Kenneth Kendall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kenneth Kendall (born 7 August 1924) is a retired British broadcaster. He was a contemporary of Richard Baker and Robert Dougall. Although he worked for many years as a newsreader for the BBC, he is perhaps best known as the host of the game show Treasure Hunt.

Kendall was born in South India and educated at Felsted School and Oxford University. He served in the Coldstream Guards during World War II and was injured on D-Day. He joined the BBC in 1948 as a radio newsreader and transferred to television in 1954. Though he was not the first person to read the news on BBC television (that honour falling to Richard Baker), Kendall was the first newsreader to appear in vision. From 1961 to 1969 he was a freelance newsreader, working occasionally for Independent Television News. He appeared in a cameo role as a newsreader in 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as in the Doctor Who episode The War Machines. He rejoined the BBC in 1969 and retired from newsreading in 1981, allowing him to work on Treasure Hunt throughout its run.

He now lives on the Isle of Wight.