Michael Parkinson, the renowned British broadcaster who interviewed everyone from Muhammed Ali, David Bowie and Miss Piggy, has died. He was 88. Photo: AP
Sir Michael Parkinson, the veteran broadcaster considered the king of British chat show hosts, has died aged 88, his family has told the BBC.
A statement from Sir Michael’s family said: "After a brief illness Sir Michael Parkinson passed away peacefully at home last night in the company of his family.
"The family request that they are given privacy and time to grieve.”
The chat show host interviewed some of Hollywood’s biggest names throughout his illustrious career - with names such as Jimmy Cagney, Fred Astaire, Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergmann on the list.
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 June 19 1971, and enjoyed a successful run until 1982. 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 programme.
His career saw him welcome the likes of boxer Muhammad Ali, sporting star David Beckham and Rod Hull - with puppet Emu - onto his chat shows during a long and distinguished career.
During the hundreds of episodes of his talk show, he also interviewed stars including David Bowie, John Lennon and Celine Dion.
Headline making interviews throughout his career included those with actresses Dame Helen Mirren and US star Meg Ryan.
He famously introduced stage and screen star Dame Helen as the "sex queen” of the Royal Shakespeare Company during their 1975 chat show encounter, and asked if her "equipment” hindered her being recognised as a serious actress.
In 2003, his interview with Ryan made headlines following a frosty one-on-one with the Hollywood actress while she was promoting the poorly received erotic thriller In The Cut.
Ryan sat stony-faced for the sit-down, delivering one-word answers after allegedly being rude to her fellow guests on the show, the fashion double act Trinny and Susannah. - dpa
