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Sylvia Lucia Petronzio (26 September 1925 – 26 July 2016), better known as Sylvia Peters, was an English actress, and from 1947 to 1958 a
continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of the ...
and presenter for
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. ...
...
Television.Whirligig TV
/ref> She introduced the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...
in 1953, and later advised the Queen as she prepared for her first televised Christmas Message in 1957.


Early life

Peters was born in
Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...
, north London, to Romolo Petronzio, an Italian who owned a clock-making business, and Ethel Edwards, an English ballet lover. The family later moved to Finchley, north London. She began dancing lessons at the age of three, and later performed in musicals at the
Coliseum Theatre The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
in London.''The Television Annual for 1952'', ed. by Kenneth Baily, Odhams Press, p. 57.


BBC career

On reading a newspaper advertisement in June 1947 for a continuity announcer for BBC Television, Peters's mother encouraged her to apply because she didn't like Peters being on the stage. Peters completed the audition tasks, which included testing in foreign languages and pronunciation, and screen tests in reading and interviewing, and was chosen from hundreds of applicants. She became one of a team of three continuity announcers with
Mary Malcolm Helen Mary Malcolm
Retrieved 2012-11-08 (15 March 191813 October 2010) was one of the first two regular female announcers on
and McDonald Hobley. Peters first appeared on screen the same month, June 1947. Television broadcasts then only occurred in the evening, and the announcers had to broadcast live, without an
autocue Autocue is a UK-based manufacturer of teleprompter systems. The company was founded in 1955 and licensed its first on-camera teleprompter, based on a patent by Jess Oppenheimer, in 1962. Its products are used by journalists, presenters, politic ...
and without rehearsals. On 2 June 1953, Peters was chosen to introduce the live television broadcast of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, an event which she considered the highlight of her career. She later stated that she thought she was chosen because she was the same age as the Queen (28) and because she had an excellent memory – the script was provided to her only the night before the event. On the day, Peters provided linking material from 10 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. to an estimated audience of 20 million viewers in Britain and 227 million globally. She later became involved in teaching the Queen the broadcasting skills necessary for her Royal Christmas Message broadcasts, by recording a training film for the monarch. The film demonstrated various techniques such as reading a script and using an autocue, the latter of which the Queen chose for her broadcasts. Peters was chosen in 1954 to host ''
Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...
'' (the predecessor of '' Strictly Come Dancing''), In 1956, she presented the children's programme ''For Deaf Children'', and she was a compere for ''Television Dancing Club'', which featured the bandleader Victor Silvester. In December 1957, the BBC replaced the evening women announcers with the team of
Kenneth Kendall Kenneth Kendall (7 August 1924 – 14 December 2012) was a British broadcaster. He worked for many years as a newsreader for the BBC, where he was a contemporary of fellow newsreaders Richard Baker and Robert Dougall. He is also remembered as ...
, Richard Baker and
Robert Dougall Robert Dougall, MBE (27 November 1913 – 18 December 1999) was an English broadcaster and ornithologist, mainly known as a newsreader and announcer. Early life and radio broadcasting Dougall was born and educated in Croydon, Surrey. He a ...
. Peters left the broadcaster the following year. She became a freelance broadcaster, and covered such events as Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot and ''Come Dancing'', and made less frequent appearances on screen. She fronted ''Jim's Inn'', an advertisement magazine for ITV.


Later life and career

Peters opened a children's clothing shop in Wimbledon, London, in 1963, and a women's clothes shop in 1977. She returned to television work on a number of occasions, such as the ''
Sykes Sykes may refer to: People * Sir Alan Sykes, 1st Baronet, businessman and British politician * Annette Sykes, New Zealand human rights lawyer and Māori activist * Bob Sykes (American football), American football player * Bob Sykes (baseball), ...
'' 1977 Christmas special, and for special shows such as the BBC Television Service's 50th and 75th birthday specials. In the early 1980s she appeared on the magazine programme ''Afternoon Plus'' for
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...
where she appeared with her former colleagues McDonald Hobley and Mary Malcolm. Later in the same decade she joined Robert (Bob) Dougall, Brian Johnston and other hosts in presenting the
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
magazine programme for the over sixties, ''Years Ahead''. In 2013 she introduced the digitally restored film recording of the Queen's Coronation when it was repeated on
BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliamen ...
.


Personal life

In 1950, she married Kenneth Milne-Buckley, who had been her first studio director at the BBC. They had one daughter, Carmella. Peters died on 26 July 2016, aged 90.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Sylvia 1925 births 2016 deaths BBC people English stage actresses English radio presenters English television presenters English people of Italian descent People from Highgate People from Finchley British women radio presenters British women television presenters