Wallace Frederick Powers Greenslade (1 July 1912 – 21 April 1961), also known as Bill Greenslade, was a BBC radio

announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narration ...

and newsreader. He is best remembered for being the announcer—and frequently the

straight man The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the c ...

—for the BBC radio comedy series ''

The Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September ...

'' for eight series from 1953 until the end of the show's run in 1960.

Life

Greenslade was born in

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Fo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

(now part of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wir ...

). During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, he served for two and a half years as a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

. He also worked as a

purser A purser is the person on a ship principally responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration (including the ship's cargo and passenger manifests) and supply. ...

with the P&O Line. In 1945 Greenslade joined the BBC, where he began in the European Service, as presentation assistant and newsreader. In 1949 he was appointed a Home Service announcer before becoming a newsreader in both radio and television from November 1955. In addition to ''The Goon Show'', he was announcer for ''The Great Gilhooly'', ''Star Show'' and ''Variety Playhouse''. He appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

'' on 12 December 1952. He was one of the original team of

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 ...

newsreaders appearing from July 1954 to May 1957. His well-known trademark was always taking off his glasses at the end of each bulletin. In May and June 1960 he presented the ''Today'' programme for two months before his death. Physically a large rotund man, "the massive Greenslade" a colleague once called him, he died suddenly at his home at

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, in April 1961, aged 48 from a heart attack.GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1961 5g 637 SURREY .W. – Wallace F. P. Greenslade, aged 48 Following a funeral service at St Mary's Oatlands, near Weybridge, he was buried at Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge. At the subsequent

memorial service A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

, his BBC colleague John Snagge gave an address. Greenslade left a wife, Carol.

Legacy

A radio play, ''Ying Tong – A Walk with the Goons'', was broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

on 4 April 2007, referencing Greenslade, who was also the subject of an episode of ''The Goon Show'', "The Greenslade Story", broadcast in December 1955.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenslade, Wallace 1912 births 1961 deaths BBC newsreaders and journalists People from Formby People from Weybridge Radio and television announcers Royal Navy officers of World War II The Goon Show Royal Naval Reserve personnel