1. George Maxwell Alagiah was a British newsreader, journalist and television presenter, and one of BBC News's chief presenters.
21 Facts About George Alagiah
1. 2.
George Alagiah was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours.
3.
George Maxwell Alagiah was born in Colombo, Ceylon, on 22 November 1955.
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George Alagiah joined the BBC in 1989 after seven years in print journalism with South Magazine.
5.
In 1999, George Alagiah became the deputy anchor of the BBC One O'Clock News and BBC Nine O'Clock News.
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George Alagiah was the presenter of BBC Four News from its launch in 2002; the programme was later relaunched as The World and then another edition of World News Today.
7.
George Alagiah was formerly a relief presenter on BBC News at Ten, presenting mainly Monday to Thursday when main presenters Huw Edwards and Fiona Bruce were unavailable.
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In October 2011, George Alagiah presented Mixed Britannia, a three-part documentary series on the history of interracial marriage in the United Kingdom.
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George Alagiah's other documentaries and features include reports on why affirmative action in America is a "Lost Cause", for the Assignment programme, Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against the Kurds of northern Iraq for the BBC's Newsnight programme and a report on the last reunion of the veterans of Dunkirk.
10.
In 2000, George Alagiah was part of the BBC team which collected a BAFTA award for its coverage of the Kosovo conflict.
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George Alagiah won numerous awards including Best International Report at the Royal Television Society in 1993, and in 1994 was the overall winner of the Amnesty International UK Media Awards.
12.
George Alagiah was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to journalism.
13.
George Alagiah was on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
14.
From 2002 to 2009, George Alagiah was a patron of The Fairtrade Foundation, but in July 2009 he was obliged to resign by BBC Management, who claimed professional conflict of interest.
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Complaints were received at the BBC from members of the public who were unhappy that George Alagiah had been asked to step down.
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George Alagiah was actively involved in supporting microfinance as a tool for development, including appearances in support of Opportunity International.
17.
George Alagiah became a patron of Parenting UK in 2000.
18.
In March 2018, in an interview with The Sunday Times, George Alagiah noted that his cancer was terminal and could have been caught earlier if the screening programme in England, which is automatically offered from the age of 60, was the same as that in Scotland, where it is automatically offered from the age of 50.
19.
In June 2020, George Alagiah said that the cancer had spread to his lungs, liver and lymph nodes, but was not at a "chronic" or "terminal" stage.
20.
George Alagiah stated in an interview in January 2022 that his cancer would "probably get me in the end", but that he nonetheless felt "very lucky".
21.
In October 2022, George Alagiah announced that his cancer had spread further; he subsequently took a break from television to undergo a new course of treatment.