Gay Byrne | |
---|---|
Byrne in 2007 | |
Born | Gabriel Mary Byrne 5 August 1934 Rialto, Dublin, Ireland |
Died | 4 November 2019 Howth, Dublin, Ireland | (aged 85)
Resting place | St. Fintan's Cemetery, Sutton, Dublin, Ireland |
Other names | |
Education | Scoil Treasa Naofa Synge Street CBS honorary doctorate in literature from Trinity College Dublin (1988)[3] |
Occupation | Broadcaster |
Years active | 1958–2019 |
Employer | Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) |
Notable work | |
Board member of | Chairman of the Road Safety Authority (2006–2014) |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of The Late Late Show over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. The Late Late Show is the world's longest-running live chat show.[4] He was affectionately known as "Uncle Gay",[1] "Gaybo"[2] or "Uncle Gaybo".[3][5] His time working in Britain with Granada Television saw him become the first person to introduce the Beatles on-screen, and Byrne was later the first to introduce Boyzone on screen in 1993. The Beatles asked Byrne to be their manager but he declined, later stating "that would have been an unfortunate and wrong direction."[6]
From 1973 until 1998, Byrne presented The Gay Byrne Hour – later The Gay Byrne Show when it expanded to two hours – on RTÉ Radio 1 each weekday morning. After retiring from his long-running radio and television shows, Byrne presented several other programmes, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, The Meaning of Life and For One Night Only on RTÉ One and Sunday Serenade/Sunday with Gay Byrne on RTÉ lyric fm. In 2006, he was elected Chairman of Ireland's Road Safety Authority. In his retirement he was described as the "Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting".[7]
In 2010, The Irish Times said Byrne was "unquestionably the most influential radio and television man in the history of the Irish State".[3] He was approached to run in the 2011 Irish presidential election but declined to run, despite topping early opinion polls.[8][9]
masterful_uncle_gay_enthralls_full_house
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).walking_on_air
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).There's no special trick to Gay's interview technique – it's his status as the Elder Lemon of Irish broadcasting that elicits your trust. You can't imagine this format working with anyone who isn't already familiar with Gay's paternal persona. If he asked an American to talk about their faith, he might get the answer: "Well, Jay, in my new movie, coming to a cinema near you, my character is very much on a spiritual journey".
bbc_presidency
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).guardian_presidency
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).