David Frost facts for kids
Sir David Paradine Frost (born 7 April 1939 – died 31 August 2013) was a famous British television host, journalist, comedian, and writer. He became well-known in the early 1960s during a time when funny shows that made fun of serious topics, called "satire," were very popular in the UK. He was chosen to host a show called That Was the Week That Was in 1962.
His success on this show led him to work on American television. He became especially famous for his TV interviews with important political leaders. One of his most famous interviews was with former US President Richard Nixon in 1977. These interviews were so important that they were later turned into a play and a movie called Frost/Nixon.
David Frost interviewed all eight British Prime Ministers who served between 1964 and 2016. He also interviewed all seven American Presidents who were in office between 1969 and 2008.
He helped start the ITV television station TV-am in 1983. He was also the first host of the US news show Inside Edition. From 1993 to 2005, he hosted the Sunday morning interview show Breakfast with Frost for the BBC. He also hosted Through the Keyhole for twenty years, a show where he guessed who owned a house by looking at clues. From 2006 to 2012, he hosted Frost Over the World on Al Jazeera English.
David Frost received many awards for his work, including a special award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in 2005 and a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmy Awards in 2009.
He passed away on 31 August 2013, at the age of 74, while on a cruise ship where he was giving a speech. A special memorial stone for him was placed in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey in March 2014.
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Early Life and Education
David Paradine Frost was born in Tenterden, Kent, England, on 7 April 1939. His father, Wilfred John "W. J." Paradine Frost, was a church minister. David had two older sisters.
As a child, David lived in Gillingham, Kent. He was very good at sports, especially football and cricket. He was even offered a contract to play football for Nottingham Forest F.C.. For two years before going to university, he was a lay preacher, which means he gave sermons in church without being a full minister.
Frost studied at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, starting in 1958. He studied English and was the editor of the university's student newspaper, Varsity, and a literary magazine called Granta. He was also involved with the Footlights Drama Society, which included future famous actors like Peter Cook.
David Frost first appeared on television while at university, performing funny characters on a show called Town And Gown. He once said that the first time he was in a TV studio, "it felt like home."
After university, Frost trained at a TV company called Associated-Rediffusion. At the same time, he performed comedy shows at a nightclub in London.
That Was the Week That Was
David Frost was chosen to host a new satirical TV show called That Was the Week That Was, often called TW3. The show started in 1962 and quickly became very popular. It was a big part of the "satire boom" in Britain, where shows used humor to comment on current events and politics.
There was some friendly competition between Frost and another comedian, Peter Cook, who joked that Frost sometimes used similar ideas.
One memorable episode of TW3 happened on 23 November 1963. It was entirely dedicated to honoring the US President John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated the day before.
After the British series ended, an American version of TW3 also aired, with David Frost as the host.
After TW3
After the success of TW3, Frost hosted several other shows. One of them, The Frost Report, aired between 1966 and 1967. This show helped launch the careers of famous British comedians like John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett.
Frost then moved to another TV channel, ITV, to create an interview show called The Frost Programme. He interviewed important people like Oswald Mosley and Rhodesian leader Ian Smith. His famous opening words for his shows, "Hello, good evening and welcome," became his well-known catchphrase.
Frost was part of a group that started a new ITV station called London Weekend Television (LWT) in 1968. He was a presenter for the station in its early years. On 20 and 21 July 1969, he hosted a special ten-hour show called David Frost's Moon Party to celebrate Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.
In the late 1960s, Frost also started working in the film industry. His company helped make the musical film The Slipper and the Rose in 1976, which was a retelling of the Cinderella story.
In January 1972, David Frost was the special guest on the TV show This Is Your Life, where he was surprised by the host.
American Career (1968–1980)
In 1968, David Frost signed a big contract to have his own show on American television, called The David Frost Show. He continued to host shows in London at the same time.
In 1974, Frost interviewed the famous heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali before his big fight, "The Rumble in the Jungle". Ali famously told Frost, "Listen David, when I meet this man, if you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned, wait till I whip Foreman's behind."
The Nixon Interviews in 1977 were a major highlight of Frost's career. He conducted five 90-minute interviews with former US President Richard Nixon. The interviews were important because Nixon had not spoken much about the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation in 1974. During the interviews, Nixon expressed regret, saying, "I let the American people down and I have to carry that burden with me for the rest of my life." Frost also asked Nixon if a president could do something illegal if they thought it was "in the best interests of the nation." Nixon replied: "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal."
After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Frost was the last person to interview Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former leader of Iran, in January 1980.
In 1989, Frost was hired to be the main host of a new American news show called Inside Edition. However, he left after only three weeks because his serious style was not what the show's audience was looking for.
Later Career (After 1980)
David Frost was one of the five people who launched the TV station TV-am in February 1983. He hosted Frost on Sunday from September 1983 until the station closed at the end of 1992.
After that, his Sunday morning interview show Breakfast with Frost moved to the BBC. It ran from January 1993 until May 2005.
Frost also hosted Through the Keyhole, a popular show that ran from 1987 until 2008. On this show, he and other guests would try to guess who owned a house by looking at clues inside.
From 2006, Frost worked for Al Jazeera English, where he presented a weekly current affairs program called Frost Over The World. He interviewed many important people from around the world, including Tony Blair and President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan.
During his career, Frost flew on the Concorde airplane very often, traveling between London and New York about 20 times a year for two decades.
In June 2010, Frost presented a documentary for BBC Four called Frost on Satire, where he looked back at the history of satirical television.
Achievements
David Frost was the only person to have interviewed all eight British Prime Ministers who served between 1964 and 2016. These included Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, and David Cameron. He also interviewed all seven US Presidents who were in office between 1969 and 2008, including Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
He supported several charities, including the Motor Neurone Disease Association and the Alzheimer's Research Trust. He was also recognized for his help with the women's charity "Wellbeing for Women."
By 2006, David Frost was estimated to be very wealthy, though he felt the amount was an overestimate. His wealth came from his TV companies and homes.
Frost/Nixon
The story of David Frost's famous interviews with Richard Nixon was turned into a play called Frost/Nixon. It was written by Peter Morgan and first shown in London in 2006, then on Broadway in 2007. Frank Langella won an award for playing Nixon in the play.
The play was then made into a Hollywood movie, also called Frost/Nixon, which came out in 2008. Michael Sheen played David Frost, and Frank Langella played Nixon, just like in the play. The movie was directed by Ron Howard and was nominated for many important awards, including five Academy Awards.
Personal Life
David Frost had relationships with several well-known women. In 1981, he married Lynne Frederick, who was the widow of actor Peter Sellers, but they divorced the next year.
On 19 March 1983, Frost married Lady Carina Fitzalan-Howard. They had three sons together over the next five years. His second son, Wilfred Frost, followed in his father's footsteps and now works as a news anchor for Sky News and CNBC. The family lived in Chelsea, London, and had a weekend home in Hampshire.
Death
On 31 August 2013, David Frost was on a cruise ship called MS Queen Elizabeth when he died of a heart attack at the age of 74. The ship was on a ten-day cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. A medical examination later found that he had a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Sadly, Frost's son Miles also died from the same condition in 2015 at the age of 31.
A funeral service for David Frost was held on 12 September 2013, and he was buried in the churchyard at Nuffield, Oxfordshire.
On 13 March 2014, a special memorial service was held for him at Westminster Abbey, and a memorial stone was placed in Poets' Corner to honor him.
Tributes
Many people shared their thoughts and memories of David Frost after he passed away. British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Frost "could be—and certainly was with me—both a friend and a fearsome interviewer." Michael Grade, a TV executive, said that Frost was like a "television renaissance man" because he was good at so many different things, from interviewing serious politicians to winning comedy awards.
Selected Awards and Honours
- 1970: Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
- 1993: Knight Bachelor (meaning he was given the title "Sir")
- 2005: Fellowship of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
- 2009: Lifetime Achievement Award at the Emmy Awards
Images for kids
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Frost during an interview with Donald Rumsfeld in 2005
See also
In Spanish: David Frost (periodista) para niños
