Barrie Penrose (26 January 1942 – 5 July 2020) was a British investigative journalist, interviewer and trainer.

Life and career

Born in Croydon, Penrose was educated at John Ruskin Grammar School and later at the London School of Economics. He worked for the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' in Paris, '' The Observer'', '' The Sunday Times'' and

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

, initially as Barrie Sturt-Penrose. In December 1979, John Cairncross – who had secretly admitted to an MI6 interrogator that he had spied for the Soviets – was approached by Penrose and made a full confession to the journalist. The news was widely publicized, leading many to believe that Cairncross was the so-called "fifth man" of the Cambridge Five spy ring. This designation would be confirmed in 1989 by KGB agent Oleg Gordievsky, who defected to Britain. Penrose wrote ''The Pencourt File'' (with BBC colleague Roger Courtiour) based on information recounted by

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, shortly after he had resigned as British prime minister. Wilson had requested contact with the journalists about conspiracies that he claimed had occurred during his period in government. Penrose died on 5 July 2020 due to complications of Parkinson's disease.

Bibliography

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References

1942 births 2020 deaths People from Croydon British investigative journalists Neurological disease deaths in the United Kingdom Deaths from Parkinson's disease People educated at John Ruskin Grammar School Alumni of the London School of Economics {{UK-journalist-stub