Nick Owen
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| Nick Owen | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 1, 1947 |
| Years active | none |
| Spouse(s) | Jill Owen (née Lavery) |
| Official website | |
Nick Owen is an English television presenter, presenting Midlands Today since 1997.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Born Nicholas Owen on November 1, 1947 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, to father Bertie, a headmaster and Dunkirk veteran, and mother Esme (nee Burton), a music teacher. He attended Kingsland Grange prep school, an independent boarding school in Shrewsbury, from the ages of 7-13, then Shrewsbury School itself from the ages of 13-18. While at Kingsland Grange, Owen borrowed a Cliff Richard record from Bob Warman, who later went on to become the longest serving regional news presenter on ATV / Central in the Midlands.
[edit] Early career
After three years studying Classics at the University of Leeds, and receiving his degree in 1969, Owen's first job was as a graduate trainee on the Doncaster Evening Post. After two years of reporting on town hall debates, Owen moved to a job at the Birmingham Post, where he covered local football among other duties. He started working for the BBC's local radio station Radio Birmingham in 1974. His first live broadcast was an early morning news bulletin during the Les Ross show.
[edit] TV career
He joined ATV in 1978. He later became a presenter at Central TV, teaming up with Anne Diamond. He went on to present Good Morning Britain on TV-am in 1983, co-presenting it with Anne Diamond until 1986. He then became a presenter for ITV Sport after leaving TV-am until 1993 presenting Midweek Sports Special and also presented ITV's coverage of the 1990 World Cup as well as the game show Sporting Triangles. From 1992 to 1996 he co-presented Good Morning with Anne and Nick on BBC One. At first this was a hit show, but eventually was axed due to falling ratings.
He is currently the main presenter on Midlands Today with Suzanne Virdee, the BBC regional television news programme for the West Midlands. He is well known for his awful jokes and puns, usually connected to light hearted stories. In the fictional world of Alan Partridge, he is friends with the chat show host, and is thought by some to have partially inspired the Partridge character who, like him, moved from sports reporting to hosting a sort of "Middle England" chat show format.
[edit] Personal life
Owen married Jill Lavery (a nurse) in 1977 in Birmingham. They live in Birmingham with their four children: Andy, Tim, Chris (born December 1986), and Jenny (born September 1988). He is also a huge fan of Luton Town F.C., and a lounge at the club is named after him. On 8 January 2008, Owen was named as the head of a consortium aiming to purchase the club. The club is currently in administration and faces closure if they cannot raise funds soon.[1]
[edit] MySpace
On 17 October 2006, Midlands Today's science and environment correspondent David Gregory helped launch an official MySpace page for Owen in an attempt to make a mark on the world's largest blogging community. The page was designed by viewer, Jim Mobbs, and during that evening's bulletin when the page was featured, Owen's page received over 200 friend requests and a deluge of comments for the TV presenter, many of them grossly offensive. During the experiment, Owen received thousands of friend requests, emails and comments through the site, which closed in March 2007.
[edit] Luton Town
On 8 January 2008, it was announced that Owen was fronting a consortium in a bid to buy Luton Town F.C. "I cannot wait for us to get the go-ahead - I'm very hopeful," Owen told BBC Three Counties Radio. Owen confirmed that his consortium's bid is backed by the three principal supporters' groups, including the supporters' trust which helped oust former chairman John Gurney from power in 2003.[2]
[edit] References
Nick hosted the breakfast show on BBC London 94.9 between 27th - 30th May 2008 along with Anne Diamond
[edit] External links
- Midlands Today profile
- Nick Owen at the Internet Movie Database
- Receiving Baird Medal in October 2006
- Leeds University Classics alumni
