Editing Alan Coren

{{short description|English humourist and writer (1938–2007)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Alan Coren
| image       = Alan Coren British writer.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1938|06|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, England
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2007|10|18|1938|7|27|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| restingplace = [[Hampstead Cemetery]]
| education   = [[Wadham College, Oxford]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Yale University]]<br/>[[University of California, Berkeley]]
| occupation  = Humourist, writer, journalist
| spouse      = {{marriage|Anne Kasriel|1963}}
| children    = {{hlist|[[Giles Coren|Giles]]|[[Victoria Coren Mitchell|Victoria]]}}
| relatives   = [[Michael Coren]] (cousin)
}}
'''Alan Coren''' (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007)<ref name="Tele Obit"/> was an English [[List of humorists|humorist]], writer and [[satire|satirist]] who was a regular panellist on the [[BBC]] radio [[quiz]] ''[[The News Quiz]]'' and a team captain on BBC television's ''[[Call My Bluff]]''. Coren was also a journalist, and for almost a decade was the editor of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' magazine.

==Early life and education==
Alan Coren was born into an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] family in [[East Barnet]], Hertfordshire, in 1938, the son of builder and plumber Samuel Coren and his wife Martha, a hairdresser.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-coren-395092.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091017112744/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/alan-coren-395092.html |archive-date=2009-10-17 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Alan Coren |date=20 October 2007 |newspaper=The Independent |language=en |access-date=2019-12-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-99146|title=Coren, Alan (1938–2007), humorous writer|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/99146}}</ref> In the introduction to ''Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks: The Essential Alan Coren'', Alan's children [[Giles Coren|Giles]] and [[Victoria Coren Mitchell|Victoria Coren]] conclude that their grandfather Samuel Coren was "an odd job man really" and had also apparently been a debt collector.<ref name="Barnet">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r7pVyVt56vMC&pg=PA6 |last=Coren |first=Alan |title=Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks |chapter=Foreword by Giles and Victoria Coren |date=2008 |location=Edinburgh |page=6 |isbn=978-1-921520-65-5}} There is some uncertainty regarding the father's occupation: the source describes him as "A plumber?... That's what they said... He was an odd job man really."</ref>

Coren was educated at Osidge Primary School and [[East Barnet School|East Barnet Grammar School]].<ref name="Barnet"/> Having gained a scholarship, he studied English at [[Wadham College, Oxford]]. He graduated from the [[University of Oxford]] with a [[British undergraduate degree classification|first class]] Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1960: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] (MA Oxon) degree.<ref name="Tele Obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1566736/Alan-Coren.html |title=Obituary – Alan Coren |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=20 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="BBC Obit">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7052749.stm |title=Obituary: Alan Coren |publisher=BBC |date=19 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Coren, Alan, (27 June 1938–18 Oct. 2007), writer and broadcaster |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U11891 |website=[[Who Was Who]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=12 October 2023 |language=en |date=1 December 2016}}</ref> Having won a [[Harkness Fellowship]], he then studied for a doctorate in [[American literature|modern American literature]] at [[Yale University]] and the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name="Tele Obit"/> He did not complete his PhD.<ref name="WWW" />

==Life and career==
Coren considered an [[Academia|academic]] career but instead decided to become a writer and journalist.<ref name="Times Obit">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2696826.ece?token=null&offset=0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524032804/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2696826.ece?token=null&offset=0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2011 |title=Obituary – Alan Coren |newspaper=The Times|date=20 October 2007 |location=London}}</ref> In his later life he distanced himself from his [[Jews|Jewish]] heritage, being 'slightly embarrassed'.<ref name="auto"/>

He began this career by selling articles to ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' and was later offered a full-time job there.<ref name="BBC Obit"/> At this time he also wrote for ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

In 1963, Coren married Anne Kasriel, a consultant at [[Moorfields Eye Hospital]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/media-families-17-the-corens-1255032.html |title=Media families: 17. The Corens|date=9 June 1997|newspaper=The Independent |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002002809/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/media-families-17-the-corens-1255032.html |archive-date=2014-10-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Times Obit"/><ref name="Indie"/> The couple went on to have two children, [[Giles Coren|Giles]] and [[Victoria Coren Mitchell|Victoria]], who both became journalists.<ref name="BBC"/>

===Magazine editorships===
In 1966, he became ''Punch''{{'}}s literary editor, becoming deputy editor in 1969 and editor in 1977. He remained as editor until 1987 when the circulation began to decline.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/comment/0,,2195300,00.html |title=Obituary – Alan Coren |first=Stanley |last=Reynolds |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 October 2007}}</ref>

During the week in which he took over the editorship, ''[[The Jewish Chronicle]]'' published a profile of him. His response was to rush around the office, waving a copy of the relevant edition, saying: "This is ridiculous – I haven't been Jewish for years!"<ref name="Indie">{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3078970.ece |title=Obituary – Alan Coren |first=Miles |last=Kington |work=The Independent |date=20 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021012529/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article3078970.ece |archive-date=21 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

When Coren left ''Punch'' in 1987, he became editor of ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'', continuing in that role until 1989.<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

===Columns===

From 1971 to 1978, Coren wrote a television review column for ''[[The Times]]''.

From 1972 to 1976 he wrote a humorous column for the ''[[Daily Mail]]''.<ref name="Times Obit"/> He also wrote for ''[[The Observer]]'', ''[[Tatler (1901)|Tatler]]''<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/alan-coren-26327892.html |title=Alan Coren |date=28 October 2007 |newspaper=Irish Independent}}</ref> and ''The Times''.

From 1984, Coren worked as a television critic for ''[[Daily Mail|The Mail on Sunday]]'' until he moved as a humorous columnist to the ''[[Sunday Express]]'', which he left in 1996.<ref name="Tele Obit"/><ref name="Guardian"/> In 1989, he began to contribute a column in ''The Times'', which continued for the rest of his life.<ref name="BBC"/>

===Broadcasting===

Coren began his broadcasting career in 1977. He was invited to be one of the regular panellists on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s new [[Satire|satirical]] quiz show, ''[[The News Quiz]]''.<ref name="BBC Obit"/> He continued on ''The News Quiz'' until the year he died.

From 1996 to 2004 he was one of two team captains on the UK panel game ''[[Call My Bluff (UK game show)|Call My Bluff]]''.

===Scriptwriting===

In 1978 he wrote ''[[The Losers (TV series)|The Losers]]'', a sitcom about a [[wrestling]] [[Promoter (entertainment)|promoter]] starring [[Leonard Rossiter]] and [[Alfred Molina]].<ref name="Times Obit"/>

===Books===

Coren published about twenty books during his life, many of which were collections of his newspaper columns,<ref name="Tele Obit"/> such as ''Golfing for Cats'' and ''The Cricklewood Diet''.

From 1976 to 1983, he wrote the ''Arthur'' series of children's books.<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

One of his most successful books, ''The Collected Bulletins of Idi Amin'' (a collection of his ''Punch'' articles about [[Idi Amin|Amin]]) was rejected for publication in the United States on the grounds of racial sensitivity.<ref name="Tele Obit" /><ref name="BBC Obit" /> These Bulletins were later made into a comedy album, ''[[The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin]]'' with the actor [[John Bird (actor)|John Bird]]. After the [[Fall of Kampala|Tanzanian capture of Kampala]] in 1979 the American journalist Art Barrett discovered a copy of Coren's book on Idi Amin's bedside table.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alan Coren - a brief biography (20/5/1996) |url=https://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/corena/about.htm |access-date=2021-01-27 |website=OurCivilisation.com}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=Source appears to be a WP mirror site|date=July 2024}}

Coren's other books include ''The Dog It Was That Died'' (1965), ''The Sanity Inspector'' (1974), ''All Except The Bastard'' (1978), ''The Lady from Stalingrad Mansions'' (1978), ''The Rhinestone as Big as the Ritz'' (1979), ''Tissues for Men'' (1981), ''Bumf'' (1984), ''Seems Like Old Times: a Year in the Life of Alan Coren'' (1989), ''More Like Old Times'' (1990), ''A Year in Cricklewood'' (1991), ''Toujours Cricklewood?'' (1993), ''Alan Coren's Sunday Best'' (1993), ''A Bit on the Side'' (1995), ''Alan Coren Omnibus'' (1996), ''The Cricklewood Dome'' (1998), ''The Cricklewood Tapestry'' (2002) and ''Waiting for Jeffrey'' (2002).<ref name="Tele Obit"/><ref name="Times Obit"/><ref name="Guardian"/> Coren's final book, ''69 For One'', was published late in 2007.<ref name="Tele Obit"/>

===Honours===
[[File:Alan Coren's Grave, Hampstead Cemetery - London. (15699842447).jpg|thumb|The grave of Alan Coren, [[Hampstead Cemetery]], London.]]

In 1973, Coren became the [[Rector of the University of St Andrews]], after [[John Cleese]]. He held the position until 1976.<ref name="auto1"/>

===Illness===
In May 2006, Coren was bitten by an insect that gave him [[Sepsis|septicaemia]], which led to his developing [[Necrotizing fasciitis|necrotising fasciitis]].<ref name="Tele Obit"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Notebook: Before I was so rudely interrupted |work=The Times|date=20 December 2006 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alan_coren/article758463.ece | location=London |first=Alan |last=Coren |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208074659/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alan_coren/article758463.ece |archive-date=2007-02-08}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Coren died from [[lung cancer]] in 2007 at his home in north London.<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7052510.stm |title=Broadcaster Alan Coren dies at 69 |publisher=BBC News |date=19 October 2007}}</ref><ref name="Times Obit"/> His body was buried at [[Hampstead Cemetery]] in north London.<ref name="Times Obit"/>

An anthology of his writings, called ''The Essential Alan Coren – Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks'' and edited by his children, was published on 2 October 2008.<ref name="gate">{{cite web |url=http://www.meetatthegate.com/component/option,com_author_book/edition_id,997/title_id,1196/ |title=Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks |access-date=29 December 2008 |year=2008 |website=Meet at the Gate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210145619/http://www.meetatthegate.com/component/option%2Ccom_author_book/edition_id%2C997/title_id%2C1196/ |archive-date=10 December 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Coren is commemorated by a short road named Alan Coren Close, [[Cricklewood]], London NW2 6GL.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theundergroundmap.com/article.html?id=51308 | title=Alan Coren Close, NW2 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070216034329/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alan_coren Alan Coren] at ''[[The Times]]''
*{{IMDb name|179745}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{succession box|title=[[Rector of the University of St Andrews]]|years=1973–1976|before=[[John Cleese]]|after=[[Frank Muir]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Rectors of the University of St Andrews}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coren, Alan}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English magazine editors]]
[[Category:English satirists]]
[[Category:Jewish English writers]]
[[Category:Rectors of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:People educated at East Barnet School]]
[[Category:Burials at Hampstead Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century English non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century English writers]]
[[Category:Punch (magazine) people]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish humorists]]
[[Category:Jewish English comedians]]
[[Category:Coren family|Alan]]
[[Category:Harkness Fellows]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]