Patrick Gordon Campbell, 3rd Baron Glenavy (6 June 1913 – 10 November 1980), known as Patrick Campbell, was an Irish journalist, humorist and television personality.
He was born in Dublin, the first son of Charles Campbell, 2nd Baron Glenavy and Beatrice Lady Glenavy. Campbell was educated at Rossall School (which he loathed)[1] and then Pembroke College, Oxford, but left Oxford without completing his degree. He was taken on to The Irish Times by Robert Smyllie and reported on "Courts Day by Day". During the Second World War, he served as a Chief Petty Officer in the Irish Marine Service. After the war he re-joined The Irish Times (using the pseudonym Quidnunc), and given charge of the column "Irishman's Diary". He had a weekly column for the Irish edition of the Sunday Dispatch before working on the paper in London from 1947 to 1949. He assistant edited Lilliput from 1947 to 1953. His writings also appeared in The Sunday Times.
His books, mostly collections of humorous pieces that were originally published in newspapers and magazines, included Constantly in Pursuit, Come Here Till I Tell You, Life in Thin Slices (1951), An Irishman's Diary, Patrick Campbell's Omnibus (1954), A Short Trot with a Cultured Mind, A Long Drink of Cold Water, How to Become a Scratch Golfer (1963), The P-P-Penguin Patrick Campbell (1965), Brewing Up in the Basement, Rough Husbandry, All Ways on Sundays (1966), A Bunch of New Roses, The Coarse of Events, Gullible Travels, The High Speed Gasworks, Waving All Excuses, Patrick Campbell's Golfing Book, Fat Tuesday Tails (1972), 35 Years on the Job (1973), The Campbell Companion (1987) and an autobiography, My Life and Easy Times.
Campbell was married three times, first in 1941 to Sylvia Alfreda Willoughby Lee, whom he divorced in 1947. Then to Chery Louise Munro in 1947. The two divorced in 1966, the year he married Vivienne Orme.
Lord Glenavy suffered from a stammer, but nevertheless delighted television audiences with his wit, notably as a regular team captain on the long-running show Call My Bluff, opposite his longtime friend, Frank Muir. Muir noted[2] that "When he was locked solid by a troublesome initial letter he would show his frustration by banging his knee and muttering 'Come along! Come along!'". He also made regular appearances in That Was the Week that Was.
He lived for many years in the South of France and died in Cannes on 10 November 1980. He was succeeded as the 4th and last Lord Glenavy by his novelist brother Michael.
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Charles HG Campbell |
Baron Glenavy 1963–1980 |
Succeeded by Michael Massen Campbell |