Chris Howland
 Chris Howland in 2005 |
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| Born | John Christopher Howland July 30, 1928 London |
| Occupation | Radio- and TV presenter, actor, singer, author |
| Years active | 1948–present |
Chris Howland (born 30 July 1928 in London) is a British radio and TV presenter.[1] The utmost part of his career he worked in (Western) Germany, where he started a few years after World War II at BFBS. He became a popular disk jockey and presenter also at German networks. He also was a prolific Schlager-singer[2] and starred in films.[3]
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Youth in England[edit]
Chris Howland was born in London and brought up in Southern England and became a professional beekeeper.[4]
Radio career[edit]
In 1948 he started working for the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Germany.[5] The British programmes were an insider tip for German youths who would rather listen to British music than to the comparatively slow contemporary German pop music. So his popularity subsequently soon exceeded his actual target audience.[6] On the other hand Chris Howland also got acquainted with the German language. In 1952, when he already spoke German fluently, he was hired by a German broadcaster.[7] Because of him British music prevails on German radio up to now.[8] Still, when he debuted six years later as a singer[9] , he did it in German and had two hits. But in 1959 he stopped doing radio shows and returned to Britain.
TV career[edit]
On British TV Chris Howland had a show called Peoples and Places but he was not as popular as in Germany where the audiences loved his British accent.[10] So after two years he continued his career in Germany.[11] Here he got a show called Studio B .[12] which featured pop stars in a new way that included a lot of humour. The show was broadcasted more than sixty times. Chris Howland's next coup was a version of Candid Camera for German TV.[13]
Cinema career[edit]
Since 1954 Chris Howland has acted in more than twenty films, including six European Karl May films. In 2007 he appeared in a parody on German Edgar Wallace feature films.[14] He acted mainly in comedies which were carried out in a style quite alike the British Carry On films.
Accent as trademark[edit]
Like the Dutch TV presenter, singer and actor Rudi Carrell and the American musician, actor and journalist Bill Ramsey (who also appeared as guest in Howland's show "Studio B"[15]) he made his accent his trademark.[16]
Recent activities[edit]
Currently Chris Howland lives outside Cologne and works again as a radio presenter[17] and appears occasionally as an actor or talker on TV. In 2009 he has published his memoirs Yes, Sir.[18] The book was well received.[19]
References[edit]
- ^ "Biography on his own homepage".
- ^ Chris Howland discography at Discogs
- ^ Chris Howland at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ "One of many biographies on the internet".
- ^ "Working for BFBS while it was still called BFN".
- ^ "German TV about his career and his memoirs".
- ^ "Interview with Chris Howland".
- ^ "Description of Howland's career on www.ukgameshows.com".
- ^ "Chris Howland song on YouTube".
- ^ "Famous British accent".
- ^ "Howland's time as TV presenter in the UK".
- ^ "Studio B on IMDb".
- ^ "Joke with hidden cam".
- ^ "Nostalgic hommage to a classic feature film series".
- ^ "American guests in "Studio B"".
- ^ "Howland on ZDF's homepage".
- ^ Official page of his current radio show "Official homepage of his current radio show".
- ^ "Description of his memoirs on his homepage".
- ^ "Die Welt about his career and his memoirs".
