Sir Michael Parkinson’s son says he wouldn’t have been a TV star without his wife Mary’s ‘moral compass’
Sir Michael Parkinson’s son says the chat show king – who interviewed stars including John Lennon, Muhammad Ali and Madonna – would never have achieved such onscreen success without the love and support of his wife, Mary.
Mike Parkinson told Sky News: “She inspired him. She gave him confidence. She was his mentor.
“But also, she was his morality. She was his moral core.
“She told him when he was making the wrong decisions. She told him and he made the right decisions.”
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A look back at some of Parkinson’s most memorable interviews
Known for his interviews with the world’s biggest celebrities, Parkinson died last week aged 88, following a brief illness.
A journalist and presenter in her own right, Mary Parkinson presented the 1970s magazine programme Good Afternoon and went on to appear regularly as a panellist on Through The Keyhole.
Now 87, she married Parkinson in 1959 and they went on to have three sons together.
Speaking to Wilfred Frost on Sky News Today, Mike Parkinson joked: “She nearly had to divorce him when he refused to go and have dinner with Clint Eastwood.
“He turned down the opportunity and my mother didn’t speak to him for about two weeks.”
Following Parkinson’s death, tributes poured in from around the world from fans and high-profile figures, many of whom had been interviewed by the chat show host.
Mike explained the “strange experience” of losing your father when he’s a well-known public figure, saying: “We knew him as a father and a husband of 64 years.
“And as much as we adored what people said about him and felt immensely proud about it, it does have a strange effect upon you as a private person because it pushes your grief to the side.
“You don’t almost feel as if you can properly grieve because you want to allow the public, that knew him in a different way, to grieve [first].”
Parkinson and Joan Collins in 2001
He said his father would have been “shocked” by all the tributes, adding, “he had absolutely no sense of the legacy that people talk about or the iconic status”.
Detailing the challenges of growing up with a famous dad, he said: “It’s a weird experience… You have this man at home, but he’s also public property and you have to share him with the world.”
He said while the family would enjoy Sunday lunches together, his father’s work would often encroach.
“We were also acutely aware that when he was doing a show, it was very much the house was quite tense,” he said.
“He was very nervous beforehand. And we had to sort of take a backseat and let him get on with what he wanted to do. He was quite traditional that way.”
Parkinson and Muhammad Ali in 1974. Pic: BBC
With perks like getting to meet Kermit The Frog, Mike said growing up in a time before mobile phones and social media helped keep his childhood “normal”.
He explained: “Because the cult of celebrity hadn’t existed then, I wasn’t really aware, my friends weren’t interested in what my dad did for a living, their parents kind of were a bit more interested, but no one really noticed it because there wasn’t a mobile phone, there wasn’t the Internet.
“So, therefore I had a very normal childhood, but I had this weird existence where I could go and meet these extraordinary people.”
Parkinson and Tom Cruise. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Looking back at his father’s humble beginnings growing up in a council house in Cudworth, near Barnsley, he says despite his success, Parkinson “had no confidence in himself”.
With a working-class background, he said Parkinson “constantly felt that he was going to get a tap on the shoulder to say, ‘You don’t belong here,’ because he was amongst people who he thought were his superiors…
“He always felt, to a certain extent, that he had to prove himself, and that made him very insecure. That made him drive himself forward all the time and question himself.”
Parkinson receiving his CBE at Buckingham Palace in 2000
Frequently critical of the decline of TV and the celebrity in his latter years, Mike says Parkinson was foremost a journalist and not a TV star: “He was never interested in fame for fame’s sake… He approached every single person, no matter how famous, with a journalistic eye.
“He wasn’t a comedian. He didn’t have a patter. He didn’t have any kind of sketch to throw to.
“In the end, he was a facilitator, he interviewed, but you had to be able to deliver. And that’s what he was about.”
Unable to write in his final years, Mike says it was that loss that caused his father the most sadness, concluding: “In the end, if you ask him now up there when he went to the pearly gates and they asked him what he did for a living, he would have said journalist because that’s what gave him the most pleasure.”
A pilot has died after a private jet owned by Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil crashed into another plane at an airport in Arizona.
Neil was not on board at the time of the collision, which happened off the runway at Scottsdale Airport on Monday afternoon.
Neil’s girlfriend Rain Andreani and her friend suffered injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.
They were taken to hospital with the jet’s co-pilot, who was also injured.
Emergency responders work on Vince Neil’s plane after the collision. Pic: AP
“While details are still emerging, our hearts go out to the families of both the pilot who lost his life and the passengers who suffered injuries,” Motley Crue said in a statement.
“Motley Crue will announce a way to help support the family of the deceased pilot – stand by for an announcement very soon”.
Rain Andreani broke five ribs in the crash and the dogs the women were travelling with survived, TMZ reports.
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Pic: AP
Neil’s jet was arriving from Austin, Texas, when one of its two sets of landing gears failed.
The Learjet veered off the runway after landing and crashed into a Gulfstream 200 business jet.
Neil’s lawyer said the singer is “grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today”.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident was under investigation.
Motley Crue enjoyed major success throughout the 1980s, selling more than 100 million records.
Vince Neil fronted the rock band from their formation in 1981 until he left in 1992.
He later reunited with the band in 1996 and fronted them until they retired in 2015, and again from the band’s 2018 reunion onwards.
Kanye West has been criticised over a TV advert directing people to a website selling a swastika T-shirt during the Super Bowl.
It shows him lying down, telling viewers: “I spent all the money for the commercial on these new teeth, so once again I had to shoot it on the iPhone… go to Yeezy.com.”
The site now features nothing but a single T-shirt with a swastika on the front – alongside the code “HH-01” – believed to be a reference to “Heil Hitler”.
The advert was shown in the Los Angeles area during the big game, but not nationwide.
The listing is the sole item on West’s website
It comes after West deactivated his X account after more antisemitic posts last week.
The rapper’s final entry stated: “I’m logging out of Twitter. I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent.
“It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip.”
“Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention. To we connect again [sic]. Good afternoon and goodnight.”
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Kanye’s wife shocks at Grammys
West made multiple posts on Friday, including statements such as “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” – with the Campaign Against Antisemitism calling on Mr Musk to ban him.
The group said the T-shirt listing was another damning example of West’s dangerous prejudice.
“The swastika is the symbol adopted by Hitler as the primary emblem of the Nazis,” it posted.
“It galvanized his followers in the 20th century and continues to threaten and instil fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy.”
West – also known as Ye – has been suspended from Twitter at least twice before.
In October 2022, his account was restricted over antisemitic comments but he returned the following month. The outcry prompted Adidas to end their lucrative trainer deal.
Two months later, he was locked out again after posts including one appearing to show a swastika inside a Star of David.
Elon Musk, who rebranded Twitter as X in 2023, said at the time the suspension was “for incitement to violence” but the account was back up and running the following summer.
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West’s wife, Bianca Censori, also made headlines last week when she wore a fully transparent dress at the Grammy Awards.
The couple posed for several minutes on the red carpet before reportedly being escorted away.
Kanye West has deleted his X account after being criticised over a series of offensive posts on the social media platform.
The US rapper, also known as Ye, was criticised for posting “hate-filled” remarks about Jewish people.
On Friday many of his posts centred on the Jewish community and he said “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi”.
Another post said: “I’m never apologising for my Jewish comments.”
Following the posts, West’s account had a “sensitive content warning” added to it.
But the 47-year-old now appears to have deleted his X account.
“I’m logging out of Twitter,” he wrote. “I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent.
“It has been very cathartic to use the world as a sounding board. It was like an Ayahuasca trip.”
“Love all of you who gave me your energy and attention. To we connect again [sic]. Good afternoon and goodnight.”
During the Super Bowl show he had posted about Taylor Swift, writing: “IF ITS ABOUT THE CULTURE … WHY ARE WE LETTING TAYLOR SWIFT BE SEEN ON TV SINGING A SONG ABOUT TAKING A BLACK MAN DOWN AND ACCUSING OF THINGS THAT CAN TAKE A BLACK MAN DOWN FOR LIFE.”
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X owner Elon Musk. File pic: Reuters
Calls for Musk to remove West from platform
The Campaign Against Antisemitism had called on Mr Musk to remove West from X over a string of offensive posts.
A spokesperson said: “Once again, Ye has gone on an antisemitic rampage online. It couldn’t be any clearer that he is an unrepentant, proud antisemite.”
It added: “At a time of unprecedented antisemitism, there can be no mistaking this incitement for exactly what it is. We call on Elon Musk to remove him from X.”
Friends star David Schwimmer joined the group and others urging Mr Musk to remove West from the platform because of his “hate-filled, ignorant bile”.
The US actor said on his Instagram account: “This is so 2022. We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr Musk.
“Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X. That’s twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence. His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews.
“I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that he identifies as a Nazi (which implies he wants to exterminate ALL marginalized communities including his own) or the fact that there is not sufficient OUTRAGE to remove and ban him from all social media at this point.”
“Silence is complicity,” he added.
Rapper has had account suspended before
It comes after West and his wife Bianca Censori caused controversy at the Grammy Awards when she wore a transparent dress on the red carpet as he stood by her.
The rapper has had his X account suspended at least twice in the past.
In October 2022, West’s account was restricted over antisemitic comments, but he returned to the platform the following month. He also made antisemitic remarks that led Adidas to cut ties with him.
In December 2022 it was suspended after he made antisemitic comments and praised Hitler.
At the time Mr Musk said the account would be suspended after Kanye posted an image appearing to show a swastika inside a Star of David.
He said the suspension was “for incitement to violence”. The account was unsuspended by July 2023.
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