Leila Williams (born 1937) is a former British

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

. She was one of the original presenters of ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'', working on the programme from 1958 to 1962.

Career

In 1957 Williams won the

Miss Great Britain Miss Great Britain is Britain's longest running beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. Owner and CEO John Singh made history crowning his first winner and to this date only the first black Miss Great Britain 1996. Singer and dancer A ...

title. The following year she became the first female ''

'' presenter, co-presenting with

Christopher Trace Christopher Leonard Trace (21 March 1933 – 5 September 1992) was an English actor and television presenter, notable for his nine years as an original presenter of the BBC children's programme ''Blue Peter''. Early life and career Trace was the ...

. Williams left ''Blue Peter'' at the start of 1962, after being made redundant by Clive Parkhurst, a newly appointed producer, with whom she did not get on. Williams recalled "he could not find anything for me to do", and in October, Williams did not appear for six editions, and was eventually sacked, leaving Trace on his own or with one-off presenters. Parkhurst was replaced by

John Furness John Furniss is a British costume designer. He was nominated at the 47th Academy Awards for Best Costumes for the film ''Daisy Miller''. Filmography *'' International Velvet'' (1978) *''Wombling Free'' (1977) *''Escape from the Dark'' (1976) ...

. She went on to play small parts in the films ''

Watch Your Stern ''Watch Your Stern'' is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker and Leslie Phillips. The film was based on the play ''Something About a Sailor'' by Earle Couttie. The Royal Navy provided coop ...

'', ''

Marriage of Convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. There are ...

'' and ''

The Beauty Jungle ''The Beauty Jungle'' (also known as Contest Girl) is a 1964 British film directed by Val Guest. Plot Shirley lives in Bristol. While on a seaside holiday at Butlins holiday camp a young typist Shirley Freeman (Janette Scott) is persuaded by a ...

'', and returned to ''Blue Peter'' for the show's 20th anniversary in 1978 and subsequently the 40th anniversary in 1998 and the 60th in 2018.

Personal life

Williams married Fred Mudd, lead singer of the popular music group

The Mudlarks The Mudlarks were an English pop vocal group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They had two Top 10 UK hit singles in 1958. Career The Mudlarks were a family group from Luton, Bedfordshire, England, originally comprising Fred Mudd (1933–2007) ...

, and in the early to mid-1960s had their only child Debra. Whilst the Mudlarks were touring in the early 1970s, she worked as an assistant manager at a

Dorothy Perkins Dorothy Perkins is an online British women's fashion brand based in the United Kingdom. Formerly a store chain, it sold both its own range of clothes and branded fashion goods until February 2021, when it became part of Boohoo.com, having been ...

clothing store in Harrow. The couple then ran

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s in

Kingston-upon-Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

and

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

for many years before retiring to Spain. Fred Mudd died there in 2007. Williams is now living in Wanstead East London, in sheltered accommodation and is finishing her autobiography.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

* Blue Peter presenters 1937 births Living people People from Walsall English television presenters English beauty pageant winners Miss World 1957 delegates {{UK-tv-bio-stub