18 Facts About Norris McWhirter

Norris Dewar McWhirter was a British writer, political activist, co-founder of The Freedom Association, and a television presenter.

Norris McWhirter chose to complete his law degree in two years rather than the usual three.

Between 1943 and 1946, Norris McWhirter served as a sub-lieutenant with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on escort duty in Atlantic and on board a minesweeper in the Pacific.

Norris McWhirter recorded a time of 10.7s for the 100 metres whilst a student and later represented Scotland.

Norris McWhirter came to public attention while working for the BBC as a sports commentator.

At which the rest of Norris McWhirter's announcement was drowned out in the enthusiastic uproar.

Norris McWhirter was part of the BBC commentary team for their Olympic Games coverage between 1960 and 1976.

Norris McWhirter was an active member of the Conservative Party in the early 1960s and fought, unsuccessfully, to recapture Orpington in the 1964 and 1966 UK general elections after its loss to the Liberals in the 1962 by-election.

Norris McWhirter's brother, Ross, was a critic of British government policy in Northern Ireland, and called for a "tougher" response by the Army against Irish republicans.

Norris McWhirter was on the committee of the Free Czechoslovakia Campaign, founded by exiled Czech journalist Josef Josten in 1968 in response to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Norris McWhirter was a member of the secretariat of the anti-communist European Freedom Campaign, established in London at an inaugural rally at Westminster Central Hall on 10 December 1988.

Norris McWhirter was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1980 New Year Honours.

In 1957, Norris McWhirter married Carole Eckert, who died in 1987; they had a son and a daughter.

Norris McWhirter retired from The Guinness Book of Records in 1985, though he continued in an advisory role until 1996.

Norris McWhirter continued to write, editing a new reference book, Norris McWhirter's Book of Millennium Records, in 1999.

In 1985, he launched an unsuccessful defamation case against the Independent Broadcasting Authority for the TV programme Spitting Image, which had inserted a subliminal image of Norris McWhirter's face imposed on the body of a naked woman.

Norris McWhirter died from a heart attack at his home in Kington Langley, Wiltshire, on 19 April 2004, aged 78.

Norris McWhirter was interred at St Peter's Church, Kington Langley.