Nicholas Parsons

Christopher Nicholas Parsons[2] was born at 1 Castlegate, Grantham, Lincolnshire; he was the middle child of the family, having an older brother and a younger sister. His father, Paul, was a general practitioner whose patients included the family of Margaret Thatcher; claims that he delivered her are apocryphal.[3] His mother, Nell, née Maggs, was a nurse before her marriage.[4]

Parsons was born left-handed but was made to write with his right hand. As a child, he had a stutter, which he managed to control as he grew older, and was slow to learn owing to dyslexia.[5] He also suffered from migraines but nevertheless excelled at school.[6]

After education at Colet Court and St Paul's School in London, Parsons' initial career plan was to become an actor. However, his parents believed that a career in engineering would be better, as he had repaired grandfather clocks as a young man and was creative with his hands.[6] While at school, he was best friends with John Treacher who was to become Commander-in-Chief Fleet. At school, Parsons' nickname was "Shirley" after the then-burgeoning American talent, Shirley Temple.[7]

After he had left school, his family contacted relatives in Scotland, who arranged a job for him in Clydebank near Glasgow, where he spent five years employed as an engineering apprentice at Drysdales, a maker of marine pumps.[8] While there, he also spent two six-month periods studying engineering at the University of Glasgow.[9] He never graduated, but finished his apprenticeship and gained sufficient qualifications to become a mechanical engineer. He was offered a posting in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, but he did not join the service after falling seriously ill with pleurisy. He spent five months in hospital and at one point his survival chances were rated only 50-50.[4][10]

Parsons started his career while training as an engineering apprentice; he was discovered by Canadian impresario Carroll Levis, and appeared in his radio show.[11]

In the late 1950s he was the compere at a hair design show at the Mayfair Hotel London presenting the latest styles by Riche of Hay Hill. It was “Viking” themed linked to a film at the time with the star Kirk Douglas in attendance at the event.

From 1988 to 1991, Parsons served as Rector of the University of St Andrews. In 2005, he became for a short period honorary Chairman of the International Quizzing Association (IQA), a body that organises the World and European Quizzing Championships. He was a leading member of the Grand Order of Water Rats charity and was King Rat in 2019.[38][39] He was also a patron of the British Stammering Association[16] and was the president of the charity the Lord's Taverners from 1998 to 1999, a charity that he joined in 1964 and remained a member of till death.[40] [41]He was an Ambassador for Childline and The Silver Line.[42]

Parsons was a supporter of the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats.[43] He was invited to stand as a Liberal Party candidate for Yeovil in the 1970s, but he turned down the opportunity in order to remain in the entertainment industry.[16] On 17 October 2013, a week after his 90th birthday, he appeared as a guest on the BBC One political discussion show This Week.[44]

Parsons was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to drama and broadcasting.[45][46] He was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for charitable services, especially to children's charities.[47][48]

Having served as rector of the University of St Andrews from 1988 to 1991, he was awarded an honorary LLD by the university in 1991.[49][50] He was also awarded an honorary LLD by the University of Leicester in 2016, and an honorary D.Litt by the University of Lincoln in 2014.[51]

He held the Guinness World Record for the longest after-dinner speech (11 hours) until it was reclaimed by former holder Gyles Brandreth.[52]

Parsons was married twice. He was first married to actress Denise Bryer in 1954; together they had two children.[16] The couple divorced in 1989.[16] He subsequently married Ann Reynolds in 1995.[10] He was a keen cricket fan, both as a player and supporter,[53] and had a lifelong enthusiasm for clocks.[36]

In August 2019 Parsons suffered a fall, on a train to Edinburgh, while travelling to perform his show The Happy Hour at the Edinburgh Fringe. On admission to hospital a few days later, he was found to have a stomach ulcer and anaemia, and remained hospitalised in Edinburgh for 10 days, before being moved to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, near his home in Aylesbury. After two more weeks in hospital, he returned home and began a slow recuperation.[54]

Parsons died aged 96 in Aylesbury on 28 January 2020, after a short illness.[55][25]

• The Straight Man: My Life in Comedy, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994. ISBN 978-0297812395
• Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation: My Life in Comedy, Mainstream Publishing, 2011. ISBN 978-1845967123
• Welcome to Just a Minute!: A Celebration of Britain's Best-Loved Radio Comedy, Canongate Books, 2014. ISBN 978-1782112471

Citations

Sources

• Official website
• Nicholas Parsons at the British Film Institute
• Nicholas Parsons at IMDb
• Nicholas Parsons discography at Discogs
• Talking about Just a Minute (RealPlayer video)
• Nicholas Parsons recalls his appearance on This Is Your Life
• Nicholas Parsons at British Comedy Guide