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Nicholas Parsons

He had a lifelong interest in horology. Nicholas Parsons owned a large collection of antique clocks and watches, and as a trained engineer was able to maintain and repair them himself. He was a member of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.
He described himself in his autobiography as "the unconventional child of conventional parents".
In a The Benny Hill Show (1969) sketch, the vampire Dracula is waved away from a would-be victim not with a cross, but with a photo of Parsons smiling.
Outside the world of TV, he was probably best known as the presenter of BBC Radio 4's long running panel game "Just a Minute", also repeated on the BBC World Service.
He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to drama and broadcasting.

[speaking in 2004] Oh, we're an ageist society all right. You can say what you like about the old. If you made similar remarks about race or disability it would be embarrassing ... I have three comedy shows and lots of after dinner speaking engagements. I just think I'm so lucky to be working at my age.
[on Kenneth Williams] I think his whole persona, even his sex life, was with his audience. The adrenaline would pump and more adrenaline pumped in his system than others and the thing is that when you pump a lot of adrenaline, you slowly come off that high, and I think Kenneth went back to his little sparse little bare flat, and it was very austere, and so as the adrenaline ran down, all that angst would come out and then he'd write all these terrible things about all the people he knew and was fond of. It was very sad in one sense and that was his life.
[on his performance in The Curse of Fenric: Part One (1989)] I'm very flattered as I've always loved the show and it's nice to be associated with something which is a cult, but to be in one of the best episodes of a cult show has been to me one of the most treasured memories.
[on becoming a CBE] I think it's a very nice honour - I'm flattered and I'm delighted. I think honours are a wonderful thing to receive if you have worked hard and that is recognised. I don't understand these people who are pompous and say they don't want it.