Brian Johnston
Brian Johnston | |
---|---|
Born | Brian Alexander Johnston 24 June 1912 Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England |
Died | 5 January 1994 Westminster, London, England | (aged 81)
Nationality | British |
Other names | Johnners |
Occupation(s) | Radio commentator, author, television personality |
Years active | 1946–1993 |
Known for | BBC cricket commentator |
Spouse | Pauline Tozer |
Children | 5 |
Brian Alexander Johnston during a career which lasted from 1946 until his death in January 1994.
Early life
Brian Alexander Johnston was born on 24 June 1912 at the Old Rectory,
Education
Johnston was educated at Temple Grove Preparatory School (1920–25)[4] and then at Eton (1925–31), where he played cricket for the school's 2nd XI. He subsequently went on to New College, Oxford (1931–34), where he graduated with a third in History in 1934.[5] At Oxford he was a keen cricketer, keeping wicket for his college team, Oxford Authentics, and also for the Eton Ramblers and I Zingari, but he never managed to progress to the Varsity side.
Pre-war employment
After Oxford, Johnston joined the family's coffee business, where he worked until 1939, but admitted years later that he had little interest or liking for the work. After a year at head office in the City of London, he was transferred to the Hamburg office in 1935, as Germany was an important market for Brazilian coffee.
The following year, he travelled to
Second World War
In September 1939, Johnston joined the 2nd
BBC career
Brian Johnston joined the BBC in January 1946 and began his cricket commentating career at Lord's for BBC Television in June 1946 at the England v India Test match.
General light entertainment
In these early years, Johnston was an occasional presenter of other BBC shows, including Come Dancing and All Your Own. Between 1948 and 1952, Johnston presented a live broadcast segment Let's Go Somewhere as part of the Saturday night radio series In Town Tonight. In some he stayed alone in the Chamber of Horrors, rode a circus horse, lay under a passing train, was hauled out of the sea by a helicopter and was attacked by a police dog.
He was also part of the radio commentating team for major state occasions such as the funeral of
Cricket commentator
Johnston became a regular member of the TV commentary team and, in addition, became BBC cricket correspondent in 1963. In that year he also met and mentored his future TMS colleague the late Christopher Martin-Jenkins, who sought his advice about how to become a cricket commentator while still at school. From 1965 onwards Johnston split his commentary duties between television (three Tests) and radio (two Tests) each summer. In 1970 Johnston was dropped from the TV commentary team and he retired from the BBC two years later on his sixtieth birthday. However, he continued to appear in a freelance capacity as a member of the team for the radio broadcasts, Test Match Special (TMS) for the next 22 years. Johnston was responsible for a number of the TMS traditions, including the creation, often using the so-called Oxford "-er", of the nicknames of fellow commentators (for example, Jonathan Agnew is still known as "Aggers", Henry Blofeld as "Blowers", and the late Bill Frindall ("the Bearded Wonder") as "Bearders"). He once complained on air that he had missed his cake at tea during one match, and he was subsequently inundated with cakes from listeners. Even decades after Johnston's death, the TMS team has continued to receive cakes from listeners ever since.
Down Your Way
In 1972, he was asked to stand in as the host of the long-running Sunday evening radio programme
Thereafter the programme continued to be broadcast for a further five years, with a different celebrity host every week, before it was finally taken off the air in 1992.
Commentary humour
Johnston was renowned for his on-air schoolboy humour and puns. In one incident during a Test match at the Oval in August 1991, Jonathan Agnew suggested that when Ian Botham was out hit wicket, trying to hurdle the stumps, it was because he had failed to "get his leg over" (a British slang term meaning to have sex; Botham's sexual exploits had attracted national attention). Johnston carried on commentating and giggling for 30 seconds before dissolving into helpless laughter.[10][11]
Johnston's love for practical jokes was routinely evident. Due to the near-endless supply of cakes, his favourite one was to ask people questions on-air after they had taken a slab of cake into their mouth and before they could reply.[12]
In one broadcast, Johnston stated of South African cricketer Peter Pollock, who had broken his ankle: "He’s obviously in great pain. It’s especially bad luck as he is here on his honeymoon with his pretty young wife. Still, he’ll probably be all right tomorrow if he sticks it up tonight."[13][14][15] "Sticks it up" could be interpreted either as using crutches or as having sex.
Among his other gaffes were: "There's Neil Harvey standing at leg slip with his legs wide apart, waiting for a tickle", which he uttered when Harvey was representing Australia at the Headingley Test in 1961.[16]
Johnston is reputed to have said "The bowler's Holding; the batsman's Willey" while commentating, which supposedly occurred when
Apartheid in South Africa
During 1970 and 1983, Johnston said that he disapproved of the boycotts of South Africa by England cricket teams as he believed that sport and politics should not be mixed.[22] He had disagreements with John Arlott who backed the boycotts. Apartheid was ended shortly after Johnston's death.
Other TV and film work
Johnston variously presented and participated in a wide range of BBC radio and television programmes. These included the Royal Command Performance of The Good Life in 1978. Johnston was also one of the presenters of the Channel 4 magazine programme for the over sixties for several years Years Ahead along with Robert Dougall, Zena Skinner and Paul Lewis. He appeared as himself in the 1952 British film Derby Day. In 1989 he lent his famous voice in the tenth episode of Inspector Morse.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1982 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in London's Sloane Square.[citation needed]
One-man live performances
Johnston was a great fan of the British
Personal life
On 22 April 1948 Johnston married Pauline Tozer, sister of his former army colleague Gordon. They had five children:
Johnston was appointed OBE in 1983 and CBE in 1991.
Death
In the Autumn of 1993, Johnston undertook a series of UK theatre tours, entertaining live audiences as a
Brian Johnston died on 5 January 1994, at the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers in Marylebone, London, having been admitted the previous day.[24] The Daily Telegraph described him as "the greatest natural broadcaster of them all", and British Prime Minister and cricket fan John Major said that "Summers simply won't be the same without him". A memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey on 16 May 1994 with over 2,000 people present.
The Johnners Trust
As a memorial to Johnston, his family—together with some eminent members from cricket and broadcasting—established a trust fund to further causes close to Johnston's heart. The Johnners Trust (originally the Brian Johnston Memorial Trust) was established in 1995 to promote cricket in schools and youth clubs, to help young cricketers requiring financial support and to promote disabled cricket. The trust is now part of the Lord's Taverners. The Johnners Club was also established in his memory at the same time and currently has over 350 members, plus a further 100 regular supporters. The trust's income is boosted significantly from the proceeds of the annual Johnners Club Dinner in the Long Room at Lord's Cricket Ground, member subscriptions, and general donations.
Bibliography
- Autobiography: It's Been a Lot of Fun (published by WH Allen in 1974, with an updated version appearing in 1985)
- Autobiography: Someone who was: reflections on a life of happiness and fun (first published by Methuen in 1992 with reprints in the same year)[25]
- Let's Go Somewhere
- Stumped for a Tale
- The Wit of Cricket
- Armchair Cricket (co-authored with Roy Webber)[26]
- It's a Funny Game
- Rain Stops Play
- Brian Johnston's Guide to Cricket
- Chatterboxes
- Now Here's a Funny Thing
- It's Been a Piece of Cake
- The Tale of Billy Bouncer (with Tony Hart)
- Brian Johnston's Down Your Way
- Forty-Five Summers
- I Say, I Say, I Say
- Views from the Boundary (edited by Peter Baxter)
- More Views From the Boundary: Celebrity Interviews from the Commentary Box (edited by Peter Baxter)[27]
- Summers Will Never Be The Same: A Tribute to Brian Johnston (edited by Christopher Martin-Jenkins and Pat Gibson)[28]
References
- ISBN 0-340-82470-0.
- ISBN 0-7493-1099-5.
- ^ The Times (Monday, 4 September 1922), p. 5; (Wednesday, 30 August 1922), p. 15.
- ISBN 1448114071), p. 7
- ISBN 0-491-01471-6.
- ISBN 0-491-01471-6.
- ISBN 0-297-84127-0.
- ^ "No. 37442". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 January 1946. p. 638.
- ^ "Recommendation for Award for Johnston, Brian Alexander". Discovery. The National Archives. 24 January 1946. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ Listen to mp3 Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Jonathan Agnew (Aggers) & Brian Johnston - Test Match Special Legover outtake". YouTube.
- ^ "That Time a Joke Caused a 2 Mile Traffic Jam in England". Today I Found Out. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ^ Howard, Philip (7 January 1994). "The man who spoke cricket". The Times. No. 64846. Retrieved 5 April 2024 – via TheTimes Digital Archive.
- ^ "That Time a Joke Caused a 2 Mile Traffic Jam in England". Today I Found Out. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-910570-26-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-352-31493-1.
- ISBN 0-7493-0293-3.
- ISBN 0-246-13568-9.
- ^ "Brian Johnston | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo". content-uk.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ISBN 0-340-82471-9.
- ^ "Blofeld & Baxter "The bowler's Holding the batsman's Willey"". 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2015 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Brian Johnston | England Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ GRO Register of Deaths: JAN 1994 B29C 7 WESTMINSTER - Brian Alexander Johnston, DoB = 24 June 1912 aged 81
- ^ Taken from the book in question
- ^ First published BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) - No date given, but c. 1960 in small paperback
- ^ A Book published by Methuen in 1993 and reprinted several times and sub-titled of BBC Test Match Special
- ^ First published by Partridge Press (UK) and reprinted several times in 1994
- Heald, Tim (1995). Brian Johnston: The Authorised Biography, Methuen. ISBN 0-413-69320-1.