David Dickinson
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David Dickinson (born David Gulessarian, 16 August, 1941 in Stockport, Cheshire) is a British antiques expert and television presenter of Armenian ancestry.
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[edit] Biography
Dickinson was born in Stockport to an unmarried mother, Eugenie Gulessarian. Eugenie was a member of Armenian textile trading family, whose father had moved from Istanbul to Manchester, England in 1904. Dickinson had corresponded with his biological mother in her later life in Jersey, but they never met. Dickinson's biological father is unknown.
David was adopted by local couple Mr & Mrs Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson died when David was 12, and as his adoptive mother worked hard to keep the family together, David was in part brought up by his French grandmother. Dickinson began an apprenticeship at an aircraft factory when he was 14, but quickly left to work in the cloth trade in central Manchester. At age 19 Dickinson served four years in prison, the majority spent at Strangeways in Manchester, for fraud [1].
He began working as an antiques dealer 30 years ago, when he worked full time as agent to his wife, who was a cabaret singer. While she was working, Dickinson spent time visiting antique shops and learning from the trade - he believed this was due to his approach, in "chatting up and generally charming" the dealers. Eventually he opened his own shop with old school friend Chris Haworth in Disley. The pair sold the first shop in 1980, and opened another in Wilmslow for three years - but it was not a success, and they dissolved the partnership.
Dickinson set up again in Manchester with assistance of an old customer as silent partner, and the business ran until 1991 when, in light of forthcoming recession, the shop was closed. Dickinson decided to concentrate on selling antiques at prestigious fairs, taking stands at Olympia and other major antiques fairs three or four times a year, dealing in 18th and 19th century furniture and works of art.
[edit] TV Career
In 1998, a chance meeting with a TV producer at a barbecue lead to Dickinson's TV appearance, a two-part documentary for the BBC made about him and his preparation for a show at Olympia. His dark complexion (often implied to be a fake tan, but he claims that it's due to his Armenian ancestry) and numerous catchphrases quickly caught the viewers attention. He will often ask female contestants "Do you mind if I call you girls?", describe particularly excellent items as "real bobby-dazzlers" (and conversely, poor items as "a load of tat") and refer to anything he considers a bargain as being "Cheap as chips!"
Dickinson came to public attention as an antiques expert on This Morning, owing in part to his facial resemblance to the fictional antiques dealer Lovejoy as portrayed on television by Ian McShane. But his fame came from presenting the game show Bargain Hunt on the BBC. The show had a cult following in the United Kingdom, largely among students and the unemployed, owing to its daytime slot. A weekly evening slot, added later, brought him to the attention of a wider public.
After the evening version of Bargain Hunt was axed, and having been replaced by Tim Wonnacott on the daytime slot, he went on to present a new show, Dealing With Dickinson, which first aired on BBC1 on 17 July 2005.
Dickinson now has a new series on ITV1 called Dickinson's Real Deal which broadcasts on weekdays on ITV1 at 2.30pm.
[edit] Guest Appearances
Dickinson appeared on the ITV reality show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, where he first announced that he had used heroin in his younger years. He also presented information slots for viewers on how to bid on satellite shopping channel Bid TV.
Dickinson explored his family background in an episode of the third series of the BBC genealogical documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?[2] broadcast in the UK on 4 October, 2006. He was able to trace relatives in both the UK and Istanbul.
On one radio episode of Dead Ringers, The Doctor (voiced by Jon Culshaw) phoned up Dickinson to ask him how much he could get for a Magnetic Core Extractor that was believed to be owned by the Doctor when he was Jon Pertwee. Dickinson described it as "a bit of a bobby dazzler".
[edit] Personal life
Dickinson met his wife-to-be in a nightclub in the 1960s - the international cabaret artist Lorne Lesley, and they've now been married for over thirty years. As a wedding gift Lorne gave David an antique regency mourning ring, set with a rose cut diamond. Lorne is half African and half Welsh and hails from Tiger Bay, Cardiff. The couple live in the village of Bollington, Cheshire and have two grown-up children, and also grand children.
Dickinson's nickname is "The Duke", a play on the fact that he is a big Elvis Presley ("The King") fan and a reference to his smart but slightly eccentric dress sense. He likes to buy his suits from Sunny fashion (Bangkok Tailors) as they are "cheap as chips" as he puts it. He drives a bright blue Bentley Continental GT.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.david-dickinson.net/david-dickinson-bargain-hunting-books/david-dickinson-bargain-hunting-books.htm
- ^ "BBC ONE Autumn 2006", BBC, 2006-07-18.
