Jon Snow (born 28 September 1947) is an English journalist and presenter, currently employed by ITN. He is best known for presenting Channel 4 News.

He was Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008.

Early life

Education

After mixed success in his first attempt to pass his A level qualifications he moved to the Yorkshire Coast College, Scarborough, where he later obtained the necessary qualifications to gain a place studying law at the University of Liverpool. However, he did not complete the degree, being rusticated for his part in a student protest. However he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters at Liverpool University in 2011.

Life and career

Journalist

He served as ITN's Washington correspondent (1983–1986) and as diplomatic editor (1986–1989) before becoming the main presenter of Channel 4 News in 1989. In 1992 he was the main anchor for ITN's Election Night programme, broadcast on ITV; he presented the programme alongside Sir Robin Day, Alastair Stewart, and Julia Somerville. (Previously ITN's programme had typically been presented by Sir Alastair Burnet, who left ITN in 1991. The 1992 election night programme was the only one hosted by Snow. He was replaced by Jonathan Dimbleby from 1997 onwards.) He has won several RTS Awards - two for reports from El Salvador, one for his reporting of the Kegworth air disaster, and two as "Presenter of the Year".

In 2002 he returned to radio, presenting Jon Snow Reports on Oneword Radio, a weekly show and podcast. He wrote regular articles for the Channel 4 News website, and writes 'Snowmail' – a daily email newsletter on the big stories coming up on the evening edition of Channel 4 News.

He is known for his vast collection of colourful ties and socks.

Snow declined an OBE because he believes working journalists should not take honours from those that they report on.

Memorable incidents

In 2003, at the height of the "dodgy dossier" affair, Alastair Campbell walked into the studio to rebut statements by the BBC. With no notes or preparation Snow questioned Campbell about the affair.

In 2004, Snow published an autobiography, Shooting History.

He refuses to wear any symbol which may represent his views on air; in the run up to Remembrance Day he condemned what he called 'Poppy Fascism' because "in the end there really must be more important things in life than whether a news presenter wears symbols on his lapels".

On 28 February 2008 Snow courted controversy by claiming that the silence of the British media on the decision to allow Prince Harry to fight in Afghanistan was unacceptable with the following statement: "I never thought I'd find myself saying thank God for Drudge. The infamous US blogger has broken the best kept editorial secret of recent times. Editors have been sworn to secrecy over Prince Harry being sent to fight in Afghanistan three months ago." These remarks provoked criticism from some members of the public and other media outlets, with some accusing Snow of wishing to undermine the safety of the Prince and his troops, and (according to Snow himself at the end of that day's bulletin, and later reported in the Daily Mail) one captain in the armed forces called Snow's actions "treason".

On 9 February 2009, Snow interviewed Lt-Col Yvonne Bradley, the military counsel for Binyam Mohamed, a British resident detained for five years at Guantanamo Bay. Snow asked if Mohamed's allegations of torture were justified. Lt-Col Bradley said there was no doubt at all that he had been tortured. Mohamed was released and returned to Britain on 23 February 2009. In November 2010 Snow was sent to Haiti to report on the cholera outbreak.

Personal life

Affiliations

Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University from 2001 to 2008, regularly attending ceremonial events at the University. In 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree by Oxford Brookes - Doctor of the University.

Honorary professor and guest lecturer on Stirling University's Film & Media Studies course.

Honorary Fellow (since 15 February 2006) of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an annually-conferred lifetime honour which allows the recipient to use the initials Hon FRIBA after his or her surname. Snow has an honorary degree from Aberdeen University, in recognition of his services to broadcasting.

Chairman of the Prison Reform Trust from 1992 to 1997.

President of the Cyclists' Touring Club in January 2007, succeeding Phil Liggett.

Patron of Reprieve, a legal action charity which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantánamo Bay.

Patron of the African Prisons Project, an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to bring dignity and hope to men women and children in African prisons through health, education, justice and reintegration.

Patron of Media Legal Defence Initiative, a UK-based charity that provides legal support to journalists and media outlets.

Patron of the tree planting charity Trees for Cities.

Patron of The DIPEx Charity, a UK-based charity that produces two health websites, Healthtalkonline and Youthhealthtalk, featuring people's real life experiences of health and illness.

References

External links

Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:ITN newsreaders and journalists Category:English television journalists Category:British radio journalists Category:Old St Edwards Category:People associated with Oxford Brookes University Category:People associated with the University of Liverpool Category:People from Sussex

Early life

McCall attended the Godolphin and Latymer Girls School, a private school in Hammersmith, London. During her teens McCall developed the eating disorder anorexia, which she has attributed to her fractured childhood and a desperate need for attention. At the age of 15, while studying for her nine O levels and later two more A levels, McCall sang professionally with a band; however when she was 19 she decided to go solo.

During this time she dated old family friend Eric Clapton, who also produced her demo music disc and helped her to try to crack the pop music world. Dissatisfied with her near misses in the record industry, she gave up singing and took a job at Models 1 on the men's desk as a booker. She also appeared in a music video for Kylie Minogue, Word Is Out, in a striped sweater and beret, in a nod to her French ancestry.

Later, she ran a restaurant for two years and worked as a singing waitress in Paris, when she later returned to London she quickly became a fixture on the club scene, ultimately finding work as a nightclub hostess. It was at this time, during her early 20s, that McCall was a drug addict.

Television

McCall has also tried a hand at acting appearances in Sam's Game (2001), a Friends-style TV sitcom (also starring Irish comedian Ed Byrne), which was slammed by the critics and lasted only one series. She has also appeared in the Leigh Francis comedy sketch shows Bo Selecta and A Bear's Tail. McCall provided the voice of an android version of herself for the Doctor Who episode "Bad Wolf" in 2005, and played herself as a human and subsequently as a bloodthirsty zombie in Dead Set in 2008.

She has featured as a guest on numerous chat shows, and in 2005 appeared on the BBC Two motoring show Top Gear, participating in the programme's "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment. She rounded the track in 1:57.1, which earned a lowly 67th place on the scoreboard.

During 2005, McCall presented the BBC series "He's Having a Baby", which received poor ratings. In December 2005 it was announced that she would be hosting her own BBC One prime-time chat show called Davina in early 2006. Early reviews were scathing of the show, and viewing figures flirted around the 3 million mark (at one point, dropping as low as 2 million), compared to over 6 million watching The Bill on ITV1 at the same time. In April 2006, BBC One axed the show due to the ratings not reaching expectations.

It was revealed in March 2006 that ITV1 had signed up McCall to host the BAFTA television awards for the second time in May. In April 2006 McCall was confirmed as the main presenter on Sport Relief on BBC One in July of that year, alongside friend Chris Evans. McCall's involvement with ITV had gone back some years earlier as she often appeared on the pre-programme sequences standing on a stage, something done by other ITV stars like Chris Tarrant.

She has since appeared as a host for Red Nose Day 2007 and, in conjunction, appeared in the video for Girls Aloud and Sugababes' cover of "Walk This Way", walking down a catwalk. In Red Nose Day 2009, she offered to donate £50 for kissing Doctor Who actor David Tennant who co-hosted the charitable programme with her. Also on the programme, McCall had been competing against Tennant on the celebrity version of Mastermind. She resumed presenting Big Brother on 30 May 2007.

McCall has starred in a documentary, Let's Talk Sex, about sex education, and how sex education is taught in the United Kingdom (one of the countries of Europe with the highest teenage pregnancy levels). She also has published a book under the same title. She has also appeared in a video for schools called "Watch Over Me," talking about her drug addiction and peer pressure.

In 2006, BBC Radio 1 DJ, and friend to McCall, Chris Moyles parodied The Feeling's song Love It When You Call to create a song entirely about her. The song, simply titled "The Davina McCall song" is one of the most popular parodies downloaded from website ChrisMoyles.net.

On 5 July 2007, McCall was a panellist on the BBC's Question Time. It was a special 'Schools' edition, partly produced by students. In December 2007, McCall presented a New Year's edition of The Friday Night Project, entitled "The Friday Night New Year Project 2007", alongside Alan Carr and Justin Lee-Collins.

McCall presented Sport Relief 2010 alongside James Corden and others. She hosts Channel 4 gameshow The Million Pound Drop Live, the first series ran from 24 May to 29 May 2010, the second series started on 25 October 2010. She was the subject of the show Davina McCall: A Comedy Roast on 15 October 2010.

In 2011 she became the host of the UK version of The Biggest Loser, replacing Kate Garraway.

McCall hosts the popular dance talent show Got To Dance on Sky1. She also performed in the promotional trailer as a dancer.

Big Brother

Whilst presenting the show's sixth series, McCall caused controversy when she wore a black bikini whilst interviewing contestant Sam Heuston. Shortly after this, McCall attracted some complaints for her hostile interviewing of housemate Makosi Musambasi on the final night, which was much criticised in the British press.

In May 2008, British tabloid News of the World reported that McCall would leave Big Brother after the 2008 season, which she was reported to have been paid £85,000 per episode to present. This was later denied by McCall at the Sex And The City film premiere in London, where she said "I'm not leaving Big Brother. They would have to kill me before I'd stop doing it".

In addition to her presenting duties McCall appeared as herself in Dead Set, a five-part zombie horror series set in the Big Brother house which was aired in late 2008.

In 2009 and 2010, McCall took over as the presenter of Big Brother's Big Mouth. McCall was forced to miss an episode of Big Mouth during the seventh series of Celebrity Big Brother as she was granted permission to enter the house for a short period of time which coincided with the episode.

In April 2011, McCall announced she would not return to Channel 5's relaunched Big Brother and instead second series' winner Brian Dowling will be the new host.

Personal life

Family tree

In the programme, which was first broadcast on 15 July 2009, McCall learned of Hennion's story from historians Jean-Marc Berliere and Simon Kitson as well as from Françoise Hennion (Hennion's granddaughter and McCall's mother's cousin). After hearing of the part her ancestor played in the Dreyfus affair, she also met with Alfred Dreyfus's great-granddaughter, Yael Ruiz.

Shows

Presenting

Acting

References

External links

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Big Brother (UK) Category:English game show hosts Category:English people of French descent Category:English television actors Category:English television presenters Category:Old Dolphins Category:People from Wadhurst Category:People from Wimbledon, London Category:English television personalities Category:People educated at St Catherine's School, Bramley

Early life

Kensit was raised Catholic and still practises today.

Career

Early work

As a pupil at the Italia Conti Academy stage school, Kensit's first starring roles were in British children's television programmes such as The Adventures of Pollyanna (1982) and Luna. She also appeared as Estella in a BBC adaptation of Great Expectations in 1981 and as Lady Margaret Plantagenet in the 1982 BBC production of Shakespeare's Richard III.

Rise to fame

In 1986, she won the lead female role in the film version of Absolute Beginners, based on the book by Colin MacInnes. In November 1987, she sang a duet with the Italian singer and songwriter, Eros Ramazzotti, entitled 'La luce buona delle stelle', which in English translates to 'The Good Light Of The Stars'. In 1988, Eighth Wonder had their only UK top 10 hit with "I'm Not Scared", which was written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Although the band's success quickly waned, the song appeared in the 1989 film Lethal Weapon 2, in which Kensit, now focused solely on being an actress, played Rika van den Haas, a South African consulate secretary with whom cop Martin Riggs (played by Mel Gibson) falls in love.

Following Lethal Weapon 2, she appeared in the 1991 independent feature, Twenty-One for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Of her role, Variety magazine wrote, "Fans of Kensit get plenty of her; her lovely face and form are always the center of attention. The cool control with which she executes the role is admirable". In 1992, she had a leading role in the British film Blame it on the Bellboy as Miss Carolyn Wright, a desperate real estate dealer in Venice who would stop at nothing to clinch a deal.

In 1995, Kensit starred in Angels & Insects, with Kristin Scott Thomas and Mark Rylance, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Costume Design and directed by Philip Haas . Kensit's last major lead film role was in the Newcastle-based The One and Only.

Return to fame

In September and October 2005 she appeared as a celebrity contestant in Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon, progressing through to Play Your Cards Right before being eliminated by Carol Vorderman, the eventual winner of the series. Kensit was a special guest host on The Friday Night Project on 23 June 2006 with band Placebo. She appeared as The Grand High Witch of all the World at the Children's Party at the Palace in celebration of the Queen's 80th birthday in 2006. She also became the voice of online gambling website 32red.com.

Kensit left Emmerdale in September 2006, stating that commuting to Yorkshire and the resultant time away from her sons was too stressful. As part of a dramatic week of episodes which coincided with Jeff Hordley's exit from the show. Hordley's character Cain Dingle and Sadie hatched an elaborate kidnap plan involving Tom King - they set up the transfer of £2 million from the Kings to Cain in order for Tom to be released, however Cain double crossed Sadie. Her last appearance was at an airstrip watching Cain fly away, leaving her penniless and alone.

Kensit has played ward sister Faye Morton in the BBC One medical drama series Holby City since October 2006. Kensit is signed to Models 1 in London.

On 14 March 2010, it was revealed that Kensit had decided to quit her role in Holby City. She stopped filming in September but will be onscreen until the end of the year. She has competed in the 2010 BBC TV series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing partnered by Robin Windsor, they finished in 7th place.

Strictly Come Dancing performances

Personal life

Kensit has been married four times and all but one of her husbands have been musicians of Irish descent. In 1988, she married Dan Donovan of band Big Audio Dynamite. In 1992, she married Jim Kerr, lead singer of Simple Minds. During her second marriage, she gave birth to her first child, James in 1992. In 1997, she married Liam Gallagher from Oasis. Kensit and Gallagher had a son, Lennon, named after John Lennon; they divorced in 2000.

By 2000, Kensit's private life had brought her to as much attention as her acting or singing, as the tabloid newspapers detailed the breakdown of her marriage to Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr and her romance with Oasis singer Liam Gallagher. Her career stalled as she focused on her marriage, over which she claimed to cry every day of the marriage until it ended, as it eventually headed towards divorce. This personal downward spiral led to the resumption of her acting career.

After her marriage to Gallagher ended in divorce, Kensit spoke openly about her breast augmentation, which took her bust measurement from a 32B to a 35C. She has three tattoos: on her back; above the blade of her left foot (Gaelic words); and on her ankle. She changed the tattoo of her ex-husband's name from Liam to the name of their son, Lennon.

After reported relationships with Ally McCoist, Calum Best, David Walliams, Matt Holbrook, and in 2005 with Jean-Christophe Novelli, Kensit began dating rap artist and beatboxer Killa Kela. They split up after a year, with Kensit stating that she did not see a future with Killa.

Kensit later became involved with the DJ Jeremy Healy and announced that she was marrying for a fourth time on 29 November 2007. On 31 March 2008 it was reported that the pair had split by mutual consent and had called off their wedding. They eventually married on 18 April 2009, in an event covered by a magazine, but the Daily Mail reported in February 2010 that the couple had separated. Kensit has vowed never to marry again following this split, describing it as "embarrassing and humiliating". "This year has been truly, truly awful. I lost my confidence....... But I'm looking forward now, with one million per cent conviction, that I definitely won't be getting married again." she told She magazine.

Filmography