- published: 09 Apr 2013
- views: 8739
Sir John Betjeman, CBE (/ˈbɛtʃəmən/; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack". He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1972 until his death.
He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture. He began his career as a journalist and ended it as one of the most popular British Poets Laureate and a much-loved figure on British television.
Betjeman was born "John Betjemann". His parents, Mabel (née Dawson) and Ernest Betjemann, had a family firm at 34–42 Pentonville Road which manufactured the kind of ornamental household furniture and gadgets distinctive to Victorians.
He changed his name to the less German-looking "Betjeman" during the First World War. His father's forebears had actually come from the present day Netherlands and had, ironically, added the extra -n during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War to avoid the anti-Dutch sentiment existing at the time more than a century earlier, setting up their home and business in Islington, London.
Sir John Betjeman on 'Parkinson'.
BRANCH LINE - 1 - Sir John Betjeman
Summoned by Bells - Sir John Betjeman (1976) 1/6
John Betjeman Goes By Train: Kings Lynn - Hunstanton
Betjeman's Britain (Sir John Betjeman)
John Betjeman: Late Flowering Lust with Nigel Hawthorne
John Betjeman - A Passion For Churches
First & Last Love: The Cornwall Of Sir John Betjeman
John Betjeman: Architecture of Bath
Thank God it's Sunday! by John Betjeman (1972) part 1
Actors: Edward Woodward (actor), Mike Downey (producer), Sam Taylor (producer), Natasha Little (actress), Nicholas Gleaves (actor), Murray McArthur (actor), Susannah Doyle (actress), David Shaw (actor), Katy Moylan (producer), Colin Francis (actor), Andrew Dinner (actor), Luke Martin (miscellaneous crew), Mark Collicott (producer), Mark Collicott (writer), Mark Collicott (director),
Genres: Drama,