David Attenborough is popularly known as a mandarin in electronic media and a naturalist, conservationist. He is also a husband and a father. He was married to the late Elizabeth Oriel and had two children, Robert and Susan. David’s love for nature led him to become a naturalist and producer of wildlife documentaries.
Some of his famous natural history documentaries include Life on Earth, David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef, The Frozen Planet, Nature’s Great Event and more. He built his career at the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) in London, where he served zealously and achieved several milestone achievements.
Biography: How old is David Attenborough?
David Attenborough was born Sir David Frederick Attenborough in Isleworth, Middlesex, London. He is the second child of Academia Frederick Attenborough and Mary Cregg. He was born on May 8, 1926. He is the brother of Richard Attenborough, producer and director at the BBC, and John Attenborough, senior executive of an Italian automobile company. However, her two brothers are now late.
He grew up on the campus of Leicester College, run by his father. He attended Wygeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester for his basic education. Due to his love for nature and his devotion to nature, he was awarded a scholarship to study at Clare College, Cambridge. There he studied zoology and geology and, upon graduation, was called up for service in the Royal Navy. He hoped his calling up to the Navy would allow him to see the whole world from when he was stationed on a ship in North Wales.
As a young child, David was already fascinated by nature. By the age of 7, he had collected and assembled bird eggs, fossils, stones and natural specimens to create his own “museum” to the admiration of many people. At age 11, when he discovered that the zoology department on the campus where he lived needed newts, he offered to source them through his father, which he eventually did.
A remarkable experience which reinforced David’s interest in nature was a lecture given by Gray Owl in 1963 at De Montfort Hall, Leicester. The conference focused on nature conservation and how humanity was endangering the ecosystem. It has been reported that the theme of this conference remains a core David creed to this day.
Career
The zoologist turned naval officer later discovered himself as a publisher soon after leaving the navy. David was responsible for editing children’s science textbooks for a publishing company. However, soon after, David no longer found satisfaction in this work. As a result, he decided to apply for a position as a senior radio producer and he was rejected, but the setback became a breakthrough, as his CV caught the attention of the head of the “Talks” (factual broadcasting) department of the BBC television service, Mary Adams..
Adams offered David a three month training course in his department and in 1952 David joined the BBC fully. At first, David refused to appear on camera, fearing he had big teeth. He therefore concentrated more behind the camera and became a producer in the discussion department. His early productions included programs such as Animals, Vegetables and Minerals? and Songwriter
David Attenborough’s association with history programs began soon after his first non-fiction films. His first nature program, produced and presented by him, was a three-series documentary titled Animal Patterns. As part of this program, David met Jack Luster, the creator of the Reptile House. Together they decided to do a series about an animal collecting expedition, which gave birth to the program. Zoo Quest. It first aired in 1954 with David as presenter.
He rose from producer to head of department and later became controller still working with the BBC. As Controller, he checked in a lot for the company and made changes that improved the overall performance of the company. One of these changes was the introduction of a series of shows on BBC 2 which defined the channel’s identity for decades.
In 1969, David Attenborough was promoted to director of programs. This brought with it higher responsibilities, as it put him in charge of producing both BBC channels.
Despite his recorded success at the BBC, he quit in 1973 to return to full-time natural history documentary programming. After retiring, David became a freelance journalist and produced numerous natural history and wildlife documentaries and series around the world. Some of which include : Life on Earth, Lost Worlds, Departed Lives, First Eden, Attenborough’s Journey, First Life among many others.
Recently he was among the presenters of BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day which started in September 2014. Most recently in 2018 David became the narrator of a five part series called Dynasties and is set to narrate another documentary series in eight parts titled Our Planet in 2019.
Awards and recognitions
David Attenborough’s contribution to broadcasting and nature cinema has brought him international recognition. This recognition has led to various prestigious awards, honorary titles, styles and distinctions. He has already been described as the greatest broadcaster of our time. He also inspired and influenced a generation of nature and wildlife filmmakers.
Among a variety of awards, he won the BAFTA Desmond Davis Award (1970), Royal Geographical Society Cherry Kearton Medal and Medal (1972), Command of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to 1974 Anniversary Nature Conservation, BAFTA Fellowship (1980) Kew International Media (1996) etc.
Net value
The media personality has had an incredible and illustrious career in broadcasting since the early 1900s; therefore, it is not surprising that it is worth a lot. David Attenborough is worth £35million.
Who is David Attenborough’s wife? Kids
David married Elizabeth Jane Ebsworth Oriel in 1950. They were married for 47 years until her death from a brain haemorrhage in 1997. Elizebeth was from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Little is known about their love life and marriage. The only certain fact is that she had two children for David – Susan and Robert.
Little is also known about the birthdates or childhood of their children, only that Susan and Robert are currently in their 50s. Robert is a senior lecturer and teaches bioanthropology at the School of Archeology and Anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra, while Susan was a primary school principal.
In an interview with Louise Theroux, David admitted that his only regret was not seeing his children grow up due to his extensive travels.