David Jacobs (broadcaster)
David Jacobs CBE | |
---|---|
Born | David Lewis Jacobs 19 May 1926[1] Streatham Hill, London, England |
Died | 2 September 2013[1] Sussex, England | (aged 87)
Occupation | Broadcaster |
Years active | 1944–2013 |
Spouses | Patricia Bradlaw
(m. 1949; div. 1972)Caroline Munro
(m. 1975, died 1975)Lindsay Stuart-Hutcheson
(m. 1979) |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | David Jacobs. Sr (father) Jeanette Jacobs (mother) |
David Lewis Jacobs,
Early life and career
Jacobs was born to a Jewish family, the youngest of three sons
A BBC staff announcer in the early 1950s, his voice intoned the title for many of the 53 episodes of the space adventure series
Jacobs presented Juke Box Jury on BBC television between 1959 and 1967. This was a weekly show in which a guest panel reviewed newly released pop records and forecast whether each would become a "hit" or a "miss". By 1962 the programme attracted 12 million viewers weekly on Saturday nights.[7] He was one of the four original presenters of Top of the Pops when it began in 1964, but remained a presenter of the programme for only its first two years.[1] "I became too square for the pop scene", he once commented.[1]
In 1963 he published an autobiography, Jacobs' Ladder.
From the late 1960s to 1984
Most of Jacobs's career after the late 1960s was at
Jacobs appeared as himself in the 1974 film Stardust, compèring a 1960s award ceremony. He also appeared as himself in an episode of the BBC sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em alongside Michael Crawford, presenting a fictional home-improvement show.
In 1984, he received the
Later career
Between January 1985 and December 1991, Jacobs presented a daily lunchtime programme on Radio 2 of what he characterised as "our kind of music", much of it popular tunes from musical theatre. Jacobs subsequently presented a weekly programme following a similar format, for a time on Saturday evening and later on Fridays, although the show finished airing in early 1999. He also presented Radio 2's long-running Sunday programme Melodies for You from 1974 to 1984.
By now one of the station's oldest presenters, he hosted a Sunday late-night
On television, Jacobs was a regular Dictionary Corner guest on Channel 4's popular quiz show Countdown between 1993 and 2001, making 62 guest appearances in all on the programme.
In a revival of the 1950s show Journey into Space, he played the lead role of Jet Morgan in Frozen in Time on BBC Radio 4 on 12 April 2008,[10] and he played The Host in The Host on BBC Radio 4 on 27 June 2009.
DJs Stuart Maconie and Mark Radcliffe recruited Jacobs in 2008 to introduce album tracks from Cream on their weekday evening Radio 2 show under the rubric "Jacobs's Cream Crackers", an allusion to a brand of biscuit. In 2010, he provided soundbites for Chris Evans's breakfast show, and chose a record each Thursday. This followed the success of his choice of Maurice Chevalier's I'm Gonna Shine Today as a song to play on the programme.
During the first half of 2012, while Jacobs was recovering from two major operations, he continued to be heard each Sunday on BBC Radio 2, which broadcast repeats of The David Jacobs Collection and Frank Sinatra: Voice of the Century, presented by Jacobs in 1998. He returned to his regular Sunday night slot with The David Jacobs Collection on 8 July 2012.
On 22 July 2013 Jacobs announced that he was stepping down as presenter of his Radio 2 show, citing ill health. His last show was broadcast on 4 August 2013. He said, "I will not stop collecting but my sadness will be that I cannot share them with all my loyal listeners. But rest assured, I will be back from time to time." He was replaced in this slot by Don Black.[11]
He had been involved since its inception in Kingston's
Personal life
In 1949 Jacobs married Patricia Bradlaw, with whom he had three daughters and a son, but their marriage collapsed in 1969,[4] and the couple finally divorced in 1972.[2] Their actress daughter Emma Jacobs featured in The Stud (1978), a film in which she played Alex Khaled, daughter of Fontaine Khaled (Joan Collins). Jacobs' marriage to Lindsay Stuart-Hutcheson lasted from 1979 until his death in 2013.[4]
His life was marred by several tragic events. Jeremy, his 19-year-old son, was killed in Israel in 1972 in a car accident while engaged in charity work. In 1975, Jacobs survived a car accident in Spain in which his pregnant second wife, Caroline (née Munro), whom he had married earlier that year, and Caroline Marsh, wife of politician Richard Marsh, were killed.[2] With journalist Sue Freeman, he co-wrote a memoir of her, Caroline (1978).
Death
Jacobs died at home at the age of 87 on 2 September 2013, surrounded by his family.[1] He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease and had also been treated for liver cancer since at least 2011.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Broadcaster David Jacobs dies at 87". BBC News. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- ^ a b c d Obituary: David Jacobs, telegraph.co.uk, 3 September 2013
- ^ a b Dennis Barker Obituary: David Jacobs, The Guardian, 3 September 2013
- ^ a b c Spencer Leigh "Obituary: David Jacobs, much-loved broadcaster whose BBC career lasted more than 60 years", The Independent, 3 September 2013
- ISBN 0-246-13648-0
- ^ "The Eurovision Song Contest (1963) (TV)". IMDB. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
- ISBN 0-7190-4029-9, pp.204–5
- ^ "David Jacobs". Radiocafe Limited. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Royal Borough of Kingston Governance". Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-4084-0104-0
- ^ "David Jacobs steps down from Radio 2". BBC News. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Rose Theatre official website". Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2008.
- ^ "Advance Centre Blog". advancecentres.blogspot.com. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- ^ "Disabled Photographers' Society". disabledPhotographers.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- Freedland, Michael, "Why David Jacobs will be so sorely missed", The Jewish Chronicle, 25 July 2013
- ^ "Radio 2's David Jacobs steps down from show over health fears". The Telegraph. 22 July 2013.