Wallace Greenslade

Wallace Greenslade (1 July 1912, Formby, Merseyside^[1] – 21 April 1961, Weybridge, Surrey) was a BBC announcer and newsreader. He is mainly remembered for being the announcer - and frequently the straight man - for the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show during most of its run.

Greenslade was born at Formby, Lancashire. During the Second World War, he served for two and a half years as a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. He then became a purser for the P&O Line before joining the staff of the BBC in 1945.

His BBC career began in the European Service, where he was a presentation assistant and newsreader. In 1949, Greenslade was appointed a Home Service announcer before becoming a newsreader in both radio and television from November 1955. In addition to The Goon Show, he was announcer for The Great Gilhooly, Star Show and Variety Playhouse. In May and June 1960, he compèred the Today programme.

Physically a large rotund man, "the massive Greenslade" a colleague once called him, he died suddenly at his home at Weybridge, Surrey in April 1961, aged 48 from a heart attack.^[2] Following a funeral service at St Mary's Oatlands, near Weybridge, he was buried at Brooklands Lane Cemetery, Weybridge. At the subsequent memorial service, his BBC colleague John Snagge gave an address. Greenslade left a wife, Carol.^[3]

Legacy

A radio play, Ying Tong - A walk with the Goons, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, 4 April 2007, referencing Greenslade, who was also the subject of an episode of The Goon Show, "The Greenslade Story", broadcast in December 1955.

References

External links

• Wallace Greenslade at the Internet Movie Database
• The alt.fan.wal-greenslade newsgroup was set up with the express purpose of announcing the formation of the alt.fan.goons newsgroup and has seldom had any real traffic since.