McDonald Hobley
Dennys Jack Valentine McDonald-Hobley (9 June 1917,[1] Stanley, Falkland Islands – 30 July 1987) was one of the earliest BBC Television continuity announcers, appearing on screen from 1946 to 1956.[2]
Childhood and early career
Hobley (pronounced to rhyme with 'nobly') was the son of Charles McDonald Hobley, the naval chaplain at the cathedral in Stanley, Falkland Islands,[3] and his wife Gladys, née Blanchard. He was christened Dennys Jack Valentine McDonald-Hobley and attended Brighton College, England, a public school, from 1931 to 1936.[4] He began his acting career in repertory theatre, under the stage names Val Blanchard and Robert Blanchard, using his mother's maiden name, and toured before the Second World War in J. B. Priestley's Time and the Conways.[citation needed]
War service
During the Second World War, Hobley served with the Royal Artillery. He was involved in an ultimately abandoned plot to abduct Adolf Hitler and bring him to Britain. He also served in Ceylon with the British Forces Broadcasting Service.[citation needed]
Post-war
After being
He was also one of the comperes on the BBC's
He left the BBC in 1956 to join
He played himself as a beauty pageant judge in the 1960 film The Entertainer based on the play by John Osborne starring Laurence Olivier.[citation needed]
Hobley appeared in London's
References
- ^ "Dictionary of Falklands Biography". falklandsbiographies.org. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Whirligig TV history". Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ "JSFnetUK guide to It's A Knockout and Jeux Sans Frontières". Archived from the original on 5 August 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ "Old Brightonians website". Archived from the original on 7 June 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
- ^ "Swalwell village memories, TV page H". Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ^ "Pictures of Hobley at the TV announcers website". Retrieved 25 January 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Michael Farrell, Key Issues for Primary Schools, Routledge, London, 2003, p. 70.
- ^ "McDonald Hobley, TV star of the old school". The Guardian. Ancestry.com#Newspapers.com. 1 August 1987.
External links
- McDonald Hobley at IMDb