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Keith Fordyce

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Keith Fordyce Marriott (15 October 1928 – 15 March 2011) was an English disc jockey and presenter on British radio and television. He is most famous as the first presenter of ITV's Ready Steady Go! in 1963, but was a stalwart of both BBC Radio and Radio Luxembourg for many years.

Keith Fordyce
Fordyce presenting a show for BBC Radio Devon
Fordyce presenting a show for BBC Radio Devon
BornKeith Fordyce Marriott
(1928-10-15)15 October 1928
Lincoln, England
Died15 March 2011(2011-03-15) (aged 82)
Devon, England
OccupationDisc jockey, television presenter
Spouse
Anne Mercer
​
(m. 1954)​
Children4

Early life

Fordyce was born on 15 October 1928 in the Lincoln district of St. Giles, the son of customs and excise officer Frank Joseph Marriott and his wife, Catherine Mary (née Armstrong).[1][2] He attended Lincoln School (today the Lincoln Christ's Hospital School) from 1937 to 1947,[2] and won the 1946 Lincolnshire Junior Lawn Tennis Championship.[1][3] Fordyce only competed in the competition once before he was ruled ineligible when he turned 18.[2]

Upon leaving school,[4] he joined the Air Training Corps when he was 15 and did his national service with the Volunteer Reserves with the Royal Air Force in Germany for two years.[2][3] Fordyce conducted sports commentary, disc jockeying, producing and presenting on the British Forces Network (now BFBS) in Hamburg.[4][5][6]

After completing his national service, he read law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1949 to 1952,[5][7] graduating with a master's degree.[2] Fordyce served as the president of the Cambridge University Law Society from 1951 to 1952,[5] and founded and edited Light Blue, the university's sport magazine.[1] After that, he worked as a personal management trainee at Sainsbury's while endeavouring to get a job in radio.[2][6] Fordyce also worked as a hedgecutter and a postman.[8]

Career

From 1952 to 1955, Fordyce worked as a freelancer,[5] doing work for the BBC and ITV.[9] In November 1952, he made his first television broadcast commentating on a football match between Leyton Orient F.C. and Hereford F.C. for BBC Television.[10] Fordyce became the youngest compere of the BBC Light Programme morning flagship programme Housewives' Choice for a week in August 1955.[4][10][11] The same year saw him successfully contest a municipal election and he served as a Conservative Party councillor on Wimbledon Borough Council.[7][10]

Fordyce joined Radio Luxembourg as a staff announcer in 1955 and remained at the broadcaster for three years. He was the presenter of the station's weekly Top Twenty programme.[10] Fordyce introduced the Power Play format to the United Kingdom in which he selected a new release that was featured for a whole week.[6] He returned to England in 1958.[2] Fordyce was a member of the panel of the ABC television game show For Love or Money in 1959.[6][12] He was the compere of the short-lived ITV programme Wham! in 1960,[10] and was selected to be the first presenter of the ITV television pop music programme Thank Your Lucky Stars in 1961.[6][7][11] Fordyce made a cameo appearance as himself in the 1961 comedy film Dentist on the Job.[1][6]

He later worked for the BBC Light Programme in the 1960s, with such programmes as the lunchtime Pop In show.[13] On 9 August 1963 he presented the first edition of Ready Steady Go! on Associated Rediffusion television, being joined subsequently in 1964 by Cathy McGowan[14] and Michael Aldred. McGowan took over the show when Fordyce left in 1965. In 1967 he provided the commentary for the BBC's first colour test transmission on BBC2, the first men's singles final of the Open era at Wimbledon.[15][16] He presented a game show for Westward Television called Treasure Hunt (not to be confused with the later Channel 4 programme of the same name). In the early 1980s, he rejoined Radio Luxembourg in the Grand Duchy after Barry Alldis' death, working in the Villa Louvigny again for six months, and regularly attracting audiences of 250,000 or more for his programmes.

On 12 February 1983 he was the first presenter of BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 60s. He also hosted Radio 2's Beat The Record for many years. He later hosted a record programme on west of England local radio.[13] Prior to his retirement Fordyce worked for the BBC Regional service in Devon, based at the Radio Devon studios, doing regular weekend shows, and started broadcasting on the golden oldie radio station Brunel Classic Gold in Bristol in January 1994.[17]

Personal life

Fordyce married Anne Mercer in 1954. They had four daughters. Fordyce founded the Torbay Aircraft Museum in the 1970s.[11] He supported the Liberal Party and spoke in support of David Penhaligon at a 1970s election meeting in Truro. He died on 15 March 2011 aged 82 after suffering from pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease.[10][18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Leigh, Spencer (8 January 2015). "Fordyce, Keith [real name Keith Fordyce Marriott]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/103613. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g R. Ketteringham, John (2002). "Fordyce, Keith (1928-) Broadcaster". Lincolnshire Natives and Others. Vol. III. Lincolnshire, England: John R. Ketteringham. pp. 52–54. ISBN 0-9512738-7-6 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b "Keith Hits The High Spots". Lincolnshire Echo. 16 August 1962. p. 6. Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Local Choice". Lincolnshire Echo. 16 August 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d Kay, Ernest; Doran, Joan, eds. (1982). Who's Who in the Commonwealth (Second ed.). Cambridge, England: International Biographical Centre. p. 180. ISBN 0-900332-70-0 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Hayward, Anthony (1 April 2011). "Keith Fordyce obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  7. ^ a b c "Keith Fordyce". The Times. 1 April 2011. p. 76. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  8. ^ "Disc jockey gets a law degree". Birmingham Evening Mail. 20 March 1956. p. 1. Retrieved 15 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Curthoys, Alan; Struthers, John; Doyle, John, eds. (1982). Who's Who on Television - A fully illustrated to 1000 best known faces on British Television. London, England: Independent Television Books. p. 83. ISBN 0-900727-96-9 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Leigh, Spencer (29 March 2011). "Keith Fordyce: Unflappable host of 'Ready Steady Go!'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  11. ^ a b c "Keith Fordyce". The Daily Telegraph. 1 April 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Changes in 'Love or Money' Quiz". Birmingham Evening Mail. 18 July 1959. p. 3. Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "Keith Fordyce". UKGameshows.
  14. ^ "TOTP joins the music TV graveyard". BBC News. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  15. ^ Supplementary obituary note, The Times, 2 April 2011
  16. ^ "From the Observer archive, 25 June 1967: Wimbledon's Watchmen". The Guardian (Observer). 24 June 2012.
  17. ^ Davey, Tim (24 January 1994). "Ready Steady Gold". Bristol Evening Post. p. 31. Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Ready Steady Go! presenter Keith Fordyce dies". Daily Mirror. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
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