Wallace Greenslade
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| Wallace Greenslade | |
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| Born | Wallace P. Greenslade 1912 Formby, Merseyside |
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| Died | April 21, 1961 (aged 48) Old Avenue Lodge, Weybridge, Surrey |
| Burial place | Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge |
| Occupation | Announcer, newsreader |
Wallace Greenslade (1912 in Formby, Merseyside [1] – 21 April 1961 Weybridge, Surrey) was a BBC announcer and newsreader, but is mostly remembered for being the straight man in The Goon Show.
He was born at Formby in Lancashire. During the Second World War, he served as a Lieutenant commander in the Royal Naval Reserve for two and a half years and was then a purser with the P&O Line before joining the staff of the BBC in 1945.
His BBC career began in the European Service, where he was a presentation assistant and news reader. In 1949 he was appointed announcer, Home Service and after November 1955 he was a news reader in both radio and television. He was announcer for The Great Gilhooly, Star Show, The Goon Show and Variety Playhouse. In May and June 1960 he was the compère on the Today programme.
He died suddenly at his home at Old Avenue Lodge, Weybridge, Surrey on 21 April 1961 [2], and after a funeral service at St Mary’s Oatlands, near Weybridge on the 27th, was buried at Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge. At the following memorial service, John Snagge of the BBC gave an address. He left a wife, Carol.[3]
A radio play entitled Ying Tong - A walk with the Goons was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 4th April 2007. Not only did they say that he died in 1960 (instead of 1961) but they also said that he died in a pub toilet with a pint in his hand -"the way he'd want to go".
He was himself the subject of an episode of The Goon Show "The Greenslade Story" in December 1955.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Wallace Greenslade at the Internet Movie Database
- the alt.fan.wal-greenslade newsgroup was set up with the express purpose of announcing the formation of alt.fan.goons newsgroup and has seldom had any real traffic since.
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