Christopher Nicholas Parsons was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter.
38 Facts About Nicholas Parsons
2.
Nicholas Parsons was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show Just a Minute and hosted the game show Sale of the Century during the 1970s and early 1980s.
3.
Nicholas Parsons became a full-time actor following the Second World War and began appearing in various theatre, film and television roles, including support to Arthur Haynes as his straight man.
4.
Nicholas Parsons began presenting Just a Minute in 1967 and never missed a show until 2018.
5.
Christopher Nicholas Parsons was born on 10 October 1923 at 1 Castlegate, Grantham, Lincolnshire; he was the middle child of the family, having an older brother and a younger sister.
6.
Nicholas Parsons's father, Paul, was a general practitioner whose patients included the family of Margaret Thatcher; claims that he delivered her are apocryphal.
7.
Nicholas Parsons's mother, Nell, nee Maggs, was a nurse before her marriage.
8.
Nicholas Parsons was born left-handed but was made to write with his right hand.
9.
Nicholas Parsons suffered from migraines but nevertheless excelled at school.
10.
At school, Nicholas Parsons' nickname was "Shirley" after the then-burgeoning American talent, Shirley Temple.
11.
Nicholas Parsons was 16 when his parents sent him from his relatively privileged home in London to the industrially-hardened city of Glasgow.
12.
Nicholas Parsons never graduated, but finished his apprenticeship and gained sufficient qualifications to become a mechanical engineer.
13.
Nicholas Parsons was offered a posting in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, but he did not join the service after falling seriously ill with pleurisy.
14.
Nicholas Parsons started his career while training as an engineering apprentice; he was discovered by Canadian impresario Carroll Levis, and appeared in his radio show.
15.
Nicholas Parsons made his stage debut in the West End as Kiwi in The Hasty Heart at the Aldwych Theatre in 1945 which ran for over a year, then played the lead in a tour of Arsenic and Old Lace.
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Nicholas Parsons made his film debut in Master of Bankdam in 1947 and continued his stage career, with two years in repertory at Bromley, and later, Windsor and Maidstone.
17.
Nicholas Parsons starred in the West End show Boeing-Boeing and other West End productions.
18.
Nicholas Parsons became known to TV audiences in the 1950s and 1960s as the straight man to comedian Arthur Haynes for ten years; the partnership broke up at Haynes' request.
19.
Subsequently, Nicholas Parsons returned to the stage, before becoming a regular on The Benny Hill Show from 1968 to 1971.
20.
Nicholas Parsons was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1978 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.
21.
Nicholas Parsons was the host of the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game Just a Minute from its first broadcast on 22 December 1967.
22.
In 1988, Nicholas Parsons appeared as himself in The Comic Strip episode "Mr Jolly Lives Next Door", alongside Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson.
23.
Nicholas Parsons featured in the original London cast of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods at the Phoenix Theatre in 1990 as the Narrator.
24.
Nicholas Parsons took the role of the Narrator in the 21st anniversary revival of the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 1994.
25.
In 2005 Nicholas Parsons was guest presenter on the BBC topical quiz show Have I Got News for You.
26.
Nicholas Parsons appeared opposite ex-wife Denise Bryer in the Big Finish adaptation of the Gerry Anderson series Terrahawks, playing the ex-husband of Bryer's character, Zelda.
27.
In October 2016, at the age of 92, Nicholas Parsons presented the BBC documentary The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch, following the story of the Marie Antoinette watch created by Abraham-Louis Breguet, and allowing him to indulge his lifelong fascination with horology.
28.
Nicholas Parsons played himself and provided the voice of Dagon, Lord of the Files in Good Omens, filmed between 2017 and 2018.
29.
Nicholas Parsons was a leading member of the Grand Order of Water Rats charity and was King Rat in 2019.
30.
Nicholas Parsons was a patron of the British Stammering Association and was the president of the charity the Lord's Taverners from 1998 to 1999, a charity that he joined in 1964 and remained a member of until his death.
31.
Nicholas Parsons was an Ambassador for Childline and The Silver Line.
32.
Nicholas Parsons was a supporter of the Liberal Party and the Liberal Democrats.
33.
Nicholas Parsons was invited to stand as a Liberal Party candidate for Yeovil in the 1970s, but he turned down the opportunity in order to remain in the entertainment industry.
34.
Nicholas Parsons was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to drama and broadcasting.
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Nicholas Parsons was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for charitable services, especially to children's charities.
36.
Nicholas Parsons held the Guinness World Record for the longest after-dinner speech until it was reclaimed by former holder Gyles Brandreth.
37.
Nicholas Parsons was first married to actress Denise Bryer in 1954; together they had two children.
38.
Nicholas Parsons was a keen cricket fan, both as a player and supporter, and had a lifelong enthusiasm for clocks.