Life and family
Attenborough was born on 8 May 1926 in Isleworth,Career
Early years at the BBC
After leaving the Navy, Attenborough took a position editing children's science textbooks for a publishing company. He soon became disillusioned with the work and in 1950 applied for a job as a radio talk producer with theBBC administration
Attenborough became Controller of BBC 2 in March 1965, succeeding Michael Peacock. He had a clause inserted in his contract that would allow him to continue making programmes on an occasional basis. Later the same year he filmed elephants in Tanzania, and in 1969 he made a three-part series on the cultural history of the Indonesian island of Bali. For the 1971 film ''''Life'' series
Beginning with ''Beyond ''Life on Earth''
Alongside the "Life" series, Attenborough continued to work on other television documentaries, mainly in the natural history genre. He wrote and presented a series on man's influence on the natural history of the Mediterranean Basin, '' The First Eden'', in 1987. Two years later, he demonstrated his passion for fossils in '' Lost Worlds, Vanished Lives''. In 1990, he worked on the BBC's ''Prisoners of Conscience'' series where he highlighted the case ofEnvironmentalist advocacy
By the turn of the millennium, Attenborough's authored documentaries were adopting a more overtlyViews and advocacy
Environment
Attenborough's programmes have often included references to the impact of human society on the natural world. The last episode of ''The Living Planet'', for example, focuses almost entirely on humans' destruction of the environment and ways that it could be stopped or reversed. Despite this, he has been criticised for not giving enough prominence to environmental messages. In 2018 while promoting ''Dynasties'', he said that repeated messages on threats to wildlife in programming could be a "turn-off" to viewers. Some environmentalists feel that programmes like Attenborough's give a false picture of idyllic wilderness and do not do enough to acknowledge that such areas are increasingly encroached upon by humans. However, the increased urgency of environmental messaging in films such as '' Extinction: The Facts'', which depicts the continuingHuman population
Attenborough has linked anthropogenic effects on the environment with human population growth. He has attracted criticism for his views on human overpopulation and Human population planning, human population control. He is a patron of Population Matters, a UK charity advocating for family planning, sustainable consumption and proposed Sustainable population, sustainable human population. In a 2013 interview with the ''Radio Times'', Attenborough described humans as a "plague on the Earth", and described the act of Aid, sending food to famine-stricken countries as "barmy" for population reasons. He called for more debate about human population growth, saying that since he "first started making programmes 60 years ago, the human population has tripled." According to Attenborough, improving women's rights around the world is an effective way "to limit our birth rate." He said that "anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth in a finite environment is either a madman or an economist."Religious views
Attenborough considers himself an agnostic. When asked whether his observation of the natural world has given him faith in a creator, he generally responds with some version of this story, making reference to the ''Onchocerca volvulus'' parasitic worm:My response is that when Creationists talk about God creating every individual species as a separate act, they always instance hummingbirds, or orchids, sunflowers and beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, [a worm] that's going to make him blind. And [I ask them], 'Are you telling me that the God you believe in, who you also say is an all-merciful God, who cares for each one of us individually, are you saying that God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child's eyeball? Because that doesn't seem to me to coincide with a God who's full of mercy'.He has explained that he feels the evidence all over the planet clearly shows evolution to be the best way to explain the diversity of life, and that "as far as [he's] concerned, if there is a supreme being then he chose organic evolution as a way of bringing into existence the natural world". In a BBC Four interview with Mark Lawson, he was asked if he at any time had any religious faith. He replied simply, "no". He said "It never really occurred to me to believe in God". In 2002, Attenborough joined an effort by leading Clergy, clerics and scientists to oppose the inclusion of creationism in the curriculum of UK state-funded independent schools which receive private sponsorship, such as the Emmanuel Schools Foundation. In 2009, he stated that the Book of Genesis, by saying that the world was there for people to control, had taught generations that they can "dominate" the environment, and that this has resulted in the devastation of vast areas of the environment. He further explained to the science journal ''Nature (journal), Nature'', "That's why Darwinism, and the fact of evolution, is of great importance, because it is that attitude which has led to the devastation of so much, and we are in the situation that we are in". Also in early 2009, the BBC broadcast an Attenborough one-hour special, ''Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life''. In reference to the programme, Attenborough stated that "People write to me that evolution is only a theory. Well, it is not a theory. Evolution is as solid a historical fact as you could conceive. Evidence from every quarter. What is a theory is whether natural selection is the mechanism and the only mechanism. That is a theory. But the historical reality that dinosaurs led to birds and mammals produced whales, that's not theory." He strongly opposes creationism and its offshoot "intelligent design", saying that the results of a survey that found a quarter of science teachers in state schools believe that creationism should be taught alongside evolution in science lessons was "really terrible". In March 2009, Attenborough appeared on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''. Attenborough stated that he felt evolution did not rule out the existence of a God and accepted the title of agnostic saying, "My view is: I don't know one way or the other but I don't think that evolution is against a belief in God". Attenborough has joined the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and other top scientists in signing a campaign statement co-ordinated by the British Humanist Association (BHA). The statement calls for "creationism to be banned from the school science curriculum and for evolution to be taught more widely in schools".
BBC and public service broadcasting
Attenborough is a lifelong supporter of the BBC, public service broadcasting and the television licence. He has said that public service broadcasting "is one of the things that distinguishes this country and makes me want to live here", and believes that it is not reducible to individual programmes, but "can only effectively operate as a network [...] that measures its success not only by its audience size but by the range of its schedule".“The future of public service broadcasting”... the BBC per minute in almost every category is as cheap as you can find anywhere in the world and produces the best quality. [...] The BBC has gone through swingeing staff cuts. It has been cut to the bone, if you divert licence fee money elsewhere, you cut quality and services. [...] There is a lot of people who want to see the BBC weakened. They talk of this terrible tax of the licence fee. Yet it is the best bargain that is going. Four radio channels and god knows how many TV channels. It is piffling.Attenborough expressed the view that there had often been people wanting to remove the BBC, adding "there's always been trouble about the licence and if you dropped your guard you could bet our bottom dollar there'd be plenty of people who'd want to take it away. The licence fee is the basis on which the BBC is based and if you destroy it, broadcasting... becomes a wasteland." He expressed regret at some of the changes made to the BBC in the 1990s by its Director-General, John Birt, who introduced an internal market at the corporation, slimmed and even closed some departments and outsourced much of the corporation's output to private production companies. Although he said Birt's policies had poor results, Attenborough also acknowledged "the BBC had to change." In 2008, he criticised the BBC's television schedules, positing that the two senior networks,
Politics
In 1998, Attenborough described himself as "a standard, boring left-wing liberal" and expressed the view that the market economy was "misery". In 2013, Attenborough joined rock guitarists Brian May and Slash (musician), Slash in opposing the government's policy on the Badger culling in the United Kingdom, cull of badgers in the UK by participating in a song dedicated to badgers. Attenborough was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''The Guardian'' expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in the 2014 2014 Scottish independence referendum, referendum on that issue. Prior to the 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 UK general election, Attenborough was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party of England and Wales, Green Party's Caroline Lucas. In a 2020 interview, Attenborough criticised excess capitalism as a driver of ecological imbalance, stating "the excesses the capitalist system has brought us, have got to be curbed somehow", and that "greed does not actually lead to joy", although he added "That doesn't mean to say that capitalism is dead". He also lamented the lack of Politics of climate change, international cooperation on climate change, and said "there should be no dominant nation on this planet." In 2021, Attenborough told the leaders of the 47th G7 summit that "tackling climate change was now as much a political challenge as it was a scientific or technological one" and urged more action. Attenborough also stated that "(we) are on the verge of destabilising the entire planet."Achievements, awards and recognition
Attenborough's contribution to broadcasting and wildlife film-making has brought him international recognition. He has been called "the great communicator, the peerless educator" and "the greatest broadcaster of our time." His programmes are often cited as an example of what public service broadcasting should be, even by critics of the BBC, and have influenced a generation of wildlife film-makers.Honorary titles
By January 2013, Attenborough had collected 32 honorary degrees from British universities, more than any other person. In 1980, he was honoured by the Open University, with which he has had a close association throughout his career. He has honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Durham University (1982) and the University of Cambridge (1984) and honorary Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Oxford (1988) and the University of Ghent (1997). In 2006, the two eldest Attenborough brothers returned to their home city to receive the title of Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the University of Leicester, "in recognition of a record of continuing distinguished service to the University." David Attenborough was previously awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the university in 1970, and was made an honorary Freedom of the City, Freeman of the City of Leicester in 1990. In 2013, he was made an Honorary Freeman of the City of Bristol. In 2010, he was awarded Honorary Doctorates from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and Nottingham Trent University. Attenborough has received the title Honorary Fellow from Clare College, Cambridge (1980), the Zoological Society of London (1998), the Linnean Society (1999), the Institute of Biology (Now the Royal Society of Biology) (2000), and the Society of Antiquaries of London, Society of Antiquaries (2007). He is Honorary Patron of the North American Native Plant Society and was elected as a Corresponding Member of the Australian Academy of Science.Recognition
Attenborough has been featured as the subject of a number of BBC television programmes. ''Life on Air'' (2002) examined the legacy of his work, and ''Attenborough the Controller'' (2002) focused on his time in charge of BBC Two. He was also featured prominently in ''The Way We Went Wild'' (2004), a series about natural history television presenters, and ''100 Years of Wildlife Films'' (2007), a programme marking the centenary of the nature documentary. In 2006, British television viewers were asked to vote for their ''Favourite Attenborough Moments'' for a UKTV poll to coincide with the broadcaster's 80th birthday. The winning clip showed Attenborough observing the mimicry skills of the superb lyrebird. Attenborough was named the most trusted celebrity in the UK in a 2006 ''Reader's Digest'' poll, and in 2007 he won ''The Culture Shows Living Icon Award. He has been named among the 100 Greatest Britons in a 2002 BBC poll and is one of the top ten "Heroes of Our Time" according to ''New Statesman'' magazine. In September 2009, London's Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum opened the Attenborough Studio, part of its Darwin Centre development. In 2012, Attenborough was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake (artist), Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life. The same year, Attenborough featured in the BBC Radio 4 series ''The New Elizabethans'' to mark the diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. A panel of seven academics, journalists and historians named him among the group of people in the UK "whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands". A British polar research ship was named RRS Sir David Attenborough, RRS ''Sir David Attenborough'' in his honour. While an Internet poll suggesting the name of the ship had the most votes for ''Boaty McBoatface'', Science Minister Jo Johnson said there were "more suitable names", and the official name was eventually picked up from one of the more favoured choices. However, one of its research sub-sea vehicles was named "Boaty" in recognition of the public vote.Species named after Attenborough
At least 20 species and genera, both living and extinct, have been named in Attenborough's honour. Plants named after him include an alpine hawkweed (''Hieracium attenboroughianum'') discovered in the Brecon Beacons, a species of Ecuadorian flowering tree (''Blakea attenboroughi''), one of the world's largest-pitchered carnivorous plants (''Nepenthes attenboroughii''), along with a genus of flowering plants (''Sirdavidia''). Several Arthropods are named after Attenborough including a butterfly, Attenborough's black-eyed satyr (''Euptychia attenboroughi''), a dragonfly, Attenborough's pintail (''Acisoma attenboroughi''), a millimetre-long goblin spider (''Prethopalpus attenboroughi''), an ornate Caribbean smiley-faced spider (''Spintharus davidattenboroughi''), an Indonesian flightless weevil (''Trigonopterus attenboroughi''), a Madagascan ghost shrimp (''Ctenocheloides attenboroughi''), and a soil snail (''Palaina attenboroughi''). The Monogenean ''Cichlidogyrus attenboroughi'', a fish parasite, parasite from a deep-sea fish in the Lake Tanganyika, is probably the only parasite species named after him. Vertebrates have also been named after Attenborough, including a Namibian lizard (''Platysaurus attenboroughi''), a bird (''Polioptila attenboroughi''), a Peruvian frog (''Pristimantis attenboroughi''), a Madagascan Stumpffia, stump-toed frog (''Stumpffia davidattenboroughi''), and one of only four species of long-beaked echidna (''Zaglossus attenboroughi''). In 1993, after discovering that the Mesozoic reptile ''Plesiosaurus conybeari'' did not belong to the genus ''Plesiosaurus'', the palaeontologist Robert Bakker renamed the species ''Attenborosaurus conybeari''. A fossilised armoured fish discovered in Western Australia in 2008 was named ''Materpiscis attenboroughi'', after Attenborough had filmed at the site and highlighted its scientific importance in ''Life on Earth''. In 2015, a species of tree from Gabon (in the Annonaceae family) ''Sirdavidia'' was named with his title. The ''Materpiscis'' fossil is believed to be the earliest organism capable of internal fertilisation. A miniature marsupial lion, ''Microleo attenboroughi'', was named in his honour in 2016. The fossil grasshopper ''Electrotettix attenboroughi'' was named after Attenborough. In March 2017, a 430 million year old tiny crustacean was named after him. Called ''Cascolus ravitis'', the first word is a Latin translation of the root meaning of "Attenborough", and the second is based on a description of him in Latin. In July 2017, the Caribbean bat ''Myotis attenboroughi'' was named after him. A new species of fan-throated lizard from coastal Kerala in India, southern India was named ''Sitana attenboroughii'' in his honour when it was described in 2018. In 2018, a new species of phytoplankton, ''Syracosphaera azureaplaneta'', was named to honour ''The Blue Planet'', the TV documentary presented by Attenborough, and to recognise his contribution to promoting understanding of the oceanic environment. The same year, Attenborough was also commemorated in the name of the scarab beetle ''Sylvicanthon attenboroughi''. In 2021 an extinct species of horseshoe crab was named ''Attenborolimulus, Attenborolimulus superspinosus.'' In July 2022, a fossil of a 560-million-year-old creature named ''Auroralumina attenboroughii'', which researchers believe to be the first animal predator, was named after Attenborough. Attenborough is also recognised by ''Guinness World Records'' as having the longest career as a natural historian and presenter in television.Awards
In addition, he is the only person to have won BAFTA awards for programmes in black and white,Filmography
David Attenborough's television credits span eight decades and his association with natural history programmes dates back to ''The Pattern of Animals'' and ''Zoo Quest'' in the early 1950s. His most influential work, 1979's ''Life on Earth'', launched a strand of nine authored documentaries with the BBC Natural History Unit which shared the ''Life'' strand name and spanned 30 years. He narrated every episode of the long-running BBC series ''Wildlife on One'' and in his later career has voiced several high-profile BBC wildlife documentaries, among them ''The Blue Planet'' and ''Planet Earth''. He became a pioneer in the 3D documentary format with ''Flying Monsters'' in 2010.Bibliography
David Attenborough's work as an author has strong parallels with his broadcasting career. In the 1950s and 1960s, his published work included accounts of his animal collecting expeditions around the world, which became the ''Zoo Quest'' series. He wrote an accompanying volume to each of his nine ''Life'' documentaries, along with books on tribal art and Bird-of-paradise, birds of paradise. His autobiography, ''Life on Air'', was published in 2002, revised in 2009 and is one of a number of his works which is available as a self-narrated audiobook. Attenborough has also contributed forewords and introductions to many other works, notably those accompanying ''Planet Earth'', ''Frozen Planet'', ''Africa'' and other BBC series he has narrated. * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Zoo Quest to Guyana'' (1956) * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Zoo Quest for a Dragon'' (1957) – republished in 1959 to include an additional 85 pages titled ''Quest for the Paradise Birds'' * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Zoo Quest in Paraguay'' (1959) * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Quest in Paradise'' (1960) * ''People of Paradise'' (1960) * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Zoo Quest to Madagascar'' (1961) * ''Zoo Quest#Books, Quest Under Capricorn'' (1963) * ''Fabulous Animals'' (1975) * ''The Tribal Eye'' (1976) * ''References
*External links