Bill Oddie on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio
The Goodies
The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940–12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comed ...
.
A
birder
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...
since his childhood in
Quinton, Birmingham,
Oddie has established a reputation as a naturalist, conservationist, and television presenter on
wildlife
Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...
issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings. His wildlife programmes for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
include ''
Springwatch
''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The p ...
'' and ''Autumnwatch'', ''
How to Watch Wildlife'', ''Wild in Your Garden'', ''
Birding with Bill Oddie'', ''
Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie
''Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie'' is a live BBC TV show, broadcast nightly, Monday – Thursday, from 31 May 2004 to 17 June 2004.
Following on from the previous year's '' Wild in Your Garden'', presenters Bill Oddie, Kate Humble and Simon ...
'' and ''
Bill Oddie Goes Wild
''Bill Oddie Goes Wild'' is a British television series about natural history, presented by Bill Oddie. Three series were made.
Series 1
A six-part series on Fridays showing on BBC Two at 7:30 pm from 5 January 2001. Oddie visited six l ...
''.
Early life
Oddie was born in
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
, Lancashire, but moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
at a young age; his father was assistant chief accountant at the Midlands Electricity Board. His mother was diagnosed with
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
and, during most of his youth, lived in a hospital. He was educated at Lapal Primary School, Halesowen Grammar School (now
The Earls High School,
Halesowen
Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England.
Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from ...
) and
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...
, an all-boys
direct grant school
A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...
, where he captained the school's
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team. He then studied
English literature
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
at
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
.
Career
Comedy
While at Cambridge University Oddie appeared in several
Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University.
History
Footlights' inaugural ...
Club productions. One of these, a
revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...
called ''A Clump of Plinths'', was so successful at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
that it was renamed ''
Cambridge Circus'' and transferred to the West End in London, then New Zealand and
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in September 1964. Meanwhile, still at Cambridge, Oddie wrote scripts for and appeared briefly in TV's ''
That Was the Week That Was
''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pre ...
''.
He appeared in
Bernard Braden
Bernard Chastey Braden (16 May 1916 – 2 February 1993) was a Canadian-born British actor and comedian, who is best known for his appearances in UK television and radio shows.
Life
Braden was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and educated ...
's television series ''On The Braden Beat'' in 1964. Subsequently he was a key member of the performers in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
radio series ''