18 Facts About Cliff Michelmore

Arthur Clifford Michelmore was an English television presenter and producer.

Cliff Michelmore is best known for the BBC Television programme Tonight, which he presented from 1957 to 1965.

Cliff Michelmore hosted the BBC's television coverage of the Apollo Moon landings, the Aberfan disaster, the 1966 and 1970 UK general elections, the assassination of John F Kennedy and the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales.

Cliff Michelmore was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1969.

Cliff Michelmore's father died when Michelmore was two years old, and he was raised- with five siblings- by his mother in a terraced house near the Cowes boatyards until being sent to live with his sister and her husband, a farmer.

Cliff Michelmore was a member of the 32nd entry of the Aircraft Apprentice Scheme at No 1 School of Technical Training RAF which was located at RAF Halton.

Cliff Michelmore was a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and began broadcasting on British Forces Network radio.

From 1955 to 1957 Cliff Michelmore presented the BBC TV programme Highlight, a current affairs show with a reputation for uncompromising interviews.

Cliff Michelmore was named BAFTA Television Personality of the Year in 1958.

Cliff Michelmore was on air when the news of the assassination of John F Kennedy broke in 1963.

Cliff Michelmore introduced a 17-year-old David Bowie to his first television audience on Tonight in 1964.

When Tonight finished in 1965, Cliff Michelmore hosted a BBC One series called 24 Hours until 1968.

Cliff Michelmore presented coverage of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969, alongside James Burke and Patrick Moore.

Cliff Michelmore was a regular presenter on BBC One's Holiday programme from 1969 to 1986, and presented other shows for BBC TV, ITV and BBC Radio.

Cliff Michelmore returned to the BBC on 18 November 2007 to present a programme on the BBC Parliament channel, recalling the 1967 devaluation of the pound.

Cliff Michelmore married a nurse during the Second World War but they divorced in 1949.

Cliff Michelmore resided during his later life in the West Sussex village of South Harting, having earlier, in the 1970s, lived at the foot of Reigate Hill, Reigate, Surrey, not far from Reigate railway station He died at Petersfield Hospital in Hampshire on 16 March 2016, aged 96.

Cliff Michelmore was natural, warm, engaging - he was utterly himself and showed he was one of us.