Bob Friend (newscaster)
| Bob Friend MBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Friend 20 January 1938 |
| Died | 8 October 2008 (aged 70) |
| Occupation | Journalist, British Army Officer, Presenter, Newsreader |
| Ethnicity | British |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC Radio 4's Today programme First permanent BBC Australia correspondent[1] BBC Breakfast Sky News |
Bob Friend, MBE (20 January 1938 – 8 October 2008) was one of the original news anchors for the Sky News channel from its launch in 1989 until his retirement in late 2003.[1]
Friend started his career in 1953 aged 15 as a cub reporter on the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser,[2] reporting on the Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation.[3] After he undertook National Service as a corporal clerk with the Brigade of Gurkhas in Hong Kong,[1] Friend served a ten year freelance career in various British newspapers before starting his broadcast career with the BBC in 1969.[1]
Starting out as the Northern Ireland correspondent of the Radio 4's Today programme,[1] Friend served four years in Northern Ireland witnessing sectarian violence at the start of The Troubles. After a short stint in Vietnam he got his first official overseas TV posting as the BBC's first Australia correspondent in 1973, five years as the BBC's Tokyo correspondent,[2] and finally New York city as BBC Breakfast correspondent where the current Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson was his producer.[1][3]
After 20 years with the BBC, Friend returned to the United Kingdom to work on the start-up Sky News. Friend's first appearance on Sky News was on 23 October 1989 alongside Vivien Creegor, but his best known on-screen partner was Anna Botting, and they became one of channel's most popular news duos.
Friend became the best recognised face of Sky News, and as a result of being spotted by Tom Cruise while he watched Sky News on a short visit to London,[1] Friend had cameos in a number of News Corporation owned Twentieth Century Fox's 1990s films, including Independence Day and Mission Impossible.[4]
In June 2003 he was awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting in the Queen's Birthday Honours List,[2][3] shortly before his retirement presenting alongside Creegor on 23 October,[3] exactly 14 years after his first appearance.
Friend was a guest presenter on LBC News 1152 during the 2005 United Kingdom general election.
Chairman and CEO of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch paid personal tribute to Friend:[1]
| “ | Bob was a distinguished journalist and an admired broadcaster. He was quick to understand the power of non-stop programming. He was there at the beginning of that long, hard road we all had to travel to make Sky News what it is today | ” |
Friend was married with two daughters.[1] He died on 8 October 2008 from a brain tumour.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Botting, Anna (2008-10-08). "Sky News Loses Its Best Friend". Sky News. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Bob-Friend-Former-Sky-News-Presenter-Dies-Aged-70-After-Suffering-From-Cancer/Article/200810115115343?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15115343_Bob_Friend_Former_Sky_News_Presenter_Dies_Aged_70_After_Suffering_From_Cancer. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ a b c "Former Sky news broadcaster dies". BBC News. 2008-10-08. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7659968.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ a b c d "Tributes paid to journalist Bob Friend, 'the face of Sky News', after he dies from a brain tumour". Daily Mail. 2008-10-08. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1074092/Tributes-paid-journalist-Bob-Friend-face-Sky-News-dies-brain-tumour.html. Retrieved 2008-10-08.
- ^ Bob Friend at the Internet Movie Database
[edit] External links
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