Allada Barbara Grenville Wells, known professionally as Barbara Mandell, was a British journalist, broadcaster, newsreader and travel writer.
12 Facts About Barbara Mandell
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Barbara Mandell became the United Kingdom's first female newsreader after she was recruited to present the Midday News on the newly launched Independent Television in 1955.
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Barbara Mandell was the oldest of two daughters in the family.
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Barbara Mandell was raised in South Africa after her family relocated to that country in 1924 when her mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
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Barbara Mandell's father was the deputy editor of South Africa's Rand Daily Mail and Mandell followed him into journalism, working for the same newspaper.
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Barbara Mandell later worked for the South African Broadcasting Company as a radio news editor, but subsequently returned to the United Kingdom in the early 1950s after a brief stay in the United States.
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Barbara Mandell was selected from 150 candidates along with former Olympic runner Christopher Chataway and journalist Robin Day to read news bulletins, and she presented the Midday News.
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Barbara Mandell made her first on-screen appearance as a television newsreader on 23 September 1955.
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However, Barbara Mandell continued to be seen on screen throughout the 1950s, usually fronting weekend news bulletins, and she was a regular reporter.
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Barbara Mandell later returned to Devon, and died in hospital in Holsworthy, Devon on 25 August 1998.
11.
Barbara Mandell met Alan Mandell while working for SABC, and the couple were married in 1945.
12.
Barbara Mandell later met ITN cameraman Martin Gray with whom she lived until his death in 1996.