 Reginald Bosanquet was arguably the most colourful newsreader of the 1960s and 1970s, gaining much public affection for his occasional struggles with the pronunciation of foreign names, as well as his onscreen chemistry with co-presenter Anna Ford. His lively private life proved irresistible to the tabloid press whose exaggerated portrayal of Bosanquet as a man fond of a tipple led to nicknames such as 'Reginald Boozalot' and 'Reginald Beaujolais'. Born in Chertsey, Surrey on 9 August 1932, he was educated at Winchester College and Oxford University. His father, Bernard Bosanquet, played cricket for Middlesex and England and famously invented the googly. Reginald joined Independent Television News at its inception in 1955 as a trainee reporter. He cut his teeth on programmes such as Roving Report (ITV, 1957-64) Dateline London (ITV, 1961-62) and Dateline (ITV, 1962-67). He joined ITN's newscasting team in December 1961 as their diplomatic correspondent. His big break came in 1967 when he became one of the newsreaders on ITN's flagship, News at Ten. He became head anchorman for ITN from 1974-1976 but resigned in a blaze of publicity in November 1979. He continued to work on TV, until his untimely death from cancer on 27 May 1984. Eddie Dyja
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FILM & TV CREDITS