Eamonn Andrews
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Eamonn Andrews (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish born television presenter in the United Kingdom.
Andrews was born in Synge Street, Dublin, Ireland, the same street in which playwright George Bernard Shaw was born. He was educated at the local school Synge Street CBS He began his career as an amateur boxer and went on to be a sports commentator on Radio Éireann. In 1950, he began presenting programmes for the BBC and soon moved on to become one of television's most popular presenters. Series with which he was associated included:
- What's My Line? (1951-1963 and 1984-87)
- This Is Your Life (1955-1987)
- World of Sport (1965-1968)
- Crackerjack (children's series)
He chaired the Radio Éireann Authority between 1960 and 1964, overseeing the introduction of Television to Ireland and establishing the Irish State Broadcaster as an independent Semi-State body.
He was famous for coming up with off-the-cuff linkings which didn't work — such as 'speaking of cheese sandwiches, have you come far?' and so on. This was parodied by Seamus Android in the BBC radio programme Round the Horne in the 1960s.
In the late sixties, at the height of the cold war and the horrors of Vietnam, he showed his serious side when at his own expense he interviewed many notables to ask them their current opinions, and what they thought the world would be like twenty years into the future. He planned to invite them back, to screen what they had said, and to chat about how far off or on they were. He never lived to record the second part, but the tapes exist in the family's archives, and have never been viewed.
He died from heart failure in November 1987, aged 64. His widow Grainne died eighteen months later.
Eamonn Andrews is also the name of a linking composition by the 1970s British avant-rock band Soft Machine. It was named after Eamonn because it was an off-the-cuff link between unrelated pieces in their live sets. Over time, it came into its own as a major part of the live Soft Machine repertoire. [citation needed]
Cornish producer and recording artist Luke Vibert paid tribute to Andrews by releasing a series of hardcore & jungle EPs on Rephlex Records under the pseudonym of "Amen Andrews", featuring a picture of the real Andrews on the second side of all 5 EPs.
