remembered as the best of his profession. We will never see his like again.”
On Give Us A Clue with Liza Goddard and Lionel Blair
Comedian Dara O Briain shared a story of Sir Michael doing “the coolest thing I ever saw pre-show” during one of his three appearances on the “proper showbiz” programme.
“I was standing with the guests, waiting for the show to start,” O Briain wrote. “Michael arrived, chatted away to us, not a nerve in sight, when the band started playing the theme tune. Michael paused, smiled and said ‘They’re playing my tune’ and walked straight out and started the show. Lovely.”
Comedian and actor Matt Lucas also shared a tribute, remembering Sir Michael as “a titan” of television.
Broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth described the broadcaster as “one of my heroes”, saying it was a privilege to have known and worked with him.
“They were chat shows, of course – but they were mjuch (sic) more than that: they were truly engaging conversations that brought out the best in his guests,” he said.
“And what an array of guests. ‘Parky’ was one of my heroes – and a lovely guy. A privilege to have known and worked with him.”
Minute’s silence at cricket match
The world of sport also mourned Sir Michael’s death, with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Barnsley FC both sharing tributes.
Sir Michael was a lifelong fan of cricket, with his childhood dreams of playing for Yorkshire dashed when he left school aged 16 and instead began working at a local paper.
The cricket club announced a minute’s silence before play on Thursday, while Barnsley FC said the club had “lost one of its favourite sons”.
Monty Python star Eric Idle, who was interviewed by the TV host in 1982, wrote on X: “Farewell Parky. A great Yorkshireman and cricket fan and a lovely interviewer to be with.”
Life before TV – and how he rose to fame
Michael Parkinson and Dame Helen Mirren
Sir Michael was an only child who grew up in a council house in the coal mining village of Cudworth, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. His father was a miner, and would take his son down the pit when he was a teenager to put him off working there.
After leaving school, he went on to work at a local paper, later joining the Manchester Guardian and then the Daily Express.
He got his break in TV as a producer at Granada, moving to Thames TV before landing his chat show Parkinson at the BBC.
He also had a short-lived term at TV-am as part of the original presenting line-up alongside the likes of Angela Rippon and David Frost, and appeared on the shows Give Us A Clue, one-off drama Ghostwatch and Going For A Song.
On the radio, he hosted Desert Island Discs on Radio 4 as well as his own sports shows on Five Live.
Hosting David Attenborough. Pic: Ken McKay/Shutterstock
The star received an honorary doctorate in 2008, alongside cricket umpire and his good friend Dickie Bird, at the Barnsley campus of Huddersfield University.
He was also knighted by the late Queen at Buckingham Palace that same year, 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, Sir Michael revealed he was being treated for prostate cancer – but said he had no intention of stopping working.
He had three sons with wife Mary, who he married in 1959.
Grammy-award winning singer Roberta Flack has died at the age of 88, her publicist has announced.
The American singer was best known for her hit songs Killing Me Softly With His Song and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
Flack pictured in 1972. Pic: Photoreporters/Shutterstock
One of the top recording artists of the 1970s, she died on Monday surrounded by her family, her publicist Elaine Schock said in a statement.
In 2022, Flack announced she was suffering from motor neurone disease (MND), and could no longer sing.
Rising to fame in her early 30s, Flack became an overnight success after Clint Eastwood chose her song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, as the soundtrack for the explicit love scenes of his 1971 movie Play Misty For Me.
The track topped the US charts in 1972, and Flack was rewarded with a Grammy.
The following year she took the coveted Record of the Year prize at the Grammys for a second time with Killing Me Softly, becoming the first artist ever to do so.
Discovered in the late 1960s by jazz musician Les McCann, Flack was a classically trained pianist, receiving a full scholarship to study at Howard University at just 15.
McCann later wrote of Flack: “Her voice touched, tapped, trapped, and kicked every emotion I’ve ever known.”
Flack with her Grammy for Killing Me Softly in 1974. Pic: AP
A shining light in the social and civil rights movement of the time, Flack was friends with both Reverend Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis whom Flack visited in prison when Davis faced charges – for which she was acquitted – for murder and kidnapping.
Flack also sang at the funeral of Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball’s first black player.
Living on the same floor of the famous Dakota apartment building as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Flack also became friends with the Beatle, later releasing an album of Beatles covers.
Flack in 1976. Pic: Robert Legon/Shutterstock
Born Roberta Cleopatra Flack, to musician parents in Black Mountain, North Carolina, in 1937, she was raised in Arlington, Virginia.
She was married to jazz musician Stephen Novosel between 1966 and 1972.
Flack’s other hits from the 1970s included Feel Like Makin’ Love and two duets with her close friend and former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway, Where Is the Love and The Closer I Get to You.
Sadly, their partnership ended in tragedy, after he fell to his death from his hotel room in Manhattan in 1979, after suffering a breakdown while they were recording an album of duets together.
Stevie Wonder and Flack perform a duet in 1985. Pic: AP
While Flack never matched her first run of success, she had a follow-up hit in the 1980s with the Peabo Bryson duet Tonight, I Celebrate My Love and in the 1990s with the Maxi Priest duet Set The Night To Music.
In the mid-90s, she received a wave of new attention after the Fugees covered Killing Me Softly. She would go on to perform with the hip-hop band on stage.
A five-time Grammy winner, Flack received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2020.
Contemporary stars to praise her include Beyoncé, John Legend and Ariana Grande.
Flack in 2010. Pic: Reuters/John Sommers
Working as a high-school teacher in her 20s, while gigging in clubs during the evenings, Flack proved a canny educator, telling the Tampa Bay Times in 2012: “I was teaching at Banneker Junior High in Washington, DC It was part of the city where kids weren’t that privileged, but they were privileged enough to have music education.
“I really wanted them to read music. First, I’d get their attention. [I’d sing]: ‘Stop, in the name of love.’ Then I could teach them!”
Entertainment
Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore among winners at SAG Awards – a major Oscars predictor
The winners of this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) have been revealed – a major predictor of the Oscars, with just a week to go.
Demi Moore continued her run of success to be named best actress for her performance in body horror The Substance, while Timothee Chalamet picked up the award for best actor for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
Demi Moore adds yet another tropy to her collection for her performance in The Substance. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
While not a complete shock, before this Adrien Brody had probably just nudged it as favourite for an Oscar win for his performance in post-war epic The Brutalist.
Now, the race is closer than it has been in years – and both Chalamet, 29, and Moore, 62, could be on course for their first Academy Awards.
Following a BAFTA win earlier this month, papal thriller Conclave was honoured with the top film prize, for best ensemble.
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Stanley Tucci, the film follows the drama of the selection process for a new pope.
Conclave stars (L-R) Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes with the ensemble cast award. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
During the ceremony, Rossellini said the film’s cast wanted to send their best wishes to Pope Francis, who is being treated in hospital for pneumonia and bronchitis, and wish him “a quick recovery”.
Elsewhere, the supporting categories were true to 2025 awards season form – Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana continued their runs of success with wins for performances in A Real Pain and Emilia Perez respectively.
‘I want to be one of the greats’
Chalamet attended with his mum, Nicole Flender. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The awards are voted for by members of the SAG-AFTRA union and are held as a celebration of actors honoured by their peers.
For the best male actor announcement, Chalamet looked visibly surprised as his name was called.
After being accompanied by girlfriend Kylie Jenner to the BAFTAs last week, this time round he was celebrating with his mum, Nicole Flender.
“The truth is, this was five-and-a-half years of my life. I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero,” he said on stage. “It was the honour of a lifetime playing him.”
Making no secret of his ambitions, he added: “The truth is I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats.”
Moore said joining SAG-AFTRA as a teenager in 1978 gave her meaning as “a kid on my own who had no blueprint for life”.
Jane Fonda was honoured with a lifetime achievement award. Pic: AP/Chris Pizzello
Actress and activist Jane Fonda, 87, provided the ceremony’s most passionate political moment as she was honoured with a lifetime achievement prize.
“We are in our documentary moment,” she said. “This is it. And it’s not a rehearsal.”
The word “woke”, she added, “just means you give a damn” about others.
The TV winners
Shogun stars (L-R) Tommy Bastow, Shinnosuke Abe, Moeka Hoshi, Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano and Hiroto Kanai. Pic: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
The SAG Awards also include TV categories, with Japanese historical drama Shogun picking up the gong for best ensemble and its stars, Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai, named best actor and actress.
Only Murders In The Building took home the prize for best comedy ensemble, with star Martin Short named best actor in a comedy series.
Jean Smart, who had previously called for cancelling the awards shows due to the wildfires that hit LA in January, was named best actress in a comedy, for her role in Hacks. She did not attend, but gave a recorded introduction.
In the limited series category, British star Jessica Gunning was named best actress for Baby Reindeer, while Irish star Colin Farrell was named best actor for The Penguin.
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