Kenneth Kendall has made television history on more than one occasion. He was among the first newsreaders to be seen on screen, appearing as the first BBC “in-vision” presenter on September 4, 1955, and he was almost certainly the first newsreader to lose a tooth on television, thanks to an incident in July 1979 when the former Guards officer’s crown popped on to the desk while he was delivering a live broadcast. Ever the professional, Kendall read on unperturbed. He made his last news bulletin in 1981, and went on to find a new audience as host of Channel 4’s Treasure Hunt. Kendall now lives on the Isle of Wight where he has recently opened an art gallery specialising in the work of local painters. He is 79 today.
The Right Rev David Bentley, Bishop of Gloucester, 68; Greg Chappell, cricketer, 55; Neil Clarke, chairman of British Coal, 1991-97, 69; Professor H.L. Elvin, Emeritus Professor of Education at the London University Institute of Education, 98; Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, chairman of Faber & Faber, 1981-2002, 62; the Right Rev A.A.K. Graham, Bishop of Newcastle, 1981-97, 74; J.H. Jackson, company secretary of British Gas, 1990-97, 55; Sir Andrew Large, deputy governor of the Bank of England, 61; Owen Luder, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, 1981-83 and 1995-97, 75; John H.S. Martin, senior partner of Knight Frank, 58; Peter Niven, jockey, 39; Matthew Parris, MP for Derbyshire West, 1979-86, journalist and broadcaster, 54; Nick Ross, broadcaster, 56; Alexei Sayle, comedian, 51; Professor Harry Smith, Emeritus Professor of Microbiology at Birmingham University, 82; Philip Snow, author, 88; Walter Swinburn, jockey, 42; Sir Richard Sykes, chairman of GlaxoSmithKline, 1997-2002, 61; J.A. Young, chairman of Young’s Brewery, 82.