 |
MICHAEL FISH MBE |
| Michael Fish recently retired as Britain's & possibly the world's longest-serving TV weather forecaster. |
| On joining the Meteorological Office in November 1962, his first posting was to Gatwick Airport. On promotion in 1965, he transferred to the Met Office headquarters in Bracknell to work on research projects. Later, while based at the London Weather Centre, he took a sandwich course in Applied Physics at the City University. |
| Remaining at the London Weather Centre, his broadcasting career began in 1971 when he started broadcasting for BBC Radio & in January 1974 became part of BBC Television's weather team when they were looking for a new 'young' image. At the start there were only 3 live broadcasts a day to the UK, using a mixture of felt-tip pens & magnetic rubber. On retirement, there were well over 100 broadcasts a day to the whole world, using sophisticated computer graphics. |
| He has made hundreds of 'non-weather' appearances on television & radio - shows ranging from light entertainment, such as Basil Brush, Showbiz Poker, Countdown & Weakest Link to factual programmes, such as Panorama & Sky At Night. He has also been involved in the training of television weathermen in various African countries & written numerous articles on travel & weather & acted as consultant for several meteorological books. |
| In 1985 the punk group Rachel & Nicki released a record dedicated to him called 'I wish, I wish, he was like Michael Fish'. This was featured on the Wogan programme but didn't reach the charts. Some years later he did reach the Top Ten when featured on the 'John Kettley is a Weatherman' single. |
| He will always be remembered for the misreported 'hurricane' forecast in October 1987 but there were other highlights such as wiping out thousands of pigeons & the wrong sort of snow. |
| Several years ago he was voted the Worst Dressed & the Best Dressed man on television in the same year. Four times in recent years he's been acknowledged as Tie Man of the Year - he's famous for his 'fish' motif ties of which he has over 100 & always wears on television. |
| In December 1996, Michael was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the City University, London & in August 1997 was granted the Freedom of the City of London. In June 2004 he was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours & in July 2005 was further honoured by an award of Doctor of Science from Exeter University. |
| In 2004 he received the TRIC award of TV Presenter of the Year before retiring in October. Also in the same year he was pronounced a 'National Treasure' by the Sunday Times! |
| More recently Michael has just finished a provincial tour acting in The Play What I Wrote. Much to everyone's surprise nearly every performance was a sell-out & his acting received 'rave reviews'. |
| Just recently he has launched 2 new projects; a freephone weather service & an online telecast! |
| Michael is a Patron of numerous organisations & charities, not least Age Concern. |
For more information on Michael Fish, Contact Arena. Tel: 0113-239-2222 |