Everything about Bamber Gascoigne totally explained
Bamber Gascoigne (born
24 January 1935 in London) is a British
television presenter and
author.
Biography
After attending
Eton College he studied
English literature at
Magdalene College, Cambridge, followed by a year at
Yale University (1958-59). He also did
National Service in the
Grenadier Guards.
He came to fame as the presenter of the popular television
quiz show,
University Challenge, in
1962, based on the US series
College Bowl. Although he's written several books, mostly on
history, and presented other television programs, his name is permanently connected with
University Challenge in the minds of many people - despite the fact that, since
1994, the show has been presented by
Jeremy Paxman.
In the program's early days, Gascoigne set all the questions himself. His style of presentation is often held up as an example of excellence. His questioning was firm yet polite, and his judgment scrupulously fair. Phrases he often used which became
catchphrases include: "Your starter for ten" and "I'll have to hurry you".
He returned in
1998 to present the
Red Dwarf special
Universe Challenge (a position he acquired by blowing up
Jeremy Paxman, who was played by
Chris Barrie, with a bazookoid, a weapon from the series), a contest between the actors of the show and a set of fans; the fans won by a narrow margin.
In the
1970s he presented
The Christians, a television
documentary series on the history of
Christianity.
In recent years he's devoted much of his time in establishing an online
history encyclopaedia called "History World"
(External Link
).
In the early hours of Wednesday
8 August 1979 Gascoigne was witness to the burial by
Kit Williams, the author of
Masquerade, of a valuable golden hare in an earthenware jar "somewhere in Britain". The treasure hunt which followed was pursued worldwide and chronicled in the book
Quest for the Golden Hare.
In the
Young Ones episode "
Bambi" he's parodied by
Griff Rhys Jones as "
Bambi Gascoigne" (with considerable emphasis being placed on the resemblance of his name to the
Disney character). He was also portrayed by actor
Mark Gatiss in the film
Starter for Ten (2006).
His name appears in one version of the
Monty Python "
Lumberjack Song" when
Michael Palin sings of the "Quercus maximus Bamber Gascoigneii", and in the Python song "
I Like Traffic Lights" the singer points out that his name isn't Bamber.
Bamber Gascoigne is also an authority on the history and techniques of
printmaking and graphic reproduction, with publications such as
Milestones in Colour Printing and
How to Identify Prints.
His latest project is
TimeSearch
which presents a number of timelines.
Select bibliography
- Bamber Gascoigne, How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Inkjet (ISBN 0-500-28480-6 )
- Bamber Gascoigne, A Brief History of Christianity (ISBN 1-84119-710-6 )
- Bamber Gascoigne, A Brief History of the Dynasties of China (ISBN 1-84119-791-2 )
- Bamber Gascoigne, Quest for the Golden Hare, Jonathan Cape, 1983 (ISBN 0-224-02116-8 )
- Bamber Gascoigne, Cod Streuth, Jonathan Cape, 1986 (ISBN 0-224-02388-8 )
- Bamber Gascoigne, Encyclopaedia of Britain, Macmillan, 1993 (ISBN 0-333-54764-0 )
Further Information
Get more info on 'Bamber Gascoigne'.
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