Peter Oakley (20 August 1927 – 23 March 2014) was an English

pensioner A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

and Internet personality, who posted

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

videos under the Internet pseudonym geriatric1927. Making his YouTube debut in August 2006 with ''Telling it all'', a series of five-to-ten minute autobiographical videos, Oakley gained popularity with a wide section of the YouTube community. Amongst the autobiographical details revealed in his videos are that he served as a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

mechanic during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, that he had a lifelong love of motorcycles, and that he lived alone as a widower and pensioner. His unforeseen rise was widely reported by international media outlets and online news sources and blogs.Pensioner tops web video clips
Alex Kumi, ''The Guardian'', 14 August 2006 After resisting all media attention for a long time (including requests for interviews, photographs, and attempts to identify him), insisting that he only wished to converse with the YouTube community in an informal and personal way, Oakley finally gave his first interview, for the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

's ''

The Money Programme ''The Money Programme'' is a finance and business affairs television programme on BBC Two which ran between April 1966 and November 2010. It was first broadcast on 5 April 1966 and presented by "commentators" (financial journalists) William Davis ...

'', which was aired on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

on 16 February 2007. By mid-2006, Oakley was the most-subscribed channel on YouTube. His rise to the #1 position took place in just over a week. In the process, he displaced users who had been around since the site's launch, including

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

-signed

Brooke Brodack Brooke Allison Brodack (born April 7, 1986), known online as Brookers, is one of the earliest YouTubers. Brodack, a receptionist from Holden, Massachusetts, first began uploading short comedy skits to YouTube in September 2005. She was offered a c ...

. In November that year, he had 30,000 subscribers. Oakley also holds the record for being the first user on YouTube to reach the milestone of 25,000 subscribers. He uploaded 434 videos between 2006 and 2014 covering several topics from childhood memories to setting up a Google account. He also set up a second channel dedicated to music, ''Geriatric1927Blues'', in 2009. His main channel reached the 100,000 subscriber milestone in January 2023. Oakley was later diagnosed with cancer which was too far advanced for treatment. He posted his final video on 12 February 2014 and died a month later on the morning of 23 March 2014.

''Telling It All''

After Oakley's introductory video, "first try", which has been viewed over three million times, he began producing his autobiographical series, ''Telling It All''. These made him an

Internet celebrity An Internet celebrity (also known as a social media influencer, social media personality, internet personality, or simply influencer) is a celebrity who has acquired or developed their fame and notability through the Internet. The rise of social ...

almost overnight, gaining mention in various media, such as

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

and

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

, as well as prompting the creation of websites bearing his username. In ''Telling it all 7'', Oakley repudiated those sites, saying he was in no way affiliated with them and had no say or control over their content. In the series, Oakley describes some of the major events and periods of his life, including *Growing up during World War II, and living as a young teen in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, which was bombed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. *His experience in the

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

system of England in the 1930s, and his fortunate selection to have his education 'extended' past the age of 14, a privilege during the period reserved for children deemed to be intelligent. *His conscription into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, and again his fortunate selection to be a

technician A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Specialisation The term technician covers many different speciali ...

, which occurred as a consequence of the aptitudes his superiors detected in him. This role kept him out of combat, for which he was grateful because he did not have to witness "the horrors of war", but was nonetheless imperative for the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative size ...

. *His return to civilian life and the job he had left behind. *A period of tertiary education in Leicester, England, where he met his future wife and developed his passion for motorcycling. *His employment in Leicester as a public-health inspector. In early 2010, entertainer Al Chantrey—a friend of Oakley's and a fellow YouTube user—wrote and recorded a song for him which Oakley featured in several videos. The song, entitled 'Telling It All' (based on Oakley's video series) talks about Oakley's life. On 5 March 2014 Chantrey posted the song on his own channel on YouTube, accompanied by video footage of Peter as a tribute following the announcement of his illness. Oakley was featured in an installment of Yahoo! Current Buzz (which chronicles the top searches on the Internet), entitled "Retired and Wired".

Influence

Oakley's

success inspired other older people, partIcularly men with life experiences to share, to begin posting

vlog A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

s on it.

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

credits him for stirring his YouTube videos in 2006. Oakley influenced World War II veteran Martin H. Slobodkin (1920–2006), who, under the name''MHarris1920'', started to post his own blogs. Martin died in October 2006, and received an outpouring of tributes from other YouTube users after his wife, Teresa, posted a video announcing his death. His widow temporarily took over his blogs, but later closed this account. Another older person was Bernhard von Schwerin (1927-2022), who appeared under the name bernie1927. He too was a World War II veteran, but serving on the German side. He was encouraged by Oakley, and talked about his youth and his many travels as well as his emigration to the U.S. in 1951. Artist

Annemarie Wright Annemarie Wright (born 19 July 1979) is an English artist from Cambridgeshire. She is best known for her portrait of Tony Blair created using the handwritten names of fallen British soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, titled ''Their families have b ...

was so inspired by Oakley's story that she dedicated a piece of artwork to him. The image is of Oakley to the lyrics of

The Zimmers The Zimmers are an English band formed in 2007 and are thought to have the oldest members of any group in the world. The oldest member, Buster Martin, claimed to have been born in 1906, although some sources indicate he was born in 1913. Martin ...

' version of "

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...

Media

On 17 August 2006, Oakley uploaded "Telling it all 7", in which he made a statement about how much attention he had received from the media over the previous days. He mentioned that this was not what he sought or wanted. He also stated that any web sites using his username (geriatric1927) were in no way affiliated with him.Telling it all 7 - Something important to say youtube posting 17 August 2006 In "Telling it all 7", he stated that he had received many messages from advertising companies, telephone companies, and newspaper companies that wanted to interview him, but he preferred to speak only to his fellow YouTubers, whom he considered his friends. On 16 February 2007, Oakley made his first television appearance, on a special episode of the BBC's ''

'' called "Coming to Your Screen: DIY TV". The program was taped in the autumn of 2006. He also featured in a radio interview for the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

. In March 2007, Oakley announced that he was working on some television programmes about silver surfing. Oakley was part of a BBC documentary in which he was recruited as one of

, a group of pensioners whom the documentary maker

Tim Samuels Timothy David Samuels (born 3 October 1975) is an English documentary filmmaker, author and broadcaster. His work is characterised by approaching serious topics in provocative and entertaining ways to produce hard-hitting documentaries. Samuels f ...

brought together to sing

The Who's The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are ...

classic "

" to highlight the plight of pensioners in modern Britain. The single was released in May 2007 to raise money for the charity

Age Concern Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of Charitable organization, charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four cou ...

. As part of The Zimmers, Oakley recorded a version of the

Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompani ...

's song "

Old and Wise "Old and Wise" is a 1982 song by the Alan Parsons Project from the album ''Eye in the Sky''. The song reached number 21 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' AC chart in early 1983 and number 74 in the United Kingdom; the first of the band's singles to ...

". His work with the band took him to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in September 2007, as a guest of the

AARP AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization said it had more than 38 million members in 2018. The magazin ...

Notes and references

External links

Archive of official site
(now defunct)
geriatric1927 on YouTubegeriatric1927blues channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley, Peter 1927 births 2014 deaths British Army personnel of World War II British Army soldiers British Internet celebrities English video bloggers English YouTubers People from Bakewell People from Leicester YouTube channels launched in 2006 YouTube channels closed in 2014 Number-one YouTube channels in subscribers