Alan Whicker

File:AmeryArrested.jpg shortly after the latter's arrest by Italian partisans in Milan.|alt=Dark-haired unshaven man]]

Whicker was born to British parents in Cairo, Egypt, in 1921.{{refn|group=note|name=year of birth|Sources such as Whicker's Who's Who entry give a year of birth of 1925.{{cite web |title=Whicker, Alan Donald, (2 Aug. 1925–12 July 2013), television broadcaster (Whicker's World); writer |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U39510 |website=Who Was Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=en |date=1 December 2016}}}}{{Cite ODNB|id=107081|title=Whicker, (Donald) Alan (1921–2013)}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/a-wonderful-life-broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies-aged-87-8705800.html|work = The Independent | date = 12 July 2013|access-date = 12 July 2013|title = 'A wonderful life': Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies, aged 87|first = James|last = Legge}} When he was two years old his father Charles, a British Army officer, became seriously ill with a heart problem and died. The family, now consisting of his mother Nancy, Alan and his elder sister Mary, moved to Richmond in Surrey. His sister soon died, too. He attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School, an all-boys independent boarding school, where he excelled at cross-country running.

During the Second World War he served in the British Army.{{Cite web|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20734338 | title = Obituary: Alan Whicker | date = 12 July 2013 | access-date = 12 July 2013|publisher = BBC News}} He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment on 8 August 1942.{{London Gazette |issue= 35677 |date= 21 August 1942 |page= 3702 |supp= y }} He then joined the British Army's Army Film and Photographic Unit in Italy in 1943, filming at Anzio and meeting such influential figures as Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. In March 1944, he was mentioned in despatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Sicily".{{London Gazette |issue= 36436 |date= 21 March 1944 |pages= 1367-1369 |supp= y}} He transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on 1 April 1945 with the war substantive rank of lieutenant.{{London Gazette |issue= 37239 |date= 24 August 1945 |page= 4325 |supp= y }}

In the documentary Whicker's War he revealed that he was one of the first in the Allied forces to enter Milan and that he took into custody an SS general and staff who were guarding the SS's paymaster's payroll money used to pay the SS troops, along with large amounts of cash in various foreign currencies, all contained within a large trunk. Whicker later handed over the SS men and the trunk of cash to the commander of an advancing US armoured column.{{Cite web|url = https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whickers-War-DVD/dp/B000B5KEGO | publisher = Amazon|access-date = 12 July 2013|title = Whicker's War [DVD]}} While in Milan Whicker shot footage of the body of Benito Mussolini and was also responsible for taking into custody British traitor John Amery.

After the war, Whicker became a journalist and broadcaster, acting as a newspaper correspondent during the Korean War. After joining the BBC in 1957, he became an international reporter for its Tonight programme. In 1958, he started presenting Whicker's World, which began life as a segment on the Tonight programme before becoming a fully-fledged series itself in the 1960s. Whicker's World was filmed all over the globe and became a huge ratings success in the UK. Whicker continued to present the series up until the 1990s, and he won a BAFTA Award in 1964 for his presentation in the Factual category;{{cite web |title=Television Nominations 1964 |url=http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1964 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815051437/http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1964 |archive-date=Aug 15, 2010 |access-date=9 October 2010 |publisher=BAFTA}} he also won the Richard Dimbleby Award at the 1978 BAFTA ceremony. Whicker was instrumental in launching Yorkshire Television (which made Whicker's World for some years), producing television programmes for it from 1969 until 1992. At the beginning of the ITV series, Whicker made Papa Doc – The Black Sheep (1969)Tise Vahimagi {{Cite web |title=Whicker, Alan (1925–) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/531470/index.html |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=BFI Screenonline}} on Haiti and its dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier who made himself available to Whicker and his team.{{Cite web |last=Calder |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Calder |date=4 September 2010 |title=A well-travelled man: Veteran broadcaster Alan Whicker reveals his globetrotting tips |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/a-welltravelled-man-veteran-broadcaster-alan-whicker-reveals-his-globetrotting-tips-2067728.html |url-access=registration |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=The Independent}}

Whicker appeared in various adverts for American Express{{Cite web |date=12 July 2013 |title=Alan Whicker |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/10176308/Alan-Whicker.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph}} and Barclaycard,{{Cite web |date=29 June 2011 |title=Barclaycard: 45 years of credit cards in the UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/picture-galleries/8603986/Barclaycard-45-years-of-credit-cards-in-the-UK.html?image=6 |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |quote=In 1982 the travel journalist Alan Whicker appeared in a series of adverts spanning five years focusing on the acceptability of the Barclaycard in thousands of shops, restaurants and businesses around the world.}} and was also the man behind the advertising slogan "Hello World", for travelocity.{{Cite web|url = http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/interviews/alan-whicker-interview?page=all|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130713030940/http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/interviews/alan-whicker-interview?page=all|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2013-07-13|work = Wanderlust |title = Alan Whicker interview|date = October 2004|access-date = 12 July 2013}} He narrated the 2007 and 2008 BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain.{{Cite web |title=Comedy Map of Britain |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tsm5 |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=BBC |quote=Alan Whicker narrates an animated journey around the UK, pinpointing the special places that have inspired and affected our major comic talents}}

In the 2005 New Year Honours Whicker was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to broadcasting. In 2009, then aged 88, Whicker returned to some of the locations and people who were originally featured in Whicker's World for the BBC series Alan Whicker's Journey of a Lifetime. In this, he met various people whom he had interviewed decades earlier to see how their lives had progressed or changed since the initial programme.{{Cite web |last=Howse |first=Christoper |date=16 March 2009 |title=Alan Whicker interview: a journey of a lifetime |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5000960/Alan-Whicker-interview-a-journey-of-a-lifetime.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph}}

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1983 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Berkeley Hotel in Kensington, London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Whicker had a relationship with Olga Deterding from 1966 to 1969. He was with his partner, Valerie Kleeman (who was 25 years his junior), from 1969. He neither married nor had children.

Whicker died on 12 July 2013 from bronchial pneumonia at his home in Jersey, in the Channel Islands, aged 91.Some sources, including [https://www.thetimes.com/article/globetrotting-broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies-at-91-6bghdzxpz0b The Times] and [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24098ad0-eaf8-11e2-bfdb-00144feabdc0.html The Financial Times], give his age as 91 when he died, based on a date of birth in August 1921.{{cite web |date=12 July 2013 |title=Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies |url=http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-07-12/broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies/ |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=ITV |quote=Broadcaster Alan Whicker, whose distinguished TV career stretched nearly 60 years, has died at the age of 87 after suffering from bronchial pneumonia, his spokeswoman said}} Broadcaster Michael Parkinson stated that Whicker was "a fine journalist and great storyteller", adding: "I can think of no other television reporter before or since who created such a wonderful catalogue of unforgettable programmes." Michael Palin said that Whicker was "a great character, a great traveller and an excellent reporter", while travel presenter Judith Chalmers said he was "an icon for the travel industry".

Most obituary writers said that Whicker was 87 at the time of his death, based on his entry in Who's Who giving a date of birth in 1925. The Financial Times pointed out that his age had been queried, with school records showing his birthdate in August 1921, making him 91 when he died.{{Cite web |last=Crick |first=Margaret |date=12 July 2013 |title=Suave storyteller who made his life an enlightening journey |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24098ad0-eaf8-11e2-bfdb-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 July 2013 |work=Financial Times}}

In June 2015 it was announced that Whicker's estate would fund, through The Whickers,{{cite web|url=https://www.whickerawards.com/|title=The Whickers|website=The Whickers}} three annual awards totalling over £100,000 to be awarded to documentary makers, including funding and recognition prizes for audio documentaries.{{cite web |date=7 June 2015 |title=Alan Whicker awards to fund documentaries |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33038200 |publisher=BBC News |quote=Three prizes totalling £100,000 will be awarded to new film-makers, including one to encourage people aged over 50 to film their first documentary.}}

While presenting Whicker's World, Whicker was known for his subtle brand of satire and social commentary. Whicker's World was parodied in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch featuring a tropical island, "Whicker Island", where all the inhabitants dress and act like Whicker. Benny Hill, towards the end of his BBC series in 1968, impersonated Whicker in a parody called "Knicker's World".{{Cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/12/alan-whicker-dead-tv-journalist_n_3585291.html|title = Alan Whicker Dead: Globe-Trotting TV Legend Dies Aged 87|work = The Huffington Post |access-date = 12 July 2013|date = 12 July 2013}}

He was parodied again in 1981 by the Evasions, a British funk group whose song, "Wikka Wrap", featured songwriter Graham de Wilde impersonating Whicker; the song was later sampled in American rapper Coolio's 1996 song "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)".{{cite web |title=1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New) by Coolio |url=https://www.whosampled.com/Coolio/1,-2,-3,-4-(Sumpin%27-New)/ |access-date=2018-09-07 |website=WhoSampled}} De Wilde also composed the theme tune for the 1980s BBC episodes of Whicker's World.[http://www.grahamdewilde.com/ Graham de Wilde] Retrieved 13 July 2013.

Explanatory notes

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Citations

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• {{IMDb name|0924130|Alan Whicker}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080728212830/http://www.alanwhicker.co.uk/ Alan Whicker]

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Category:1921 births

Category:2013 deaths

Category:People from Trinity, Jersey

Category:People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School

Category:Devonshire Regiment officers

Category:British Army personnel of World War II

Category:English male journalists

Category:English television presenters

Category:English reporters and correspondents

Category:BAFTA winners (people)

Category:Deaths from pneumonia in the United Kingdom

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:British expatriates in Egypt