David attenborough date of birth
Christopher Parsons
English wildlife film-maker
For the voice actor, see Chris Parson.
Christopher Eugene ParsonsOBE (23 August – 8 November )[1] was an English wildlife film-maker and the executive producer of David Attenborough's Life on Earthnature documentary.[2][3] As a founding member and a former Head of the BBC Natural History Unit, he worked on many of its early productions and published a history of its first 25 years in Besides television, he was also passionate about projects which helped to bring an understanding of the natural world to a wider audience, notably the Wildscreen Festival and ARKive.[4]
Film-making career
After obtaining a degree in science from the University College of the South West of England, Exeter, Christopher Parsons joined the BBC in He began as an apprentice film editor at the newly formed West Region Film Unit in Bristol, England.[5] Here, he worked on a wide range of programmes in the fledgling medium of television, including some of the BBC's earliest natural history films.
In he was one of the founding members of the BBC Natural History Unit, becoming a pioneer of the genre alongside names such as Peter Scott, Tony Soper, Pat Beech and Eric Ashby.
Richard attenborough biography The following is a chronological list of television series and individual programmes in which Sir David Attenborough is credited as a writer, presenter, narrator, producer, interviewee, or other role. In a career spanning eight decades, Attenborough's name has become synonymous with the natural history programmes produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. In addition to writing, presenting, narrating, and producing his own documentaries, Attenborough has made regular appearances as an on-screen and off-screen participant in other filmmakers' documentaries and on other numerous television programmes. The following list includes some of his more notable appearances, as well as his involvement with long-running shows:. Contents move to sidebar hide.His early work included roles editing and producing Look, the Unit's first series, which was presented by Scott. In he produced the Unit's first film in colour, The Major,[6] though it was another four years before the programme could be transmitted in colour.
Parsons accompanied his friend Gerald Durrell on animal-collecting expeditions to Australia and Sierra Leone to produce the television series Two in the Bush () and Catch Me a Colobus ().[7] In , he became series editor of The World About Us,[5] a new strand of nature documentaries commissioned for BBC Two by then controller David Attenborough.
The strand was renamed The Natural World in and was still on air as of
When Attenborough began commissioning ambitious landmark documentary series for BBC Two on subjects as diverse as science, economics and art history, Parsons decided that natural history would make an ideal subject for such a venture, and drafted the synopsis of a part series he called Life on Earth.[5] In , he travelled to London to persuade Attenborough to present the series, only to discover that both of them had had the same idea.
Sir david attenborough biography of christopher David Attenborough — is one of the most widely respected TV broadcasters and has become known as the face and voice of natural history documentaries. His career in broadcasting has stretched over more than a half a century from David is the younger brother of actor, Richard Attenborough. David was brought up in Leicester and went to Clare College, Cambridge to study Natural Sciences; after graduating in , he was called up for two years national service in the Navy. However, in he applied to the BBC for a job.Financing and filming challenges delayed production, and it was not until that Life on Earth finally reached the screen. The series drew widespread acclaim and helped to establish the reputation of the Natural History Unit. When it was rewarded with departmental status in , Parsons became the first official Head of the Unit (previous leaders were called senior producers).[6]
In , he received an award for programme excellence from the Royal Television Society and was appointed OBE for his outstanding services to broadcasting.[7] The same year, his history of the first 25 years of the Natural History Unit, True to Nature, was published.
After stepping down from his role as Head in , he was appointed to develop commercial opportunities for the BBC by utilising the growing library of archive natural history footage.
Sir david attenborough biography of christopher columbus He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit , the nine nature documentary series forming the Life collection , a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth. First becoming prominent as host of Zoo Quest in , his filmography as writer, presenter and narrator has spanned eight decades; it includes Natural World , Wildlife on One , the Planet Earth franchise , The Blue Planet and its sequel. Over his life he has collected dozens of honorary degrees and awards, including three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narration. While Attenborough's earlier work focused primarily on the wonders of the natural world , his later work has been more vocal in support of environmental causes. He has advocated for restoring planetary biodiversity , limiting population growth , switching to renewable energy , mitigating climate change , reducing meat consumption , and setting aside more areas for natural preservation.He set up Wildvision to sell re-packaged programmes and videos internationally, and helped to establish BBC Wildlife magazine in [6]
Parsons left the BBC in to return to film production, making for large-format films for museums, zoos and aquaria. In the s he produced a number of IMAX nature documentaries, working with the IMAX Natural History Film Unit and West Eagle Films.
These included Mountain Gorillas (), The Secret of Life on Earth () and Survival Island (), the latter a second collaboration with David Attenborough.[6] His final film was a millennium project about his home village of Littleton-upon-Severn in Gloucestershire.[1]
Other projects
In , Parsons and Peter Scott co-founded the Wildscreen Festival in Bristol,[4] a biennial event which recognises and celebrates the achievements of wildlife film-makers, the first of its kind in the world.
At the festival, Parsons was presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award which is now named in his honour. He went on to co-found and become a patron of the Wildscreen Trust, an educational charity established in to promote an understanding of the natural world through audiovisual material.
From to he was a Director of Wildscreen, overseeing the building of Wildwalk-at-Bristol, a new visitor attraction in the city.[8] Developed with funding from the National Lottery, its aim was to raise awareness of global biodiversity and conservation issues using a combination of live animal exhibits, videos and interactive displays.[9] Recognition for his achievements came with the WWF International award for Conservation Merit in and honorary membership of the Linnean Society of London, for services to natural history.[7]
His final project was a long-standing passion to establish an electronic database of all the world's species, first mooted in the early s before the necessary technology was available.[10] The resulting website, ARKive, went live in May [11][12] Parsons never lived to see the fruition of the project, succumbing to cancer in November at the age of In , the World Land Trust, of which he had been a Trustee,[13] dedicated a rainforest reserve in Ecuador in his memory.[14]
Film and TV credits
The following is a list of Parsons's main productions:[15]
- The Unknown Forest () – producer
- The Major () – producer
- Two in the Bush () – producer
- Unarmed Hunters () – producer
- Look (–) – editor and producer
- A Bull Named Marius () – producer
- Catch Me A Colobus () – producer
- Animal People () – producer
- The Man Who Loved Giants () – producer
- Animals in Action () – producer
- Their World () – presenter and producer
- The World About Us (–) – series editor
- Life on Earth () – executive producer
- Mountain Gorillas (IMAX) () – producer
- The Secret of Life on Earth (IMAX) () – producer
- Survival Island (IMAX) () – producer