Ian Messiter: Difference between revisions

From The Goon Show Depository

No edit summary
No edit summary
 
(3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| image        = Ian Messiter.jpg
| image        = Ian Messiter.jpg
Line 11: Line 9:
| death_place  =  
| death_place  =  
| nationality  = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| nationality  = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| spouse        = {{marriage|Enid Senior|<!--unknown-->}}
| spouse        = {{marriage|Enid Senior|<!--unknown-->|1999}}
| children      = 2: [[w:Malcolm Messiter|Malcolm Messiter]]  
| children      = 2: [[w:Malcolm Messiter|Malcolm Messiter]], Susan
| occupation    = [[w:BBC Radio|BBC Radio]] producer
| occupation    = [[w:BBC Radio|BBC Radio]] producer
| years_active  =  
| years_active  =  
Line 18: Line 16:
| notable_works = ''[[Just a Minute]]''
| notable_works = ''[[Just a Minute]]''
}}
}}
Enid, née Senior
 
'''Ian Cassan Messiter''' (2 April 1920 &ndash; 22 November 1999) was a [[w:BBC Radio|BBC Radio]] producer and the creator of a number of [[w:panel game|panel game]]s, including ''[[Just a Minute]]'',<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book
'''Ian Cassan Messiter''' (2 April 1920 &ndash; 22 November 1999) was a [[w:BBC Radio|BBC Radio]] producer and the creator of a number of [[w:panel game|panel game]]s, including ''[[Just a Minute]]'',<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book
|last= Stevens
|last= Stevens
Line 36: Line 34:


==Family==
==Family==
Messiter married Enid, née Senior. They had two children: a daughter, Susan, who lives in Cambridgeshire, and a son, [[w:Malcolm Messiter|Malcolm Messiter]], who is an oboist.
Messiter married Enid, {{née}} Senior. They had two children: a daughter, Susan, who lives in Cambridgeshire, and a son, [[w:Malcolm Messiter|Malcolm Messiter]], who is an oboist.


==References==
==References==
Line 44: Line 42:
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/534931.stm Messiter's game show magic, Obituary of Ian Messiter] ''BBC News''
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/534931.stm Messiter's game show magic, Obituary of Ian Messiter] ''BBC News''
*[https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,3934437,00.html  Obituary of Ian Messiter] in ''The Guardian''  
*[https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,3934437,00.html  Obituary of Ian Messiter] in ''The Guardian''  
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Messiter, Ian}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messiter, Ian}}

Latest revision as of 16:11, 26 January 2023

Ian Messiter
Ian Messiter.jpg
Born
Ian Cassan Messiter

(1920-04-02)April 2, 1920
DiedNovember 22, 1999(1999-11-22) (aged 79)
OccupationBBC Radio producer
Known forBringing the successful twenty questions format to BBC Radio
Notable workJust a Minute
Spouse
Enid Senior
(before 1999)
Children2: Malcolm Messiter, Susan

Ian Cassan Messiter (2 April 1920 – 22 November 1999) was a BBC Radio producer and the creator of a number of panel games, including Just a Minute,[1] Dealing With Daniels and Many a Slip. Messiter brought the successful twenty questions format to BBC Radio[1] and was programme associate for Family Fortunes. Messiter was born in Dudley, Worcestershire, and educated at Winton House School, near Winchester, and Sherborne School in Dorset.

In his autobiography, My Life and Other Games (1990), Ian Messiter described how an incident during a history lesson at Sherborne School became the inspiration for the Just a Minute radio panel-game.[2]

Ian acted as whistle-blower on Just a Minute, and its predecessor One Minute, Please. He appeared in the first series of BBC science-fiction quiz show The Adventure Game in 1980 as the Rangdo, the leader of the alien Argonds, and contributed ideas for puzzles in the series. He published his autobiography My Life and Other Games in 1990.

Nicholas Parsons stated that Just a Minute is "perhaps the most deceptively simple, enduring, popular and much-copied comedy game on radio or television anywhere"[3] In each edition, Messiter is acknowledged as the inventor of the game.

Family

Messiter married Enid, née Senior. They had two children: a daughter, Susan, who lives in Cambridgeshire, and a son, Malcolm Messiter, who is an oboist.

References

  1. ^ a b Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 370. ISBN 1-84854-195-3.
  2. ^ "Just a Minute & Mr Parry-Jones". The Old Shirburnian Society. 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  3. ^ "Obituary: Ian Messiter". The Independent. 1999-11-26. Retrieved 2019-05-12.

External links