Celebrity: Sir Michael Parkinson
The king of the chat show reveals what makes him tick – and why he won’t do one again…
When we meet veteran broadcaster
Sir Michael Parkinson, 82, at his son
Nick’s Michelin-starred gastropub The Royal Oak, near Maidenhead, it’s apparent that he isn’t just passionate about interviewing public figures – he’s now turning his hand to music. He’s full of zeal over his new collection of songs, Our Kind of Music: The Great American Songbook.
‘What I’m trying to do is reflect the wonderful music created from the 1920s to the end of the 1960s, after which a new wonderful generation of people took over,’ Sir Michael says. ‘I consider it the greatest catalogue of popular songs in existence by some of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century.
‘The problem is, as I see it, having followed this music on the radio, I now can’t find it. So I’m on a one-man crusade, if you like.
‘This album is my tribute to the people who wrote, sang and played this music, and it features some of the greatest artists that have ever been – Irving Berlin, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.’
But Sir Michael is not trying to be a stick-in-the-mud and happily says he appreciates modern music, too.
‘I’m not denying that songwriters of equal talent worked all the way from the 1960s to today. Of that there is no doubt. Take your pick – The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Carole King. It is a different
kind of music, but equally it should be celebrated. The point I am making is all that is easily accessible. I can hear that music any day I want on any channel of any radio station. But what I can’t get is the earlier music – that’s what started me off down this road, that’s my problem.’
It is this straight-talking, sensible manner that made
Sir Michael, affectionately known as Parky, such a popular interviewer and presenter on national television.
His legendary chat show Parkinson ran on and off on British television screens from 1971 to 2007 and saw him interview around 2,000 celebrities over five decades, from Fred Astaire to Madonna to George Best.
And Sir Michael made interviews into an art form – softly probing with questions to get his interviewees to open up about their lives and what made them tick.
As an interviewee, he’s just as happy to open up about himself. He lights up when asked about his childhood growing up near Cudworth – the only child of John William and Freda.
‘I grew up in a safe environment. It wasn’t a pleasant environment – it was a mining village, and my dad was in and out of work, and we were poor. But what I never doubted was that my father loved my mother, and vice versa, and nor did I ever doubt that they loved me,’ he recalls.
‘So, I grew up a very happy and secure child. I went into the world with a clear head, and if I ever contemplate my past I think maybe the secret to it all is that I was happy.’
In every sense, Sir Michael is a traditionalist. He has been married to Mary, a former teacher, for nearly 60 years and has three sons: Michael the youngest, who runs his production company; Nick who owns the pub we are sat in; and Andrew, a television producer. So what are his tips for a long, happy marriage?
‘I don’t know, I couldn’t offer anybody any advice at all on the mystery of marriage!’ Sir Michael says. ‘You’re just very lucky if you find a partner you can live with for as long as you can. That’s the answer to it. I know exactly why we lasted, and that’s because we love each other.’
Of course, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. In 2013, the presenter revealed he had prostate cancer. He received the all-clear two years ago, but says he was never frightened.
‘I said “I’ll deal with it”, and I don’t take a pessimistic view of it,’ he says without any change in his demeanour.
‘It can come back at any time, you can never say I am totally free of all that. But it has been a long time since
I had it and I think it is important that all men get the message that they should get their prostate checked.’
Despite his health battles and chronological age, Parky seems like a man still in his prime, full of energy. What is his secret?
‘That is very flattering – I want that to be your opening sentence!’ he laughs. ‘There are no special diets or that malarkey. What I don’t want to be is on the waste heap and that, more than anything else, is the best motivation anyone growing old could have.’
But while he shows no signs of slowing down, he sadly has no desire to return to our television screens. When asked what it would take to make him come back, he says, ‘I don’t mind doing the odd show or appearance, but I don’t see myself in it full-time as it’s no longer my generation doing it. It’s quite right that there’s different, younger people in TV.
‘I had a great time. I was on television for nearly 60 years, and not many people can say that, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.’
However, he says there are still plenty of modernday celebrities he’d be happy to interview again if the opportunity ever presented itself. But they don’t include the actress Meg Ryan!
The episode in October 2003 has gone down in TV history due to the When Harry Met Sally star’s stony-faced reaction to his questions.
During the infamous encounter, Meg froze out the broadcaster, giving him only one-word answers until she told Sir Michael to ‘wrap it up’.
He laughs at the memory, revealing his good sense of humour.
‘Meg Ryan and I do not communicate, except for me to say, “All is forgiven, Meg, come home!”’
‘I don’t want to be on the waste heap
and that is the best motivation’