John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005), usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English television presenter and journalist. He was famous for his twenty-three-years as host of Countdown, a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4. An edition of Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel...
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John Richard Whiteley, OBE DL (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005), usually known as Richard Whiteley, was an English television presenter and journalist. He was famous for his twenty-three-years as host of Countdown, a letters and numbers arrangement game show broadcast most weekdays on Channel 4. An edition of Countdown was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel, discounting a programme montage. Despite being a highly intelligent man, he enjoyed projecting an image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner; his fondness for excruciatingly bad puns; and bold wardrobe, particularly jackets and ties.
He was born in Bradford and spent his childhood in Baildon: his family owned a long-established textile mill, Thomas Whiteley and Co of Eccleshill, which went out of business in the 1960s. At 13, he won a scholarship to Giggleswick School, Yorkshire, where his English...
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