Gyles Brandreth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gyles Brandreth | |
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Member of Parliament
for the City of Chester |
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| In office 1992 – 1997 |
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| Preceded by | Peter Morrison |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Christine Russell |
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|
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| Born | 8 March 1948 |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Occupation | Author, after dinner speaker |
Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born March 8, 1948 at a British Forces Hospital in Germany) is a celebrity, author and former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
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[edit] Career
After having moved to London with his parents aged three, Brandreth was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, Bedales School and New College, Oxford. He rose to the Presidency of the Oxford Union in 1970, also editing the University magazine, Isis. He went on to become a theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher as well as, later, turning TV presenter, appearing on Countdown and TV-am. He has also presented programmes on London's LBC radio at various times since 1973. He was renowned for his seemingly endless collection of jumpers, though many of the more outrageous examples were sold in a charity auction in 1993 and he has since displayed somewhat more restraint in his dress sense.
In the 1980s Brandreth wrote scripts for Dear Ladies, the television programme featuring Hinge and Bracket. Brandreth is also the creator of a stage show called Zipp! which enjoyed success at the Edinburgh Festival and had a short run in London's West End. He is in great demand as an after-dinner speaker, and he held the world record for the longest continuous after-dinner speech, at 12 and a half hours, done as a charity stunt.
He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), representing the City of Chester, from 1992 to 1997. He also served as a whip in John Major's government. He published a book of his diaries from his time as a whip, Breaking the Code. After his parliamentary career, he broadcast some of his reminiscences on BBC radio as Brandreth on Office and The Brandreth Rules in 2001, 2003 and 2005. He has stated an opposition to the UK's honours system, and said he will never accept one himself.
In September 2004, Brandreth's book on the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh, Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a marriage was published. In July 2005, he published another royal book named Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a love affair which is about the three-decade love affair between the newly-married Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall. He had previously written an authorised biography of John Gielgud, the actor, and many joke, comedy and children's books, as well as lipogrammic reworks of Shakespeare. One of his books, All Wrong on the Night, is a compilation of anecdotes about theatrical performances going wrong due to missed cues, faulty props or mangled dialogue. The book's title parodies a phrase often heard when a play is in rehearsal prior to its opening performance: anyone who misses a cue or commits any other error during rehearsal typically assures his colleagues that it will be "all right on the night" (of the opening).
He has also written two works of historical fiction, placing Oscar Wilde at the centre of two murder mysteries, working with Robert Sherard and Arthur Conan Doyle. They have been fairly well regarded publicly.
From 2003 to 2005 Brandreth hosted the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game Whispers. In August 2005, he appeared in a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2006, Brandreth appeared in the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme Living with the Enemy which he co-wrote with comedian Nick Revell, in which they appear as a former Conservative government minister and a former comedian. He appeared on the television series That Mitchell and Webb Look in the same year, satirising his appearances in Countdown's Dictionary Corner on the fictional game show Numberwang. In 2007, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio play I.D. He is also a regular on the Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute.
He is also a former European Monopoly champion[citation needed] and President of the Association of British Scrabble Players, having organised the first UK National Scrabble Championship in 1972.
Brandreth commentated on the Diamond Wedding Anniversary of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh on The One Show, Monday 19 November 2007 on BBC1.
[edit] Personal life
Brandreth has been married to Michele Brown since 8 June 1973. They met at Oxford University, where she was at St Anne's College, on a dormitory corridor with two other women - Edwina Currie and Mary Archer.
The couple have three children, and are also the founders of the Teddy Bear museum in Stratford-upon-Avon.
He has at various times claimed Jeremiah Brandreth, executed leader of the Pentrich Rising of 1817, as a 'forebear'. However, it is very unlikely that he is a blood relative.
[edit] Selected bibliography
- The Joy of Lex: How to Have Fun With 860,341,500 Words (1980). ISBN 0-688-01397-X
- The Book of Mistaikes (1982). ISBN 0-7088-2194-4
- The Scrabble Brand Puzzle Book (1984). ISBN 0-671-50536-X
- A Guide to Playing the Scrabble Brand Crossword Game (1985). ISBN 0-671-50652-8
- The Great Book of Optical Illusions (1985). ISBN 0-8069-6258-5
- The Scrabble Companion (1988). ISBN 0-09-172698-0 (with Darryl Francis)
- World Championship Scrabble (1992). ISBN 0-550-19028-7 (with Darryl Francis)
- Under the Jumper: Autobiographical Excursions (1993). ISBN 0-86051-894-9
- Venice Midnight (1999). ISBN 0-7515-2658-4
- Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries, 1992-97 (1999). ISBN 0-297-64311-8
- Brief Encounters: Meetings With Remarkable People (2001). ISBN 1-902301-95-1
- John Gielgud: An Actor's Life (2001). ISBN 0-7509-2690-2
- The Biggest Kids Joke Book Ever! (2002). ISBN 0-233-05062-0
- The Joy of Lex: An Amazing and Amusing Z to A and A to Z of Words (2002). ISBN 1-86105-399-1
- The Word Book (2002). ISBN 1-86105-398-3
- Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage (2004). ISBN 0-7126-6103-4
- Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a love affair (2005). ISBN 1-8441-3845-3
- Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders (2007). ISBN - 978-0719569302
- Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance (2008). ISBN - 978-1416534839
[edit] External links
- Gyles Brandreth at the Internet Movie Database
- Listen to The Brandreth Rules
- Gyles Brandreth's Official Website
- The Teddy Bear Museum
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Morrison |
Member of Parliament for the City of Chester 1992–1997 |
Succeeded by Christine Russell |
