Post by ۞Quaalude™۞ on Sept 4, 2013 16:32:35 GMT -5
He began his career at the cutting edge of television satire and went on to interview some of the most famous people of his generation, becoming friends with many of them on the way.
He developed the confrontational style dubbed "trial by television" although, in later years, his interviews lost something of their cutting edge.
David Paradine Frost was born in Tenterden in Kent on 7 April 1939, the son of a Methodist minister.
The young David did set out on a course of training to become a local preacher before abandoning the idea.
He also turned down the offer of professional terms with Nottingham Forest and went to Cambridge University where he read English and edited the university magazine, Granta. More importantly he became secretary of the Footlights Dramatic Club where he met future comedy stars such as Eleanor Bron, Peter Cook, John Bird and Graham Chapman.
During his time as an undergraduate, he also made a few appearances on regional television, and later noted: "The first time I stepped into a television studio it felt like home.
"It didn't scare me. Talking to the camera seemed the most natural thing in the world".
That Was The Week That Was
After leaving Cambridge he worked as a trainee for the London ITV franchisee Associated Rediffusion before moving to a job at another ITV company, Anglia Television.
In 1962, the writer and producer Ned Sherrin approached Frost to host a new satirical television programme being planned by the BBC, That Was The Week That Was.
TW3, as it became known, gleefully lampooned the British establishment and tapped into the changing perception the public had of politicians in the wake of the Profumo scandal. The programme struck a chord with a nation that had, until then, been naturally deferential towards its leaders.
No target was safe, with politicians, business leaders and religion being just some of the subjects that came under the TW3 microscope.
Frost's sardonic presentational style was coupled with an acerbic script from a team of writers which included John Bird, Peter Cook, John Cleese, Keith Waterhouse and Dennis Potter.
TW3 also broke all the technical rules of television. Cameras and other equipment appeared in shot and the programme, broadcast live on a Saturday night, would often over- or under-run depending on how much material was available on the night.
Politicians regularly complained to BBC management that they were being ridiculed by David Frost and his team. But the programme gained a massive following and soon achieved cult status.
Trial by television
The BBC finally dropped the programme in 1964 over concern that it would unduly influence voters in that year's general election.
Frost was back a year later fronting another Sherrin production, Not So Much A Programme, More A Way Of Life. The show was not as successful as TW3 and was dropped after just one series.
Sherrin later noted that "David always learns from his mistakes without ever actually admitting that he's made any".
Frost said the observation was "amazingly true, actually... because I do analyse what I do and try and improve it, and I don't share that with anybody."
His next series, The Frost Report, brought together John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, notably in the famous class sketch, ran for 29 episodes and featured scripts written by some of the best comedy writers of their generation.
It inarguably set the tone of British comedy for the next decade, launching the careers of the The Two Ronnies, The Monty Python team and The Goodies. he will be missed
QC
He developed the confrontational style dubbed "trial by television" although, in later years, his interviews lost something of their cutting edge.
David Paradine Frost was born in Tenterden in Kent on 7 April 1939, the son of a Methodist minister.
The young David did set out on a course of training to become a local preacher before abandoning the idea.
He also turned down the offer of professional terms with Nottingham Forest and went to Cambridge University where he read English and edited the university magazine, Granta. More importantly he became secretary of the Footlights Dramatic Club where he met future comedy stars such as Eleanor Bron, Peter Cook, John Bird and Graham Chapman.
During his time as an undergraduate, he also made a few appearances on regional television, and later noted: "The first time I stepped into a television studio it felt like home.
"It didn't scare me. Talking to the camera seemed the most natural thing in the world".
That Was The Week That Was
After leaving Cambridge he worked as a trainee for the London ITV franchisee Associated Rediffusion before moving to a job at another ITV company, Anglia Television.
In 1962, the writer and producer Ned Sherrin approached Frost to host a new satirical television programme being planned by the BBC, That Was The Week That Was.
TW3, as it became known, gleefully lampooned the British establishment and tapped into the changing perception the public had of politicians in the wake of the Profumo scandal. The programme struck a chord with a nation that had, until then, been naturally deferential towards its leaders.
No target was safe, with politicians, business leaders and religion being just some of the subjects that came under the TW3 microscope.
Frost's sardonic presentational style was coupled with an acerbic script from a team of writers which included John Bird, Peter Cook, John Cleese, Keith Waterhouse and Dennis Potter.
TW3 also broke all the technical rules of television. Cameras and other equipment appeared in shot and the programme, broadcast live on a Saturday night, would often over- or under-run depending on how much material was available on the night.
Politicians regularly complained to BBC management that they were being ridiculed by David Frost and his team. But the programme gained a massive following and soon achieved cult status.
Trial by television
The BBC finally dropped the programme in 1964 over concern that it would unduly influence voters in that year's general election.
Frost was back a year later fronting another Sherrin production, Not So Much A Programme, More A Way Of Life. The show was not as successful as TW3 and was dropped after just one series.
Sherrin later noted that "David always learns from his mistakes without ever actually admitting that he's made any".
Frost said the observation was "amazingly true, actually... because I do analyse what I do and try and improve it, and I don't share that with anybody."
His next series, The Frost Report, brought together John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, notably in the famous class sketch, ran for 29 episodes and featured scripts written by some of the best comedy writers of their generation.
It inarguably set the tone of British comedy for the next decade, launching the careers of the The Two Ronnies, The Monty Python team and The Goodies. he will be missed
QC
QC
QC
QC