Biography

February 5, 1920 · Broadstairs, Kent, England, UK

January 2, 1998 · Thorpe, Surrey, England, UK (unknown, possibly stroke)

Frank Herbert Muir

1.98 m

Two children: Jamie (born 1952) and Sally (born 1954).

He was sent to Los Angeles by the BBC in the early 1970s to interview Groucho Marx for television - an occasion so disastrous that he later wrote about it at length, and often recalled it in interviews. Groucho proved extremely fractious, was sour and unfriendly throughout, used a great deal of coarse language, was utterly unwilling to be affectionate about anyone and told a great many tasteless and slanderous stories about beloved film stars. A large part of the several hours of interview footage was deemed by BBC lawyers to be actionable in law, and most of what remained was too unpleasant to be screened. At the end of the interview session, Muir and Groucho found a common bond in their fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan and sang a few duets together. When the show was finally shown, it was noticeable that there was relatively little conversation, an awful lot of extracts from Marx Brothers movies, and rather more Gilbert and Sullivan than anyone might have expected.

He led a campaign to have the veteran film critic Dilys Powell made a Dame of the British Empire. This campaign found many supporters, but was unsuccessful.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to broadcasting.