News

Sir David Frost died yesterday (August 31) after suffering a suspected heart attack on board the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.

Frost was born in Kent in 1939, the son of a minister. A keen footballer, he was offered a contract with Nottingham Forest Fc while at school, but chose to study English at Cambridge University instead.

It was here that he started out in journalism, editing the student newspaper Varsity and literary magazine Granta. He also became secretary of the Footlights club, where he met future comedy stars such as Peter Cook, Graham Chapman and John Bird.

Upon graduating, Frost became a trainee at ITV and was soon asked to host satirical show That Was The Week That Was in 1962. He went on to front a Us version of the programme for NBC, before presenting The Frost Report from 1966 to 1967, helping to launch the careers of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.

Sir David Frost, the veteran broadcaster and writer, has died of a suspected heart attack while traveling aboard the Queen Elizabeth where he was delivering a speech on Saturday night, according to the BBC. He was 74. Frost’s long career spanned journalism, heavy-hitting TV interviews, game show hosting and comedy writing. He notably conducted a series of televised sit-downs with former president Richard Nixon in 1977. They were the basis of a 2006 play by Peter Morgan, which was then adapted as Ron Howard’s 2008 film, Frost/Nixon. Michael Sheen played Frost and the film was nominated for five Oscars. In the early 1960s, Frost hosted the satirical program That Was The Week That Was on the BBC and also featured on an American version for NBC from 1964-1965. In 1968, he helped launch London Weekend Television, which is now part of ITV. His other on-air TV credits included The Frost Report, The David Frost Show,...

Odd List Mark Williams Jan 2, 2013

From superheroes in disguise to vain news anchors, Mark celebrates 12 particularly fine movie journalists...

With the news that Clark Kent has quit his job at the Daily Planet because of its preference for soft entertainment stories, the world of fictional journalism was rocked to its foundations. After all, he's been there since the Superman comics began in the 1940s, despite the lack of career progress. But, it seems the Man of Steel's civilian day-job has lost its appeal, and now he's going into business on his own.

Journalism is a topic that raises its head in films regularly across the genres, and it has provided some fine, and not so fine, examples of the hardy reporter, always on the lookout for the next scoop. Oftentimes, there is the route of the truth or the route of the fast buck, with the majority of those...