The Perfect Gentleman Issue 6 | Page 35

David Attenborough: The Legend by Zach Falconer-Barfield He is probably most famous for writing & presenting the Life Collection, which spans Life on Earth (1979) to Life in Cold Blood (2008). What makes him so special well Fraser McAlpine from BBC America web pages seemed to say it best when they described him thus “To British television viewers he is the kind uncle with a passion for the natural world and the infinite patience to show you everything. His serene, whispered tones…being akin to the greatest teacher you ever had, speaking about their most passionately-loved topic, for as long as you want.” In this Month’s review, in honour of the Sustainability Issue, we are doing something different, we are paying tribute to one individual who has made a plethora of creative content about the natural world, that man is David Attenborough. Here in the UK, he is simply put a living legend - and yet he is hardly as well known around the world, as he should be. He is charming, loveable, knowledge and passionate about the Natural World. He is a Gentleman of the highest order. David Attenborough is a broadcaster and naturalist, he has been presenting nature programmes since the 1950s and is still going strong at 90, still presenting & narrating programmes about his passion the natural world. David is the middle of three brothers; his eldest brother was the famous actor Richard Attenborough (a subject of a future Gentleman Icon piece we are sure). David has always been interested in the natural world and his brother remembers David being bowled over by a lecture by Grey Owl in 1936, which spurred the young boy on. His long history with the BBC started in the 1950s and his first appearance on television was in 1954, he then started his long and immensely successful partnership with the BBC Natural History unit. He has hardly been of our screens for seven decades. 5 Interesting facts about David Attenborough 1 - He commissioned ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ 2 - He is the only person to have won a BAFTA (UK Emmys) all TV mediums (Black & White, Colour, HD & 3D 3 - Has 15 species named after him including a spider, a shrimp & a dragonfly 4 - He is respected by everyone from Bjork to Barack Obama, both of whom wanted to meet him. 5 - Apart from the 2 degrees he studied for he has 32 Honorary UK Degrees, more than any other person. The Reviews 35