David frost dies

David frost dies, Sir David Frost, the veteran broadcaster whose television career over six decades encompassed satire, gameshows and the celebrated interviews in which Richard Nixon apologised for Watergate, has died after suffering a heart attack aboard a cruise ship.

The 74-year-old presenter had been due to give a talk to guests on a tour of the Mediterranean on the Cunard liner the Queen Elizabeth, but was suddenly taken ill just hours after sailing from Southampton on Saturday.
A source on the ship said a “code alpha” medical emergency was announced to staff at 8.30pm and stewards found Sir David dead in his suite.

It is understood that he was travelling alone after Carina, his wife of 30 years, cancelled plans to join him for the cruise at the last minute.

Tributes poured in for Sir David, with fellow broadcasters celebrating his “huge influence" and the politicians who often found themselves disarmed by his charm hailing his “extraordinary ability” to draw the truth out of his interviewees.

Sir Michael Parkinson described him as a “remarkable man”, adding: “I was lucky to know him. He was extraordinary and inspired a generation - an incredibly talented man, adept at so many things, an all-rounder.

"He was part of the cultural opening up of the 1960s, and he broke boundaries.”
David Cameron added: "Sir David was an extraordinary man - with charm, wit, talent, intelligence and warmth in equal measure. He made a huge impact on television and politics.

"The Nixon interviews were among the great broadcast moments - but there were many other brilliant interviews. He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer."

Sir David’s father was a Methodist preacher who banned Sunday newspapers and television from his household.
But this did not stop his son from joining Footlights when he went to Cambridge and getting to know Peter Cook, John Bird, Jonathan Miller and other future stars of the 1960s satire scene.

Sir David’s big break in television came when he was signed up for a new satirical show called That Was The Week That Was, known affectionately as TW3, which was first broadcast by the BBC in November 1962.

He went on to host much-loved programmes such as The Frost Report in the 1960s, The Frost Programme in the 1970s and Frost on Sunday in the 1990s, persuading six American presidents, eight British prime ministers and countless celebrities to submit to his gentle but pointed questioning.

However, he was best known for his series of five interviews with Nixon in 1977, in which the former president finally said sorry for the Watergate scandal, admitting on camera: "I let down my friends. I let down the country.”

As well as frequently appearing on the BBC, he was instrumental in setting up two important television franchises: LWT in 1967 and TV-am in 1983. He had worked for Middle East-based broadcaster Al Jazeera English since 2006.

Sir David had regularly carried out paid speaking engagements on Cunard liners in the past. He interviewed Nelson Mandela on board the QE2 in Cape Town in 1998 and was due to give a talk on a cruise from Britain to New York on the Queen Mary 2 next month.

He left Southampton on the Queen Elizabeth, which carries up to 2,092 passengers, at about 4pm on Saturday. The liner is on a 22-night tour of the Mediterranean taking in Spain, France, Italy and Greece.

A steward onboard the ship told the Telegraph: "It was the first night of the cruise. There was a 'code alpha' at 8.30pm. Then the steward found him dead in the suite."

The captain announced Sir David’s death to passengers during the routine midday broadcast on Sunday. A source on board said the guests were mostly British and took the sad news without emotion.

The Queen Elizabeth will make a scheduled stop in Lisbon early on Tuesday, when it is expected that the broadcaster’s body will be removed and flown back to Britain.

Sir David’s wife and three sons were said to be “devastated”. They are planning to hold a family funeral soon, and details of a memorial service will be announced later.

He was still working on new projects when he died. He had been due to interview Mr Cameron in the coming days, and Al Jazeera is planning to broadcast two unscreened interviews he carried out recently with Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina and Hollywood actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

Stephen Fry, the actor and writer, said Sir David had sounded well and was full of plans and excited about moving house when he spoke to him on Friday.

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, described him as a “huge figure in broadcasting”, adding: “He had an extraordinary ability to draw out the interviewee, knew exactly where the real story lay and how to get at it, and was also a thoroughly kind and good natured man.”

Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Liberal Democrat leader, said: “His scrupulous and disarming politeness hid a mind like a vice. David Frost could do you over without you realising it until it was too late. He was a peerless broadcaster."

Peter Morgan, the playwright who wrote Frost/Nixon, the play and film based on Sir David’s interviews with Richard Nixon, said: “In many ways his success was very un-English. He was a pioneer. He combined being a satirist and someone who one satirised. It was an extraordinary, four-dimensional, vivid career.”

Michael Sheen, who played Sir David in the film of Frost/Nixon, added: “I even got to interview him at one point - he was as good an interviewee as he was an interviewer. He just radiated not only warmth as a person but enthusiasm for what he did.”

Peter Fincham, director of television at ITV, said Sir David was the "epitome of old school charm" and "one of the giants of television".

Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director-General, added: "You couldn't write the history of broadcasting today without realising the huge influence David had on it.

"From satire to comedy to the big political interviews, for more than 50 years he brought us the history of the world we live in today, that's the mark of the man.”

John Cleese, the comedian whose career was effectively launched by The Frost Report, said: "He was always fun and kind and interesting and I never heard him make a mean comment about anyone.

"I owe a great deal of my professional career to David and I am very grateful for what he did for me. Life is going to feel rather diminished by the loss of his welcoming, cheery and optimistic voice."
Jeremy Paxman, the Newsnight presenter, said: “I'll never forget the thrill of first watching That Was The Week That Was and suddenly realising that TV didn't have to be pompous and deferential.

“Frostie may not have invented the interview. But he took it to places it had never been before. He was a one-off.”
Peter Jay, the broadcaster and co-founder of TV-am, said: “Hugely successful though David’s career was, I have always thought that his outstanding qualities were not on screen.

“What made him unique were his personal attributes off-screen: as a friend, as a colleague, as an entrepreneur, as a master of detail, as somebody who made things happen and induced people to do things that they had many good reasons for saying ‘no’ to.”