One of England's greatest eccentrics, the monocle-wearing astronomer and TV stalwart Sir Patrick Moore has died, aged 89.
Sir Patrick wrote more than 60 books on astronomy, and from April 1957 he presented all bar one of the monthly Sky at Night programmes, which have run ever since. For this feat he earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest serving television presenter in the world.
He was on air before Sputnik, before Yuri Gagarin and long before the Moon landings - he was involved in the lunar mapping before the NASA Apollo missions.
Among his notable moments in those early days of live TV, he once swallowed a fly live on air and, on another occasion, he had to think on his feet when a Russian guest turned out not to speak any English; the interview went ahead in pidgin French.
In 1976, he was involved in one of the all-time classic April Fools on BBC Radio 2, when Sir Patrick solemnly announced that at 9.47am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that meant that if listeners could jump at the exact same moment they would experience a temporary floating sensation. The BBC received many telephone calls from listeners alleging that they actually experienced the sensation...
A self-taught musician and talented composer, at the Royal Variety Performance In 1981 he performed a solo xylophone rendition of the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK! Here (in someone's bad recording from the TV) is his classic xylophone duet with his impersonator John Culshaw, on Firestarter by The Prodigy:
Sir Patrick Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS (4th March 1923 – 9th December 2012)
RIP an extraordinary man.
I'm learning this news here at Dolores Delargo Towers for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI read one of his books but I can't remember which of the more than 60 books it was.
Reading the link to his obit I noticed..."Queen guitarist Brian May, who published a book on astronomy written with Sir Patrick, described him as a "dear friend, and a kind of father figure to me"."
I had no idea Brian May was so involved in astronomy!
I do like to think of Give 'em the old Razzle Dazzle as a rival to Reuters where gossip is concerned... :-)
DeleteOh yes, Brian May was (and probably will continue to be, if the BBC decides to keep the programme) a frequent contributor to "The Sky At Night". He has a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College in 2007 and is the current Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University.
Shame his degree wasn't in hairdressing, really. Jx