Murray Walker
Graeme Murray Walker, OBE (known as Murray Walker; born 10 October 1923,[1] Hall Green, Birmingham, England) is a Formula 1 (F1) motorsport commentator. He was educated at Highgate School and Sandhurst, and for most of his career he worked for the BBC, but when it lost the contract for F1 coverage to the company ITV, Walker continued his commentating there.
He is famous in the United Kingdom for his very distinctive enthusiastic commentary style. He regularly made comments (known to many as Walkerisms or Murrayisms) in the heat of the moment that, upon analysis a moment later, were ridiculous; for example, as a car arrived for a pit stop during a race he once said "...I'll stop the startwatch!". His voice seems to rise and fall in tone along with the revving of the car engines.
He was also an exponent of the commentator's curse, describing how well a driver was racing or that they would win the race, only to have them retire or crash out of the race shortly thereafter. This curse was at one stage so bad specific drivers approached him and asked him not to mention their names.[citation needed]
Career
Walker made his debut in 1949 alongside Max Robertson, although it wasn't until the late 1970s that each Formula 1 race was given extensive coverage on British television. He commentated on Formula 1 through to the 2001 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.
From 1980 to 1993, Walker struck up a surprisingly successful double act with recently retired driver James Hunt, a man whose interests, personality and private life appeared to have little in common with Walker's. However, the pair were to work together for more than a decade at the BBC until Hunt died from a heart attack. Walker would provide the animated descriptions of the action, with Hunt bringing in his expert knowledge in his co-commentary role. Walker remained with the BBC until ITV won the rights to coverage from the start of the 1997 season and he switched channels.
He also wrote a series of annuals for the Grand Prix season, Murray Walker's Grand Prix Year, for Hazelton Publishing from 1987 to 1997.
Walker spent most of his working life in advertising, only commentating full-time after he had passed retirement age. Despite what many people believe, he did not coin the iconic slogan "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play" although he did create other slogans well-known in the UK, such as "Trill makes budgies bounce with health" and (for Opal Fruits) "made to make your mouth water". Perhaps more generally known was his Pizza Hut television advertisement with British racing driver Damon Hill. Pizza Hut was advertising their new stuffed-crust pizza and Murray described Hill's eating as "He's spun his pizza around, he's spun out of control" and having finished eating his pizza before Damon, he announced "Damon Hill finishes second... again!". More recently he has provided a voice-over on an advert for the Beaulieu Motor Museum, and featured as the voice of one of W H Smith's Christmas 2007 adverts.
Walker's final Formula One commentary was the 2001 United States Grand Prix which was also the second F1 race held at Indianapolis, United States. Upon his retirement, Walker was awarded an original brick from "The Brickyard" (the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) by track president Tony George, an honour very rarely bestowed on anyone other than the winning driver of a major race at the venue.
In November 1997, Murray Walker was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters Degree from Bournemouth University.[2] He was later honoured, in July 2005, with an Honorary Doctorate from the Middlesex University, London.
In October 2005, it was announced that Walker would be returning to the microphone as the BBC's voice of the new Grand Prix Masters series.[3] After providing the commentary for the inaugural race in South Africa, in January 2006 BBC Radio Five Live announced that Walker would be part of their team for their coverage of subsequent races.
Years of exposure to loud engines and age-related hearing problems left Murray with hearing loss in both ears. In 2006 he became chief ambassador for David Ormerod Hearing Centres, the high street Audiology chain that fitted his hearing aids and in January 2007 he was an active name in Hearing Clearer Awareness Month which focussed on helping people understand the importance of getting their hearing tested frequently. Murray regularly writes a personal diary on the David Ormerod Hearing Centres website - www.davidormerod.co.uk.
In March 2006, the Honda Racing F1 Team, formerly British American Racing, announced that Walker would become its team ambassador for half of the 2006 season's 18 Grands Prix, starting with the San Marino Grand Prix in April.[4] Walker welcomed Honda Racing's VIP guests and entertained them with his unique brand of F1 commentary.
In March 2006 Walker returned to the microphone for the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar round in Adelaide and in April he commentated on the Australian Grand Prix for Australia's Formula One broadcaster Network Ten. He is also Sky Sports' commentator on their coverage of Grand Prix Masters.
In March 2007 Walker again returned to the microphone for the Clipsal 500 V8 Supercar round, and was awarded a Lifetime Infinite Pass to the event by organisers at a ceremony on pit straight, shortly before the main race. In March 2007 he was again part of Network Ten’s commentary team for the Australian Grand Prix.
In July 2007 Walker commentated on the European Grand Prix for BBC Radio 5 Live. This was a one-off in place of regular commentator David Croft, whose wife was expecting a baby.
References
- ^ Walker, Murray (2002). Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken. London: Harper Collins. ISBN 0007663730.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk
- ^ http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/27102005/13/gpm-murray-walker-returns.html
- ^ http://www.honda.com.au/lwp/wcm/connect/Honda.com.au/Home/News/Murray+Walker+Makes+F1+Comeback+with+Honda
- Murray Walker (2003). Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken. ISBN 0-007-12697-2.
See also
External links
