View source for Nicholas Parsons

{{Short description|British actor and presenter}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Nicholas Parsons
| honorific_suffix   = [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]]
| image              = Nicholas Parsons 2007.png
| caption            = Parsons recording ''[[Just a Minute]]''<br/>at [[the Pleasance]] Grand, Edinburgh, in 2007
| birth_name         = Christopher Nicholas Parsons
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1923|10|10|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]], England
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2020|1|28|1923|10|10|df=y}}
| death_place        = [[Aylesbury]], [[Buckinghamshire]], England
| education          = [[St Paul's School, London]]
| alma_mater         = [[University of Glasgow]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|[[Actor]]|[[straight man]]|[[Radio personality|radio]] and [[television presenter]]}}
| years_active       = 1945–2020
| known_for          = ''[[Just a Minute]]'' (1967–2019)<br/>''[[Sale of the Century (British game show)|Sale of the Century]]'' (1971–1983)
| office             = {{ubl|[[Rector of the University of St Andrews]] (1988–1991)|President of the [[Lord's Taverners]] (1998–1999)}}
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
*{{Marriage|[[Denise Bryer]]|1954|1989|reason=divorced}}
*{{Marriage|Ann Reynolds|1995}}
}}
| children           = 2
| website            = {{Official URL}}
| module2            = {{Listen| embed=yes |filename = Nicholas_parsons_bbc_radio4_great_lives13_05_2008_b00b7bd1.flac |title = Nicholas Parsons' voice |type = speech |description = from the BBC programme ''[[Great Lives]]'', 13 May 2008.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Edward Lear |series=Great Lives |series-link=Great Lives |url=http://bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b7bd1 |series-no=15 |number=7 |first=Nicholas |last=Parsons |station=[[BBC Radio 4]] |date=13 May 2008 |access-date=18 January 2014}}</ref> }}
}}

'''Christopher Nicholas Parsons''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English [[actor]], [[straight man]] and [[Radio personality|radio]] and [[television presenter]]. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show ''[[Just a Minute]]'' and hosted the game show ''[[Sale of the Century (British game show)|Sale of the Century]]'' during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Parsons was born and grew up in [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]], and was educated at [[St Paul's School, London]]. He became a full-time actor following the Second World War and began appearing in various theatre, film and television roles, including support to [[Arthur Haynes]] as his straight man. He began presenting ''Just a Minute'' in 1967 and never missed a show until 2018. In addition to his well-known roles on this and ''Sale of the Century'', he appeared as a guest on other television shows, including ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''.

==Early life==
Christopher Nicholas Parsons<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?r=150434004:6794&d=bmd_1578958416|title=FreeBMD Entry Info|website=www.freebmd.org.uk}}</ref> was born on 10 October 1923 at 1 Castlegate, [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]]; he was the middle child of the family, having an older brother and a younger sister. His father, Paul, was a [[general practitioner]] whose patients included the family of [[Margaret Thatcher]]; claims that he delivered her are apocryphal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/for-journalists/graduation-ceremonies-1/summer-2016/orations/oration-for-nicholas-parsons-cbe|title=Oration for Nicholas Parsons CBE — University of Leicester|last=pt91|website=www2.le.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=27 May 2018}}</ref> His mother, Nell, née Maggs, was a nurse before her marriage.<ref name="GuardianObit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jan/28/nicholas-parsons-obituary|title=Nicholas Parsons obituary|last=Dixon|first=Stephen|date=28 January 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=29 January 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Parsons was born left-handed but was [[Handedness#Negative connotations and discrimination|made to write with his right hand]]. As a child, he had a [[stutter]], which he managed to control as he grew older, and was slow to learn owing to [[dyslexia]].<ref name=dt1>[[The Daily Telegraph]], 24 September 2013, page 11</ref> He also suffered from [[migraine]]s but nevertheless excelled at school.<ref name = "DID 9 Nov 2007">{{cite episode |title = Desert Island Discs with Nicholas Parsons |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20071104.shtml
|series=Desert Island Discs |series-link=Desert Island Discs |network=[[BBC]] |station=[[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] |air-date=9 November 2007}}</ref>

After education at [[Colet Court]] and [[St Paul's School, London|St Paul's School]] in London, Parsons' initial career plan was to become an actor. However, his parents believed that a career in engineering would be better, as he had repaired [[grandfather clock]]s as a young man and was creative with his hands.<ref name = "DID 9 Nov 2007"/> While at school, he was best friends with [[John Treacher]] who was to become [[Commander-in-Chief Fleet]]. At school, Parsons' nickname was "Shirley" after the then-burgeoning American talent, [[Shirley Temple]].<ref>Parsons, N. (2010), ''With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation: My Life in Comedy'', Mainstream Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1845967123}}</ref>

After he had left school, his family contacted relatives in [[Scotland]], who arranged a job for him in [[Clydebank]] near [[Glasgow]], where he spent five years employed as an engineering apprentice at Drysdales, a maker of marine pumps.<ref name="Drysdales">{{cite web | url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Drysdale_and_Co | title=Drysdale & Co | publisher=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History | access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref>  Parsons was 16 when his parents sent him from his relatively privileged home in London to the industrially-hardened city of Glasgow. Sixty years later, in 2010, he recorded a nostalgic radio programme, titled "Doon the Watta" (on Youtube) about his time as an apprentice, highlighting his posh middle class-accent amidst the Glasgow  working man's dialect. While there, he also spent two six-month periods studying engineering at the [[University of Glasgow]].<ref name = "Ed Doolan Interviews">{{cite episode |title = Ed Doolan Interviews... |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dlry1|series=Ed Doolan Interviews |network=[[BBC]] |station=[[BBC Radio 7|Radio 7]] |air-date=25 October 2008}}</ref> He never graduated, but finished his apprenticeship and gained sufficient qualifications to become a mechanical engineer. He was offered a posting in the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] during the [[Second World War]], but he did not join the service after falling seriously ill with [[pleurisy]]. He spent five months in hospital and at one point his survival chances were rated only 50-50.<ref name="GuardianObit" /><ref name=bbcobit>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11808907|title=Obituary : Nicholas Parsons|work=BBC News|date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

==Career in entertainment==
Parsons started his career while training as an engineering apprentice; he was discovered by Canadian impresario [[Carroll Levis]], and appeared in his radio show.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/nicholas-parsons-just-a-minute-17643302|title=Just a Minute host Nicholas Parsons has died aged 96|date=28 January 2020|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

===Early career===
At the end of the Second World War, Parsons became a full-time professional actor. He made his stage debut in the [[West End theatre|West End]] as Kiwi in ''The Hasty Heart'' at the [[Aldwych Theatre]] in 1945 which ran for over a year, then played the lead in a tour of ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (play)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]''. He made his film debut in ''Master of Bankdam'' in 1947 and continued his stage career, with two years in [[repertory]] at [[Bromley]], and later, [[Theatre Royal, Windsor|Windsor]] and [[Maidstone]]. In 1952, he became a resident comedian at the [[Windmill Theatre]],<ref name="BBCprofile">{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5dp/profiles/nicholas-parsons | title=Nicholas Parsons | publisher=BBC | access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> performing regular nights of stand-up comedy to packed houses.

He starred in the West End show ''[[Boeing-Boeing (play)|Boeing-Boeing]]'' and other West End productions.<ref name=stage>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2020/actor-and-presenter-nicholas-parsons-dies-aged-96/|title=Actor and presenter Nicholas Parsons dies aged 96|magazine=The Stage|date=28 January 2020|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

===Film, TV and radio===
In the 1950s and 1960s, he appeared in many supporting roles in British films. In the late 1960s, he portrayed David Courtney in the American sitcom ''[[The Ugliest Girl in Town]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010|author=Vincent Terrace|page=1124|publisher=McFarland|year=2014|isbn=978-0-786-48641-0}}</ref>

In the 1950s, Parsons provided the non-singing voice of Tex Tucker in the children's TV puppet series ''[[Four Feather Falls]]'', having put himself forward for the job at the suggestion of his first wife, actress and [[voice acting|voiceover artiste]] [[Denise Bryer]], who was in the show. During the late 1960s, he created and presented a satirical programme on [[BBC Radio 4]] called ''Listen to This Space'', which by the standards of its time was very avant-garde, and he received the Radio Personality of the Year Award for his work on this programme in 1967.{{sfn|Parsons|2010|p=25}}

Parsons became known to TV audiences in the 1950s and 1960s as the [[straight man]] to comedian [[Arthur Haynes]] for ten years; the partnership broke up at Haynes' request.<ref name="irritated2017" /> They had a successful season at the [[London Palladium]] in 1963, and shortly before the split appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' in the United States, although Parsons was not credited.{{sfn|Parsons|2010|pp=35–36}} Subsequently, Parsons returned to the stage, before becoming a regular on ''[[The Benny Hill Show]]'' from 1968 to 1971.<ref name="NPsite">{{cite web| url= http://www.nicholasparsons.co.uk/earlyyears/ | title= Early Years |publisher=Nicholas Parsons Official Website |access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref>

After Haynes died, Parsons appeared as a personality in his own right on television, including in the long-running [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]] quiz show ''[[Sale of the Century (British game show)|Sale of the Century]]'', broadcast weekly from 1971 to 1983. In 1983 Hill wrote and performed in the sketch "Sale of the Half Century", with himself cast as Parsons.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mVO_CAAAQBAJ&pg=PT387|title=Benny Hill – Merry Master of Mirth: the Complete Companion|first=Robert|last=Ross|date=30 October 2014|publisher=Pavilion Books|access-date=20 April 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=9781849942584}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL2EAq1dcdM|title=Benny Hill - Sale of the Half Century|last=jricci9|date=14 May 2013|publisher=youtube.com|access-date=20 April 2017|via=YouTube}}</ref>

Parsons was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1978 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]].<ref>{{cite web |title=This Is Your Life Nicholas Parsons |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0721846/ |website=imdb |access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref>

===''Just a Minute''===
{{Further|Just a Minute}}
Parsons was the host of the [[BBC Radio 4]] comedy panel game ''[[Just a Minute]]'' from its first broadcast on 22 December 1967.<ref name=dt1/><ref name="Stevens">{{cite book	|last=Stevens |first=Christopher |title=Born Brilliant: The Life of Kenneth Williams |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |location=London |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84854-195-5 |page=353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Qf8vhBh4JsC |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Although there were a number of early episodes when he relinquished the chair and was a panellist, Parsons never missed an episode until 2018, when regular panellist [[Gyles Brandreth]] stood in for him for two episodes that were recorded in April and broadcast in June, due to a bout of illness: Parsons was then 94 years old.<ref name="BBC 4 June 2018">{{cite news |title= Just A Minute presenter Nicholas Parsons misses first show in 50 years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44363674 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=4 June 2018 |website=[[BBC News Online]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=4 June 2018}}</ref> Brandreth again stood in the following year for two shows recorded at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]].<ref name="Chortle 10 September 2019">{{cite news |title=Nicholas Parsons has been admitted to hospital |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/08/10/43930/nicholas_parsons_has_been_admitted_to_hosptial |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= 10 August 2019 |website=[[chortle.co.uk]] |publisher= Chortle |access-date= 10 September 2019}}</ref> ''Just a Minute'' continued to be transmitted with Parsons as host until his last show on 23 September 2019.<ref name="BBC28012020" />

===1980s===
In 1988, Parsons appeared as himself in ''[[The Comic Strip#The Comic Strip Presents...|The Comic Strip]]'' episode "[[Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door]]", alongside [[Rik Mayall]] and [[Ade Edmondson]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/what-s-on/nicholas-parsons-interview-the-press-hated-quiz-shows-like-sale-of-the-century-1-5673215|title=The press hated quiz shows like Sale of the Century says host Nicholas Parsons, coming to Sudbury|newspaper=East Anglian Daily Times|date=1 September 2018|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref> The following year, he guest-starred in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', playing Reverend Wainwright in the [[Seventh Doctor]] serial ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-01-30/nicholas-parsons-tribute-bbc2/ | title= BBC to air Nicholas Parsons programme this weekend | work=Radio Times | first=David | last=Craig | date=30 January 2020 | access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media|first=Paul|last=Green|page=56|publisher=McFarland|year=2017|isbn=978-1-476-62874-5}}</ref>

===1990s===
Parsons featured in the original London cast of the [[Stephen Sondheim]] musical ''[[Into the Woods]]'' at the [[Phoenix Theatre, London|Phoenix Theatre]] in 1990 as the Narrator.<ref name=stage/> In 1991 he appeared as the Mayor in the BBC's children's series ''[[Bodger & Badger]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jun/12/andy-cunningham-obituary|title=Andy Cunningham obituary|newspaper=The Guardian|date=12 June 2017|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref> This was followed by an appearance in the fourth and final series of the UK TV show ''[[Cluedo (UK game show)|Cluedo]]'' as Reverend Green in 1993.<ref>{{cite book|title=Absolutely: A Memoir|page=145|first=Joanna|last=Lumley|author-link=Joanna Lumley|publisher=Hachette|year=2011|isbn=978-0-297-86500-1}}</ref>

Parsons took the role of the Narrator in the 21st anniversary revival of the stage musical ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]'' at the [[Duke of York's Theatre]] in the West End in 1994.<ref name=stage/>

===Later career===
In 2005 Parsons was guest presenter on the BBC topical quiz show ''[[Have I Got News for You]]''.<ref name=bbcobit/> He appeared on ''[[Celebrity Mastermind]]'' in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008l3bl |title=BBC One – Celebrity Mastermind, 2007/2008, Episode 5 |website=BBC}}</ref> ''Just a Minute'' transferred to television in 2012 for a ten-part early-evening series to celebrate its 45th anniversary, with Parsons and regular panellist [[Paul Merton]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/mar/28/just-a-minute-tv-radio |title=Just a Minute needs a format deviation to succeed on TV |date=28 March 2012 |work=The Guardian |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref> He appeared opposite ex-wife [[Denise Bryer]] in the Big Finish adaptation of the [[Gerry Anderson]] series ''[[Terrahawks]]'', playing the ex-husband of Bryer's character, Zelda.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/12/the-new-series-of-terrahawks-will-see-art-imitating-life/|title=The new series of Terrahawks will see art imitating life|date=8 December 2015}}</ref>

Parsons wrote an autobiography entitled ''The Straight Man: My Life in Comedy'', which was published in 1994,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Straight Man: My Life in Comedy |last=Parsons |first=Nicholas |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1994 |isbn=0-297-81239-4 |location=London |oclc=30590244}}</ref> and he produced a book of memoirs in 2010 called ''Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation''.{{sfn|Parsons|2010}}

In October 2016, at the age of 92, Parsons presented the BBC documentary ''The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch'', following the story of the [[Marie Antoinette (watch)|Marie Antoinette]] watch created by [[Abraham-Louis Breguet]], and allowing him to indulge his lifelong fascination with [[horology]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xtbhr |title=BBC Four – The Incredible Story of Marie Antoinette's Watch with Nicholas Parsons |website=BBC}}</ref>

He played himself and provided the voice of Dagon, Lord of the Files in ''[[Good Omens (TV series)|Good Omens]]'', filmed between 2017 and 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1869454/fullcredits |title=Good Omens (TV Mini-Series 2019) |website=IMDb |access-date=3 February 2020}}</ref>

From 2001, he appeared annually at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] presenting his comedy cabaret show ''The Happy Hour''.<ref name=bbcobit/>

==Other roles==
From 1988 to 1991, he served as [[Rector of the University of St Andrews]]. In 2005, he became for a short period honorary Chairman of the [[International Quizzing Association]] (IQA), a body that organises the [[World Quizzing Championships|World]] and [[European Quizzing Championships]]. He was a leading member of the [[Grand Order of Water Rats]] charity and was King Rat in 2019.<ref name="cryer">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/29/taking-minute-remember-nicholas-parsons-friend-always-knew/|title=Taking a minute to remember Nicholas Parsons - a friend who always knew the score|first=Barry|last=Cryer |newspaper=The Telegraph|author-link=Barry Cryer |date=29 January 2020|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fjzgz|title=The Grand Order of the Water Rats, Comedy Zone – BBC Radio Scotland|website=BBC|language=en-GB|access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref> He was also a patron of the [[British Stammering Association]]<ref name="irritated2017" /> and was the president of the charity the [[Lord's Taverners]] from 1998 to 1999, a charity that he joined in 1964 and remained a member of until his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lordstaverners.org/about-us/our-story/|title=Lord's Taverners – Our Story|website=Lord's Taverners}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lordstaverners.org/news/nicholas-parsons-cbe/|title=Lord's Taverners - Nicholas Parsons, CBE|website=Lord's Taverners|language=en|access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref> He was an Ambassador for [[Childline]] and [[The Silver Line]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nicholas-parsons-ill-keep-on-working-with-no-hesitation-dgxjp0bpr|title=Nicholas Parsons : I'll keep on working with no hesitation, repetition or deviation|newspaper=The Times|date=27 January 2019|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

Parsons was a supporter of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] and the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]].<ref>{{cite news| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_daily_politics/7611017.stm | title= Nicholas Parsons on the Lib Dems |work=BBC News | date=11 September 2008 | access-date=12 April 2014}}</ref> He was invited to stand as a Liberal Party candidate for [[Yeovil (UK Parliament constituency)|Yeovil]] in the 1970s, but he turned down the opportunity in order to remain in the entertainment industry.<ref name="irritated2017">{{cite web | url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/dec/03/nicholas-parsons-i-irritated-my-family-because-they-didnt-like-showoffs | title= Nicholas Parsons: 'I irritated my family because they didn't like showoffs' | work=The Guardian | date=3 December 2017 | access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref> On 17 October 2013, a week after his 90th birthday, he appeared as a guest on the BBC One political discussion show ''[[This Week (BBC TV series)|This Week]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/15/q-and-a-nicholas-parsons|title=Q&A: Nicholas Parsons|last=Greenstreet|first=Rosanna|date=15 August 2015|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=7 September 2018}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
Parsons was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2004 New Year Honours]] for services to drama and broadcasting.<ref name="BBCParsonsOBE">{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3357631.stm | title=Host Parsons' delight at honour | work=BBC News | date=31 December 2003 | access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="ParsonsOBEcite">{{cite web | url=http://www.nicholasparsons.co.uk/earlyyears/page2/ | title=Early years continued | publisher=Nicholas Parsons (official website) | access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref> He was promoted to [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[2014 New Year Honours]] for charitable services, especially to children's charities.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=60728 |supp=y|page=9|date=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25550631 |title=New Year Honours: Ten famous faces |work=BBC News |date=30 December 2013 |access-date=17 March 2014}}</ref>

Having served as [[Rector (academia)|rector]] of the [[University of St Andrews]] from 1988 to 1991, he was awarded an honorary [[Legum Doctor|LLD]] by the university in 1991.<ref name="StAndrewsHonDegrees">{{cite web | url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/academic-matters/Masterlist%20Honorary%20Gradautes%201921-2012%20for%20website.pdf | title=Honorary graduates 1921–2012 | publisher=University of St Andrews | access-date=13 March 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924120252/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/media/academic-matters/Masterlist%20Honorary%20Gradautes%201921-2012%20for%20website.pdf | archive-date=24 September 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Debretts">{{cite web | url=http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/p/15532/Nicholas+PARSONS.aspx | title=Nicholas Parsons, OBE | publisher=Debretts | access-date=13 March 2013 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507092915/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/p/15532/Nicholas+PARSONS.aspx | archive-date=7 May 2013 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He was also awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Laws|LLD]] by the [[University of Leicester]] in 2016, and an honorary [[Doctor of Letters|D.Litt]] by the [[University of Lincoln]] in 2014.<ref name="LincolnHonGraduates">{{cite web | url=http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/campuslife/whatson/graduationceremonies/honoraries/ | title=Honoraries | publisher=University of Lincoln | access-date=13 March 2013}}</ref>

He held the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness World Record]] for the longest [[after-dinner speech]] (11 hours) until it was reclaimed by former holder [[Gyles Brandreth]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://metro.co.uk/2009/10/27/nicholas-parsons-3422854/ | title=Nicholas Parsons (profile) | publisher=Metro | date=27 October 2009 | access-date=13 March 2013 | author=Meeke, Kieran}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Parsons was married twice. He was first married to actress [[Denise Bryer]] in 1954; together they had two children.<ref name="irritated2017" /> The couple divorced in 1989.<ref name="irritated2017" /> He subsequently married Ann Reynolds in 1995.<ref name=bbcobit/> He was a keen cricket fan, both as a player and supporter,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-11808907|title=Obituary: Nicholas Parsons|work=BBC News|date=28 January 2020|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> and had a lifelong enthusiasm for clocks.<ref name="auto"/>

In August 2019 Parsons suffered a fall, on a train to Edinburgh, while travelling to perform his show ''The Happy Hour'' at the Edinburgh Fringe. On admission to hospital a few days later, he was found to have a [[stomach ulcer]] and [[anaemia]], and remained hospitalised in Edinburgh for 10 days, before being moved to [[Stoke Mandeville Hospital]], near his home in [[Aylesbury]]. After two more weeks in hospital, he returned home and began a slow recuperation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/nicholas-parsons-ive-learnt-to-pace-myself-at-96-after-a-nasty-fall-but-ill-be-back-for-just-a-minute-1350609|title=Nicholas Parsons, 96: I've learned to pace myself after a nasty fall|website=inews.co.uk|date=27 December 2019}}</ref>

==Death==

Parsons died aged 96 in Aylesbury on 28 January 2020, after a short illness.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/news/2020-01-28/just-a-minute-host-nicholas-parsons-dies-aged-96/ | title=Just a Minute host Nicholas Parsons dies, aged 96 | publisher=ITV | date=28 January 2020 | access-date=28 January 2020 }}</ref><ref name=BBC28012020>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51278023|title=BBC radio host Nicholas Parsons dies|date=28 January 2020|work=BBC News|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

==Publications==
*''The Straight Man: My Life in Comedy'', [[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]], 1994. {{ISBN|978-0297812395}} 
*''Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation: My Life in Comedy'', [[Mainstream Publishing]], 2011. {{ISBN|978-1845967123}}
*''Welcome to Just a Minute!: A Celebration of Britain's Best-Loved Radio Comedy'', [[Canongate Books]], 2014. {{ISBN|978-1782112471}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1947
| ''[[Master of Bankdam]]'' 
| Edgar Hoylehouse 
|
|-
| 1954
| ''[[To Dorothy a Son]]'' 
| Passport Official 
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2"|1955
| ''[[Simon and Laura]]'' 
| T.V. Producer 
|
|-
| ''[[An Alligator Named Daisy]]'' 
| News Interviewer 
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2" |1956
| ''[[The Long Arm (film)|The Long Arm]]'' 
| Police Constable Bates 
|
|-
| ''[[Eyewitness (1956 film)|Eyewitness]]'' 
| House Surgeon 
|
|-
| 1957
| ''[[Brothers in Law (film)|Brothers in Law]]'' 
| Charles Poole 
|
|-
| 1958
| ''[[Happy Is the Bride]]'' 
| John Royd
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1959
| ''[[Too Many Crooks]]'' 
| Tommy 
|
|-
|''[[Carlton-Browne of the F.O.]]'' 
| Rodgers 
|
|-
|''[[Upstairs and Downstairs]]'' 
| Brian 
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1960
| ''[[Let's Get Married (1960 film)|Let's Get Married]]'' 
| R.A.F. Officer 
|
|-
|''[[Doctor in Love]]'' 
| Dr. Hinxman 
|
|-
| 1961
| ''[[Carry On Regardless]]'' 
| Wolf 
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1964
| ''[[Murder Ahoy!]]'' 
| Dr. Crump 
|
|-
|''[[Every Day's a Holiday (1965 film)|Every Day's a Holiday]]'' 
| Julian Goddard 
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1966
| ''[[The Wrong Box]]'' 
| Alan Fraser Scrope 
|
|-
| ''[[The Ghost Goes Gear]]'' 
| Algernon Rowthorpe Plumley 
|
|-
| 1968
| ''[[Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River]]'' 
| Dudley Heath 
|
|-
| 1971
| ''Danger Point'' 
| Fisherman 
|
|-
| 1974
| ''[[The Best of Benny Hill]]'' 
| The Phantom Prowler/Mask Boutique Staffer/King Charles
|
|-
| 1976
| ''[[Spy Story (film)|Spy Story]]'' 
| Ben Toliver 
|
|-
| rowspan=2|1989
| ''[[The New Statesman]]''
| Himself
| Episode: ''Live from Westminster''
|-
| ''[[Doctor Who]]''
| Reverend Wainwright
| Episode: ''[[The Curse of Fenric]]''
|-
| 1993
| ''[[Cluedo (British game show)|Cluedo]]''
| [[List of Cluedo characters#Reverend/Mr. Green|Reverend Green]]
| 6 episodes
|-
| 2008
| ''[[Lady Godiva (2008 film)|Lady Godiva]]'' 
| Himself 
|
|-
| 2010
| ''[[Agatha Christie's Marple|Marple]]'' 
| Father Gorman
| Episode: ''The Pale Horse''
|-
| 2019
| ''[[Good Omens (TV series)|Good Omens]]''
| [[Dagon]] (voice)
| Miniseries and last TV appearance 
|-
|}

==References==
'''Citations'''

{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book|title=Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation, Repetition and Deviation: My Life in Comedy|first=Nicholas|last=Parsons|publisher=Random House|year=2010|isbn=978-1-907-19522-8}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{BFI|4ce2ba09e293e|Nicholas Parsons}}
*{{IMDb name|0663880}}
*{{Discogs artist|Nicholas Parsons}}
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/rams/jam_parsons.ram Talking about ''Just a Minute'' (RealPlayer video)]
*{{British Comedy Guide|people|nicholas_parsons}}
* {{NPG name}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Nicholas}}
[[Category:1923 births]]
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[[Category:21st-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 4 presenters]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:English game show hosts]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English male film actors]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
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[[Category:English male voice actors]]
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[[Category:Male actors from Lincolnshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Colet Court]]
[[Category:People educated at St Paul's School, London]]
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