| Julia Mary Fownes Somerville | |
|---|---|
| Born | Julia Mary Fownes Somerville 14 July 1947 Somerset |
| Occupation | Journalist, newsreader |
| Spouse(s) | Stephen Band (1970 - 1975, no children) Ray Gowdridge (1984 - 1992, two children) Sir Jeremy Dixon (??? - present) |
| Ethnicity | English |
| Notable credit(s) | BBC Nine O'Clock News, ITV News at Ten |
Julia Mary Fownes Somerville (born 14 July 1947, Somerset) is a British television news anchor and reporter, who has worked for the BBC and ITN.
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Somerville was educated at Airthrie Preparatory School in Cheltenham,[1] and Headington School, a girls' independent school in Oxford. She graduated in 1969 from the University of Sussex with a BA degree in English.[2]
On graduation Somerville joined publisher IPC, working on Homes and Gardens magazine, a Women's Journal, the PR section of Woman's Own.[3] Then for two years she was editor of a computer group's house magazine.[3]
Somerville joined the BBC in 1972 as a sub-editor in the radio newsroom,[4] and then became a reporter in 1978. In 1981 she became Labour Affairs correspondent, and in 1983 joined BBC Television News to become one of the most recognised faces on television, co-presenting the BBC Nine O'Clock News.[4][5] Somerville was the anchor on the BBC News report broadcast on 23 October 1984 which Bob Geldof watched and inspired Band Aid, and ultimately Live Aid.
Somerville moved to ITN in 1987,[5] where she co-presented the Lunchtime News and also deputised as presenter of News at Ten.[4] In addition she presented 3D, a weekly ITV current affairs programme. She was diagnosed as having a brain tumour in 1993, and after neurosurgery recovered well and was a member of the News at Ten team until it ended a 32-year run in 1999. She remained at ITN until October 2001, presenting the ITV Lunchtime News with John Suchet and was the launch anchor for the ITN News Channel.[4]
Between 1999 and 2001 Somerville presented the daily LBC radio show London Life, a two-hour program devoted to interviews with diverse artists.[5]
As part of ITN'S 'Famous Five', with Gordon Honeycombe, Martyn Lewis, Selina Scott and Anna Ford, she was brought back to the screen for one week in September 2005 for ITN's 50th Anniversary.[6]
In 2010 Somerville returned to television news as a presenter on BBC News[7] she also occasionally presents BBC Breakfast. In January 2011 Somerville started as an occasional relief presenter of the BBC Weekend News on BBC One.
Somerville is to join Rip Off Britain when it returns in Autumn 2011 for its third series. She will replace Jennie Bond and will host alongside Angela Rippon and Gloria Hunniford.
Somerville has been married three times:
Somerville and Dixon were interviewed by police in 1996, when concerns were raised by Boots the Chemists staff over photographs of their seven-year-old child in the bath. No caution or charges followed the investigation[8]
Somerville suffered a brain tumour in 1993, for which she successfully underwent neurosurgery. As a result, she agreed to become a patron of the Different Strokes charity.[3]
Somerville has a lifelong interest in painting, and was in 2001 a member of the judging panel for the National Portrait Gallery's BP Portrait of the Year; she has also served as a judge for several years on the RIBA Annual Architecture Award Panels. On 18 September 2003, Somerville was appointed Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Government Art Collection, for a period of four years.[5]
In August 2001, 47 year old David Hughes of North London was convicted of harassment after sending 390 obscene letters and specifically moving close to Somerville over a 12-year period. Hughes was found guilty of one charge under Section Two of the Harassment Act, and the judge made a hospital order under the Mental Health Act 1983.[9] It was also revealed that in 1995, Somerville took out a court injunction to stop sound engineer Geoffrey Brewis contacting her; she said he had visited her home, followed her and made nuisance phone calls.[9]