Muriel Young
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Muriel Young (19 June 1923 – 24 March 2001) was an English television continuity announcer, presenter and producer.


Early life

Young was born in 1923 in
Bishop Middleham Bishop Middleham is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,275 It is close to Sedgefield. History Bishop Middleham lies in a dry valley about 9 miles (14 km) south-east of ...
near
Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...
, County Durham. As a child, she lived with her family in the gatehouse of Elmwood (now the Elmwood Community Centre), Hartburn, County Durham near Stockton-on-Tees. Her father, Wilfrid Young, was
batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
and later chauffeur to Col. Kitching, who lived at Elmwood for many years after retiring from the army in 1939.


Early career

Young worked briefly as a librarian on leaving school and attended art college, before deciding to embark on a career as an actress. She joined a repertory theatre in
Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...
, where her uncle was directing. She subsequently performed at the Gateway Theatre, London, and the Theatre Royal in
Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
. Trying to get into the film industry, she did modelling for advertising agencies, including promoting products such as toothpaste, which paid her enough money until she became an actress. She also studied to be a dental nurse and used her artistic talents to paint glassware. Starting out as an actress, she starred with Rex Harrison and
Kay Kendall Kay Kendall (21 May 1927 – 6 September 1959) was an English actress and comedienne. She began her film career in the musical film '' London Town'' (1946), a financial failure. Kendall worked regularly until her appearance in the comedy film ...
in '' The Constant Husband'' (1955) and was also in ''
The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan ''The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan'' (also known as ''Gilbert & Sullivan'' and ''The Great Gilbert and Sullivan'') is a 1953 British musical drama film dramatisation of the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan. Librettist W. S. Gilbert a ...
'' (1953), acting in a segment featuring ''
The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...
''.


Television

In 1955, as the first
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
company
Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
was gearing up to launch, she intended to attend an actors' audition at the company, but mistakenly went to an announcers' audition instead. Nevertheless, Young was instantly hired and announced for Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, the opening night of commercial television in the UK. Young worked as a presenter and interviewer for regional programmes on Granada Television and
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
, and as a disc jockey on
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
. She starred as Fortune Teller, Madam Rose, in 'Inside Job', (episode 33 of ''
Dial 999 (TV series) ''Dial 999'' is a British television series that ran for one series of 38 episodes from 1958 to 1959. The series was a co-production between ITV contractor ABC Weekend TV, and American television producer Ziv Television Programs. It stars Robe ...
''); and was cast, alongside
Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
in the movie ''
I'm All Right Jack ''I'm All Right Jack'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed and produced by John and Roy Boulting from a script by Frank Harvey, John Boulting and Alan Hackney based on the 1958 novel ''Private Life'' by Alan Hackney. The film is a sequel t ...
'' (1959) as an announcer, without the director knowing that it was in fact her real-life job. However, her career could have easily taken a different route. Just before joining ITV, she had been on stage touring with
Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...
, in a game show called ''Double or Drop''. Shortly after signing her ITV contract, he told her that he had sold the idea to the BBC. It was later used as part of the children's show '' Crackerjack!''. She was a presenter of children's programmes for Associated-Rediffusion and
Rediffusion London Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
between 1959 and 1968, working alongside
Wally Whyton Wallace Victor "Wally" Whyton (23 September 1929 – 22 January 1997) was a British musician, songwriter and radio and TV personality. Biography Born in London, England, Whyton grew up listening to jazz, blues and folk music, and learned to pla ...
and Bert Weedon and featuring the puppet characters Pussy Cat Willum, Ollie Beak and Fred Barker. The format created lasted for many years under titles including ''Lucky Dip'', ''
Tuesday Rendezvous ''Tuesday Rendezvous'' was a British children's television show which was transmitted on Tuesdays (obviously) and Fridays (oddly). History Howard Williams (replaced by Wally Whyton), Muriel Young and Bert Weedon (the famous guitarist) presented ...
'', ''
Five O'Clock Club ''Five O'Clock Club'' was a 1960s British children's television pop programme on Rediffusion with Jimmy Hanley, Muriel Young, Howard Williams, and later Wally Whyton. The programme also featured appearances by Bert Weedon, and Grahame Dangerf ...
'', ''Ollie and Fred's Five O'Clock Club'' and ''Five O'Clock Funfair''. In the late 1960s and '70s, Young became a staff producer of pop programmes for Granada Television, with such shows as ''
Lift Off with Ayshea ''Lift Off with Ayshea'' is a British TV show, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, and starring Ayshea Brough, which ran for 122 editions spanning eight series, between November 1969 and December 1974. Preceded by the show ' ...
'', '' Get It Together'', the Bay City Rollers series '' Shang-a-Lang'', ''
The Arrows Show ''Arrows'' was a pop television series aimed at the teen market, which aired in 1976 and 1977 in the UK. The show was produced by Muriel Young, and ran for two 14-week series on the ITV network, produced by Granada Television. The show f ...
'' and ''
Marc Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
'', starring
Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted in ...
. She devised ''
Clapperboard A clapperboard (also known by various other names including dumb slate) is a device used in filmmaking and video production to assist in synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are fi ...
'', presented by Chris Kelly, Granada's film magazine show for children. Young was also an occasional panellist on the ATV talent show ''
New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: 197 ...
''. Changing direction again in the mid-1980s, Young made two series of ''Ladybirds'', a
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
programme from Mike Mansfield's independent company.


Personal life

In 1986, Young left her successful career in television and moved back to County Durham, where she lived in part of Stanhope Castle with her husband Cyril Coke, a television drama director, whom she had married in 1954. Coke was the son of the film actor
Edward Rigby Edward Coke MC (5 February 1879 – 5 April 1951), known professionally as Edward Rigby, was a British character actor. Early life Rigby was born at Ashford, Kent, England, the second son of Dr William Harriott Coke and his wife, Mary Elizabe ...
and the novelist Phyllis Austin. The couple met when he was casting director for ''The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan''. Coke died in 1993. Although most references gave her year of birth as 1928, she was actually born on 19 June 1923; her parents' marriage was registered in the first quarter of 1923. She died in Stanhope, County Durham on 24 March 2001, aged 77.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Muriel British radio people British television producers British women television producers English television presenters Radio and television announcers Radio Luxembourg (English) presenters People from Bishop Middleham 1923 births 2001 deaths People from Stanhope, County Durham