Terry Wogan

At the age of 15, after his father was promoted to general manager, Wogan moved to Dublin with his family. While living there, he attended Crescent College's sister school, Belvedere College. He participated in amateur dramatics and discovered a love of rock and roll. After leaving Belvedere in 1956, Wogan had a brief career in the banking profession, joining the Royal Bank of Ireland. While in his twenties, he joined the national broadcaster of Ireland, RTÉ (Raidió Teilifís Éireann), as a newsreader and announcer after seeing a newspaper advertisement inviting applicants.

On 25 April 1965, Wogan married Helen Joyce, and they remained married until his death. They lived in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, with another home in Gascony, southwestern France. Sir Terry and Lady Wogan had four children (one of whom, a daughter Vanessa, died when only a few weeks old) and five grandchildren. In 2010, Wogan described the anguish he felt on the loss of his baby daughter.

Wogan conducted interviews and presented documentary features during his first two years at Raidió Teilifís Éireann, before moving to the light entertainment department as a disc jockey and host of TV quiz and variety shows such as Jackpot, a top rated quiz show on RTÉ in the 1960s. When the show was dropped by RTÉ TV in 1967, Wogan approached the BBC for extra work. David Attenborough rebuffed Wogan's job application to be a BBC presenter as "to have two Irishmen presenting on BBC Two would have looked ridiculous". He began working for BBC Radio, initially 'down the line' from Dublin, first broadcasting on the Light Programme on 27 September 1966. He presented the Tuesday edition of Late Night Extra for two years on BBC Radio 1, commuting weekly from Dublin to London. After standing-in for Jimmy Young's mid-morning show, whilst he took a holiday throughout July 1969, he was offered a weekday afternoon slot which began on 29 September that year.

In 1971, and from 1974 until 1977, Wogan provided the BBC's radio commentary for the Eurovision Song Contest. He became known for his television commentary, which he handled first in 1973, again in 1978, then every year from 1980 until 2008. He co-hosted the 1998 contest with Ulrika Jonsson, in Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on 9 May. Wogan was the third person in the contest's history to combine the roles of presenter and commentator. When not on stage, he was in his private booth providing the necessary TV commentary to BBC viewers. From 1977 until 1996, Wogan hosted the UK selection show each year, returning to the job in 1998, and again from 2003 until 2008. In 1973, 1975, every year from 1977 until 1984, and again in 1994, Wogan also presented the UK Eurovision Song Contest Previews on BBC 1.

In April 1972, he took over the breakfast show on BBC Radio 2, swapping places with John Dunn, who briefly hosted the afternoon show. Wogan achieved record estimated audiences of up to 7.9 million. His seemingly ubiquitous presence across the media meant that he frequently became the butt of jokes by comedians of the time, among them The Goodies and The Barron Knights. He released a parody vocal version of the song "The Floral Dance" in 1978, by popular request from listeners who enjoyed hearing him sing over the instrumental hit by the Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band. His version reached number 21 in the UK Singles Chart. In December 1984, Wogan left his breakfast show to pursue a full-time career in television and was replaced by Ken Bruce. His first chat show, Wogan's World, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 6 June 1974 to 21 September 1975.

Wogan's first foray into TV interviewing, and indeed to British television, was in 1972 on Lunchtime with Wogan on ITV. Later, What's On, Wogan? ran for one series in 1980 on BBC1, primarily on early Saturday evenings. In 1981 he had a chance to host a one-off chat show, Saturday Live. Among his guests on this show were Larry Hagman, promoting the film S.O.B., and Frank Hall. Hagman was at the height of his fame, which gave the show a high-profile.

Wogan was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1978, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Broadcasting House.

Wogan's television profile was boosted considerably when he became the first-ever host of Blankety Blank in 1979. His good-humoured interaction with the contestants and lively banter with the celebrity guests went a long way to making the show a success. Among the guests who appeared most frequently and memorably during this period were Roy Hudd, Beryl Reid, Lorraine Chase and, in particular, Kenny Everett, who became famous for snapping Wogan's stick-like microphone in half. Wogan left the show after the 1983 series, just over a year before his thrice-weekly chat show commenced.

In 1980, the BBC's charity appeal for children was first broadcast as a telethon called Children in Need, with Wogan presenting alongside Sue Lawley and Esther Rantzen. He campaigned extensively for the charity, and often involved himself via auctions on his radio show, or more directly by taking part in well-publicised sponsored activities.

Wogan narrated the BBC television series Stoppit and Tidyup, which was broadcast in 1987.

The BBC stopped an interview in 1989 with Simon Hayward, a former captain in the Life Guards, hours before he was due to appear on the Wogan show. Hayward insisted that he was innocent of drug smuggling offences. The decision was taken by the then Controller of BBC 1, Jonathan Powell, after protests from several MPs. The BBC was accused of censorship and a Conservative MP, John Gorst, described the decision to ban Hayward from Wogan as "outrageous".

Wogan was released from his talk-show contract in 1992, after pressure from the BBC. He said that the BBC also wanted his scheduling slot for the ill-fated soap Eldorado. After Eldorado took over the 7 pm slot, Wogan briefly hosted a new weekly chat strand Terry Wogan's Friday Night in 1993, but this series was not recommissioned.

In January 1993, he returned to BBC Radio 2, replacing Brian Hayes to present the breakfast show, then called Wake Up to Wogan, which began with a preview show on the mid morning of Boxing Day 1992. His tendency to go off on rambling, esoteric tangents, often including banter with his then producer, Paul Walters, became popular with both younger and older listeners. Much of the entertainment came from letters and emails sent in by listeners, many of whom adopted punning pseudonyms. One occasion involved Wogan reading out an email from someone using the name "Tess Tickles", without realising what the name was referring to, prompting Paul Walters' standard reply in such situations – "I only print 'em!"

Wogan was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997, and later became an Honorary Knight Commander of the same order (KBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005. After asserting his right to British citizenship and retaining his Irish citizenship that year, Wogan was officially knighted on 11 October 2005, allowing him to use the style "Sir". On 29 May 2007, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire.

Through his show Wogan was also widely credited with launching the career of singer Katie Melua, after he repeatedly played her début single, "The Closest Thing to Crazy", in late 2003. When she performed on Children in Need in 2005, Wogan joked that Melua owed her career to him. He gave credit for her discovery to Walters. Walters also put music by Eva Cassidy, an American singer who had died in relative obscurity, on Wogan's playlist; Cassidy then, posthumously, became a sensation in the United Kingdom.

In 2004, he received an Honorary D.Litt. degree from the University of Limerick, as well as a special lifetime achievement award from his native city. He received an Honorary LL.D. degree from Leicester University in 2010.

Wake Up to Wogan attracted an estimated audience of eight million in 2005. That figure was surpassed in 2008, as Wogan's show held off a challenge from Radio 1 for listeners during the breakfast slot. According to figures leaked to British newspapers in April 2006, Wogan was the highest-paid BBC radio presenter at that time, with an £800,000-a-year salary. In an interview with Britain's Hello! magazine in its 30 May 2006 issue, Wogan confirmed this, saying that he represented good value. On 23 May 2005, Wogan crossed BBC strike picket lines to present his show.

Wogan was forced off the air on 16 February 2007, when steam from a nearby gym set off fire alarms. For 15 minutes an emergency tape played non-stop music. On returning, Wogan read out several light hearted comments from listeners, saying that they thought he had died with his sudden disappearance and the playing of such sentimental music. On 7 September 2009, Wogan confirmed to his listeners that he would be leaving the breakfast show at the end of the year with Chris Evans taking over. The Times published an ode to Terry: "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone. Terry Wogan is abandoning his microphone", and novelist Allison Pearson commented: "Heard the one about the Irishman who reminded the British of what they could be at their best? His name was Terry Wogan." Wogan presented his final Radio 2 breakfast show on 18 December 2009.

During the 2007 BBC show Making Your Mind Up, in which the British public voted to decide their Eurovision entry, Wogan announced, wrongly, that the runner-up Cyndi was the winner. The winner was the group Scooch; according to the BBC, Wogan was provided with the correct result during the live show.

On 15 June 2007, Wogan's home city of Limerick honoured him with the Freedom of the City at a ceremony in Limerick's Civic Hall. Because of his long absence from the city and unflattering remarks about the city in a 1980 interview, the local press carried out a vox pop, which resulted in support for the award. He was made an honorary freeman of the City of London in 2009, and invited to raise the bascules of Tower Bridge.

In the 2008 contest, the UK's entry, Andy Abraham, came last, much to Wogan's disappointment. Wogan argued that Abraham gave a better performance than the entries from Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At the 2008 contest he was acknowledged by both hosts, along with France's Jean Paul Gaultier and Finland's 2007 Contest host Jaana Pelkonen.

On 11 August 2008, Wogan said in an interview with the Radio Times magazine that he was doubtful about presenting the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom again. On 5 December 2008, Wogan stepped down from the role after 35 years. Graham Norton succeeded Wogan as BBC commentator for the 2009 contest.

He appeared on the panel comedy show QI in the 2008 episode for Children in Need, 'Families'.

In 2008, Wogan and singer Aled Jones released a single "Little Drummer Boy"/"Peace on Earth", which got to number three in the UK music charts. The money raised went to BBC Children in Need. The two recorded a second Christmas single "Silver Bells" in 2009, which was also in aid of BBC Children in Need.

Wogan was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame at a gala dinner held in his honour on 10 December 2009. Wogan was announced as the Ultimate Icon of Radio 2, commemorating the station's 40th birthday. The shortlist of sixteen candidates had been published on the BBC Radio 2 website, and the winner was announced live on Radio 2 during a one-off special edition of Family Favourites by host Michael Aspel on 30 September 2007. He praised his fellow nominees, the Beatles, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Nelson Mandela during his acceptance speech, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, and he chose Nat King Cole's recording of "Stardust" as his iconic song of the last 40 years. Wogan had chosen the song twice before as his favourite record on Desert Island Discs, and said he wanted to be buried with it.

In 2010, Wogan made a cameo appearance in the second series of Being Human, and also guest-hosted the fourth episode of the 24th series of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. The following year, Wogan hosted Wogan on Wodehouse for BBC Two. In 2011 he appeared as a panellist on Would I Lie To You.

On 21 September 2013, Wogan appeared as a panellist on ITV game show Through the Keyhole. In November 2013, he participated in a celebrity edition of the BBC One game show Pointless, with celebrities including Bobby Ball and Esther Rantzen, in aid of Children in Need.

In April 2013, Wogan attended the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after being invited by her family.

In November 2014, Wogan reviewed Norton's autobiography for The Irish Times. Describing his attitude towards the contest, he wrote that he saw it as a "sometimes foolish farce". He hinted that the 2014 winner, Austrian drag act Conchita Wurst, was a "freakshow". After Wogan's death, his presentation of the contest was criticised for its mocking tone.

On 31 March 2014, Wogan was a guest reporter on Bang Goes the Theory, on which he discussed old-age dementia. From 12 to 16 May 2014, Wogan appeared on the Channel 4 game show Draw It!. On 10 November 2014, in the run up to that year's Children in Need telethon, Wogan guest hosted an episode of The One Show with Alex Jones. He also presented a series called Terry and Mason's Great Food Trip with the cab driver Mason McQueen in 2015, in which the duo travelled all over Britain eating regional food.

Wogan continued to host the show until his final broadcast on Remembrance Sunday 2015, due to his declining health with cancer. It then continued with guest hosts until the end of that month, after which, regular cover show Madeley on Sunday presented by Richard Madeley filled the slot temporarily. Michael Ball then permanently took over the slot in April 2016, three months after Wogan's death.

Wogan presented Wogan Now and Then (2006), a show where he interviewed guests from his old chat show, as well as new guests. BBC Two launched a new compilation series, Wogan: the Best Of in 2015, featuring selected interview segments and music performances from Wogan's past chat series, linked by new introductions from Wogan.

Wogan was the main regular presenter of Children in Need between 1980 and 2014. In November 2015, Wogan was unable to participate in the live televised Children in Need appeal for the first time in its 35-year history, due to poor health after a surgical procedure on his back. He did, however, make a brief appearance as part of a pre-recorded sketch. He was replaced by Dermot O'Leary. Prior to his death, Wogan hoped to return to Children in Need in 2016, carrying on as main presenter.

Wogan's health declined following Christmas 2015. He did not present Children in Need, complaining of back pain as the reason for his absence from the long-running annual show. His friend, Father Brian D'Arcy, visited him during January, and noticed he was seriously ill. He died of cancer, aged 77, on 31 January 2016, at his home. British Prime Minister David Cameron said that "Britain has lost a huge talent" and President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins praised Wogan's career and his frequent visits to his homeland. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton remembered Wogan for his role in helping Anglo-Irish relations during the Troubles. D'Arcy speculated that a public funeral would be logistically difficult, as there would be too many people wanting to pay their respects.

After Wogan's death on 31 January 2016 and his private funeral a few weeks later, a public memorial service was held on 27 September the same year. The public service featured a number of his celebrity friends making speeches, such as Chris Evans and Joanna Lumley. It was opened by a recording of Sir Terry Wogan himself and was held at Westminster Abbey. The service was broadcast live on BBC Radio 2.

In February 2016, a memorial montage was aired as part of the United Kingdom's selection show for the 2016 Eurovision Song contest, Eurovision: You Decide.

On 16 November 2016, the BBC renamed BBC Western House, home of BBC Radio 2, in his memory to BBC Wogan House.