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Sarah Mary Kennedy
MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...
(born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
from 1993 to 2010. In the 2005
Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
, Kennedy was appointed as a
Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
"for services to broadcasting".


Early life and career

Sarah Kennedy was born in
Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
. Raised in
East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...
, she was the daughter of a stockbroker and a nurse. She attended
Copthorne Prep School Copthorne is a village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies close to Gatwick Airport, south of London, north of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Crawley to the southwest an ...
, and studied for two years at drama school, later becoming a drama teacher.


Media career

Kennedy began her career with the
British Forces Broadcasting Service The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...
in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
in 1973, before moving to
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
in 1976, initially as a newsreader and continuity announcer. She was on duty for the station's final closedown before it moved to 24-hour broadcasting in January 1979. She continued to present music shows on Radio 2, including holiday cover for ''
Family Favourites ''Family Favourites'' (remembered by its later name ''Two-Way Family Favourites'') was the successor to the wartime radio show ''Forces Favourites'', broadcast at Sunday lunchtimes on the BBC Light Programme, later BBC Radio 2 from 1945 unti ...
'' until 1983, mainly appearing on ''String Sound'', featuring the
BBC Radio Orchestra The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1964 until 1991. The BBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1964 as a large, flexible studio orchestra on the Nelson Riddle/H ...
. She was also president of the hospital radio station known as "Radio Horton", based in the
Horton Hospital Horton Hospital formerly called Horton Asylum was a large psychiatric hospital in the Horton area of Epsom, Surrey. History Origins The hospital was designed for the London County Council by George Thomas Hine, consultant architect to the Com ...
,
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
. Kennedy's first on-screen job was reading the news on
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 ...
's ''Day by Day''. She came to prominence in TV as one of the hosts of the
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 ...
light entertainment show ''
Game for a Laugh ''Game for a Laugh'' was a British light entertainment programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by LWT for the ITV network. Description The show revolved around a variety o ...
'' from 1981 to 1984. She was also one of the team involved with the short-lived
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 exam. ...
...
current affairs programme ''60 Minutes'', which ran from 1983 to 1984, and was the main presenter of the ITV game show '' Busman's Holiday'' for several series in the 1980s. She also co-hosted ''The Animals Roadshow'' (in the late 1980s) and ''Animal Country'' (in 1991) with zoologist
Desmond Morris Desmond John Morris FLS ''hon. caus.'' (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book ''The Naked Ape'', and for his televisi ...
. Kennedy returned to Radio 2 to present the weekday early morning show ''The Dawn Patrol'', which ran between 4 January 1993 and 13 August 2010. It was originally broadcast from 5am to 7am, during 1993, but moved the following year to the time-slot of 6am to 7:30am, where it remained until 8 January 2010. In 1995, Kennedy received a prestigious Sony Gold Radio Award. She had a regular audience of around 4.5 million listeners on Radio 2. Due to
Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
's retirement from his breakfast show in December 2009, and the ambitions of his successor Chris Evans, the morning radio schedule was changed, and Kennedy's show was moved earlier to its original 5am to 7am slot to accommodate a longer Evans show, starting on 11 January 2010. It was then announced on 3 September that year that she was to leave the show. Kennedy had been absent for several weeks beforehand and would not return to the show (as she retires from broadcasting), before Evans' show was further extended in October. The programme was presented during this time by
Lynn Parsons Lynn Margaret Parsons (born 27 June 1961) is a British disc jockey. Career Having graduated from college with an OND in electronic principles, Parsons started her career working in the television industry, where she was a sound engineer and l ...
and
Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for Cla ...
. On 17 January 2011,
Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including Vanessa (British TV series), ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998), ''The Big Breakfast'' (1996–1998), ''The Vane ...
took over the show's slot. Kennedy has also published a novel, ''Charlotte's Friends'', as well as two collections of listeners' tales, called ''Terrible Twos'' (two editions) and ''Terrible Pets''.


Characteristics and mannerisms

Kennedy's reworking of English words was a distinctive element of her show. She changed names such as: "The Eaglingtons" (
The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...
), "The Kinkingtons" (
The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
), "Sainsbugs" (
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
), "Colleag-wees" (colleagues), "supermercado" (supermarkets, as in Spanish), "breasticles"/"chesticles" (breasts), "Chancellor of the Exchequingtons" (based on the
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
), amongst others. She frequently read out the expression "SW's to you" from listeners who wrote in. "SWs" was shorthand for "Love the show", as in the often-used phrase by Steve Wright on his programmes (hence the use of his initials). Many listeners wrote in to ask what "SWs" actually meant, but Kennedy rarely explained it. She is also said to have been the first person to use the term '
white van man "White van man" is a stereotype used in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the Europe ...
', in 1997. "Bunty Bagshaw" was an eccentric alter-ego she adopted.


Career incidents and controversies

Kennedy has sometimes suffered with her health, and has had to take time off work. Her slurred speech throughout her show on 13 August 2007 gained media attention, but she blamed a sore throat. She presented the following day's show as normal, before taking a month-long break, leaving the show to be presented by colleagues Pete Mitchell,
Alex Lester Alexander Norman Charles Lester (born 11 May 1956) is a British broadcaster. He presented the weekday overnight/early-morning programme on BBC Radio 2 from 1992 until 2014. From October 2014 until January 2017, he presented the midnight to 3am p ...
,
Aled Jones Aled Jones, (born 29 December 1970) is a Welsh singer and radio and television presenter. As a teenage chorister, he reached widespread fame during the mid-1980s. Since then he has worked in television with the BBC and ITV, and radio (for Cla ...
and
Richard Allinson Richard John McNeill Allinson (born 12 October 1958) is an English broadcaster with Greatest Hits Radio and Scala Radio and is Creative Director of Magnum Opus Broadcasting. Between 1997 to 2014 he was a disc jockey for BBC Radio 2. Early career ...
. It was later revealed that Kennedy was recovering from pneumonia. She returned to work on 10 September 2007. She also attracted concern after a "bizarre" performance while standing in for
Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
on the breakfast show in 1999. This included calling
Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...
an "old fool" and referring to the presenter of the day's " Pause For Thought" slot as "a stupid old prune". She blamed the incident on a lack of sleep the previous night and apologised to listeners the following day. She had been due to stand in for Wogan the following week, but took time off instead, and Bruce took her place. In October 2007, she was reprimanded after joking (in a segment about the importance of wearing visible clothing in winter road conditions) that she had almost run over a black pedestrian because she "couldn't see him in the dark". The BBC later apologised for the comment. She had previously opined that "black men dominate athletics because they are accustomed to being pursued by lions". She was also "spoken to" by BBC bosses after she praised the late
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
politician
Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...
during a show in July 2009, describing Powell as "the best Prime Minister this country never had". In May 2014, Kennedy was banned from driving for 22 months for drunk driving, having crashed into a stationary car. In a report, it was stated that Kennedy drank four glasses of wine over several hours to alleviate back pain, and did not realise she was over the legal limit.


Personal life

In her twenties, Kennedy married a member of the armed forces and had two children; the couple later divorced. She has a partner, Adrian McGlynn, a director of
Weatherbys The Weatherbys Group is a UK conglomerate involved in a wide range of activities largely within banking and horse racing. The original business was founded by James Weatherby in 1770. History James Weatherby was appointed to serve the Jockey C ...
, whom she referred to as her "much beloved". He became a popular character in her show; they met at the wedding of
Desmond Morris Desmond John Morris FLS ''hon. caus.'' (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book ''The Naked Ape'', and for his televisi ...
's son, at which McGlynn was best man. They reside in
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, although Kennedy also has an apartment in a converted school building in London.


References


External links

*
''Sixty Minutes''

Reviews at DooYoo

Review at Ciao!


News items


''Guardian'' article September 2008 about her favouring the ''Daily Telegraph''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Sarah 1950 births Living people British radio DJs British radio personalities British women radio presenters BBC Radio 2 presenters Members of the Order of the British Empire People from East Grinstead Race-related controversies in radio BBC controversies Radio controversies