Johnners: The Life of Brian

by Barry Johnston (Author), Barry Johnston (Author), Unknown Unknown (Reader)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $3.25

  With his schoolboy humour and distinctive, cheerful voice, Johnners was a friend to millions of radio listeners and when he died in 1994 at the age of 81, the Daily Telegraph described him as the greatest natural broadcaster of them all . Born in 1912, Brian had an idyllic childhood in Hertfordshire until he was ten years old, when his father drowned on a seaside holiday. After going to Eton and Oxford he wanted to be an actor, but was persuaded to join the family coffee business in the City. When war broke out he served with the 2nd Battalion Grenadier Guards in Normandy and was awarded the Military Cross. After being demobbed Brian joined the BBC in January 1946. His remarkable broadcasting career spanned 48 years and made him a household name as a cricket commentator and on programmes such as In Town Tonight and Down Your Way. Barry Johnston has had exclusive access to his father's letters and has interviewed dozens of his friends and colleagues to offer the full story of the man behind the microphone. It includes his controversial sacking from television and his re-emergence as a much-loved figure on Test Match Special.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.25

  Born in 1912, Brian spent a luxurious childhood in a Queen Anne house in Hertfordshire. When he was just ten years old the family suffered the tragic death of his father and were forced to sell the family home. A few years later Brian was sent to Eton, which he always said were the happiest days of his life - and where he demonstrated an early flair for cricket. After leaving school he longed to join the theatre, but instead travelled to Hamburg and then Brazil to learn the family trade - the coffee business. His travels were cut short after eighteen months when he became gravely ill and he returned home.

  War broke out and Brian joined the 2nd Battallion Grenadier Guards serving in Normandy after D-Day, where he earned the Military Cross for 'untiring determination and cheerfulness under fire'. Six weeks after being demobbed he joined the BBC. He only planned to work there a few months; he ended up staying for 48 years, where his career ranged from performing in music halls, presenting children's television shows and, of course, presenting and commentating on television and radio, which quickly made him a household name. Told with candour and affection, THE LIFE OF BRIAN reveals the private side of a man who became a public institution.