Editing Alan Whicker

{{Short description|British journalist and broadcaster}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Alan Whicker 
| honorific_suffix= {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}}
| image = Alan Whicker.jpg
| caption = 
| pseudonym = 
| birth_date = 2 August 1921
| birth_place = [[Cairo]], Egypt
| birth_name = Donald Alan Whicker
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|07|12|1921|08|04|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Trinity, Jersey|Trinity]], [[Jersey]], [[Channel Islands]]<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23287351 |title=Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies at 87 |publisher=BBC News |date=12 July 2013 |access-date=12 July 2013}}</ref>
| occupation = {{unbulleted list |[[Journalist]] |{{nowrap|[[Television presenter|TV presenter, broadcaster]]}} }}
| nationality = British
| spouse = 
| partner = {{unbulleted list |[[Olga Deterding]] (1966–1969) |{{longitem|Valerie Kleeman (1969–2013; his death)}} }}
| children = 
| relatives = 
| influences = 
| influenced = 
| signature = 
| website = 
}}

'''Donald Alan Whicker''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE}} (2 August 1921&nbsp;– 12 July 2013) was a British [[journalist]] and [[Television presenter|television presenter and broadcaster]]. His career spanned almost 60&nbsp;years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme ''[[Whicker's World]]'' for over 30&nbsp;years. He was made a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 2005 for services to broadcasting.

== Early life==

[[File:AmeryArrested.jpg|thumb|left|Whicker (right, with back to the camera) with [[John Amery]] shortly after the latter's arrest by [[Italian resistance movement|Italian partisans]] in [[Milan]].|alt=Dark-haired unshaven man]]

Whicker was born to British parents in [[Cairo]], Egypt, in 1921.{{refn|group=note|name=year of birth|Sources such as Whicker's ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' entry give a year of birth of 1925.<ref name="WWW">{{cite web |title=Whicker, Alan Donald, (2 Aug. 1925–12 July 2013), television broadcaster (Whicker's World); writer |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U39510 |website=[[Who Was Who]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=4 August 2024 |language=en |date=1 December 2016}}</ref>}}<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=107081|title=Whicker, (Donald) Alan (1921–2013)}}</ref><ref name=indy>{{Cite web|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/a-wonderful-life-broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies-aged-87-8705800.html|work = [[The Independent]] | date = 12 July 2013|access-date = 12 July 2013|title = 'A wonderful life': Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies, aged 87|first = James|last = Legge}}</ref> When he was two years old his father Charles, a British Army officer, became seriously ill with a heart problem and died. The family, now consisting of his mother Nancy, Alan and his elder sister Mary, moved to [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] in [[Surrey]]. His sister soon died, too. He attended [[Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School]], an all-boys [[Independent school (UK)|independent]] [[boarding school]], where he excelled at cross-country running.<ref name="ODNB" />

==Military service==
During the [[Second World War]] he served in the [[British Army]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20734338 | title = Obituary: Alan Whicker | date = 12 July 2013 | access-date = 12 July 2013|publisher = BBC News}}</ref> He was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[Devonshire Regiment]] on 8 August 1942.<ref name="LG 21 August 1942">{{London Gazette |issue= 35677 |date= 21 August 1942 |page= 3702 |supp= y }}</ref> He then joined the British Army's [[Army Film and Photographic Unit]] in Italy in 1943,<ref name=indy/> filming at [[Operation Shingle|Anzio]] and meeting such influential figures as [[Bernard Montgomery|Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery]].<ref name=telegraphobit/> In March 1944, he was [[mentioned in despatches]] "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Sicily".<ref name="LG 21 March 1944">{{London Gazette |issue= 36436 |date= 21 March 1944 |pages= 1367-1369 |supp= y}}</ref> He transferred to the [[Royal Army Ordnance Corps]] on 1 April 1945 with the [[war substantive rank]] of [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]].<ref name="LG 24 August 1945">{{London Gazette |issue= 37239 |date= 24 August 1945 |page= 4325 |supp= y }}</ref>

In the documentary ''Whicker's War'' he revealed that he was one of the first in the Allied forces to enter [[Milan]] and that he took into custody an [[SS]] general and staff who were guarding the SS's paymaster's payroll money used to pay the SS troops, along with large amounts of cash in various foreign currencies, all contained within a large trunk. Whicker later handed over the SS men and the trunk of cash to the commander of an advancing US armoured column.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whickers-War-DVD/dp/B000B5KEGO | publisher = Amazon|access-date = 12 July 2013|title = Whicker's War [DVD]}}</ref> While in Milan Whicker shot footage of [[Death of Benito Mussolini|the body of]] [[Benito Mussolini]]<ref name=indy/> and was also responsible for taking into custody British traitor [[John Amery]].<ref name=telegraphobit/>

== Broadcasting career ==

After the war, Whicker became a journalist and broadcaster, acting as a newspaper correspondent during the [[Korean War]]. After joining the [[BBC]] in 1957, he became an international reporter for its ''[[Tonight (BBC television programme)|Tonight]]'' programme. In 1958, he started presenting ''[[Whicker's World]]'', which began life as a segment on the ''Tonight'' programme before becoming a fully-fledged series itself in the 1960s. ''Whicker's World'' was filmed all over the globe and became a huge ratings success in the UK. Whicker continued to present the series up until the 1990s, and he won a [[BAFTA Award]] in 1964 for his presentation in the Factual category;<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Television Nominations 1964 |url=http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1964 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815051437/http://www.bafta.org/awards/television/nominations/?year=1964 |archive-date=Aug 15, 2010 |access-date=9 October 2010 |publisher=BAFTA}}</ref> he also won the [[Richard Dimbleby Award]] at the 1978 BAFTA ceremony.<ref name=":0" /> Whicker was instrumental in launching [[Yorkshire Television]] (which made ''Whicker's World'' for some years), producing television programmes for it from 1969 until 1992. At the beginning of the ITV series, Whicker made ''Papa Doc – The Black Sheep'' (1969)<ref>Tise Vahimagi {{Cite web |title=Whicker, Alan (1925–) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/531470/index.html |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=BFI Screenonline}}</ref> on Haiti and its dictator [[François Duvalier|François "Papa Doc" Duvalier]] who made himself available to Whicker and his team.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calder |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Calder |date=4 September 2010 |title=A well-travelled man: Veteran broadcaster Alan Whicker reveals his globetrotting tips |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/a-welltravelled-man-veteran-broadcaster-alan-whicker-reveals-his-globetrotting-tips-2067728.html |url-access=registration |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>

Whicker appeared in various adverts for [[American Express]]<ref name="telegraphobit">{{Cite web |date=12 July 2013 |title=Alan Whicker |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/10176308/Alan-Whicker.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> and [[Barclaycard]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 June 2011 |title=Barclaycard: 45 years of credit cards in the UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/picture-galleries/8603986/Barclaycard-45-years-of-credit-cards-in-the-UK.html?image=6 |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |quote=In 1982 the travel journalist Alan Whicker appeared in a series of adverts spanning five years focusing on the acceptability of the Barclaycard in thousands of shops, restaurants and businesses around the world.}}</ref> and was also the man behind the advertising slogan "Hello World", for [[travelocity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/interviews/alan-whicker-interview?page=all|archive-url = https://archive.today/20130713030940/http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/articles/interviews/alan-whicker-interview?page=all|url-status = dead|archive-date = 2013-07-13|work = [[Wanderlust (magazine)|Wanderlust]] |title = Alan Whicker interview|date = October 2004|access-date = 12 July 2013}}</ref> He narrated the 2007 and 2008 BBC documentary series ''[[Comedy Map of Britain]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Comedy Map of Britain |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tsm5 |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=BBC |quote=Alan Whicker narrates an animated journey around the UK, pinpointing the special places that have inspired and affected our major comic talents}}</ref>

In the [[2005 New Year Honours]] Whicker was created a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] for services to [[broadcasting]].<ref name=bbc/> In 2009, then aged 88, Whicker returned to some of the locations and people who were originally featured in ''Whicker's World'' for the BBC series ''Alan Whicker's Journey of a Lifetime''. In this, he met various people whom he had interviewed decades earlier to see how their lives had progressed or changed since the initial programme.<ref name="lifetime">{{Cite web |last=Howse |first=Christoper |date=16 March 2009 |title=Alan Whicker interview: a journey of a lifetime |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/5000960/Alan-Whicker-interview-a-journey-of-a-lifetime.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 July 2013 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref>

He was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in 1983 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at the Berkeley Hotel in Kensington, London.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

== Personal life ==

Whicker had a relationship with [[Olga Deterding]] from 1966 to 1969.<ref name="lifetime" /> He was with his partner, Valerie Kleeman (who was 25&nbsp;years his junior), from 1969. He neither married nor had children.<ref name=lifetime/>

== Death ==

Whicker died on 12 July 2013 from [[bronchial pneumonia]] at his home in [[Jersey]], in the [[Channel Islands]], aged 91.<ref name="bbc"/><ref name="DOB">Some sources, including ''[https://www.thetimes.com/article/globetrotting-broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies-at-91-6bghdzxpz0b The Times]'' and ''[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24098ad0-eaf8-11e2-bfdb-00144feabdc0.html The Financial Times]'', give his age as 91 when he died, based on a date of birth in August 1921.</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=12 July 2013 |title=Broadcaster Alan Whicker dies |url=http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-07-12/broadcaster-alan-whicker-dies/ |access-date=12 July 2013 |publisher=ITV |quote=Broadcaster Alan Whicker, whose distinguished TV career stretched nearly 60 years, has died at the age of 87 after suffering from bronchial pneumonia, his spokeswoman said}}</ref> Broadcaster [[Michael Parkinson]] stated that Whicker was "a fine journalist and great storyteller", adding: "I can think of no other television reporter before or since who created such a wonderful catalogue of unforgettable programmes."<ref name=bbc/> [[Michael Palin]] said that Whicker was "a great character, a great traveller and an excellent reporter", while travel presenter [[Judith Chalmers]] said he was "an icon for the travel industry".<ref name=bbc/>

Most obituary writers said that Whicker was 87 at the time of his death, based on his entry in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' giving a date of birth in 1925. The ''[[Financial Times]]'' pointed out that his age had been queried, with school records showing his birthdate in August 1921, making him 91 when he died.<ref name="crick_obituary">{{Cite web |last=Crick |first=Margaret |date=12 July 2013 |title=Suave storyteller who made his life an enlightening journey |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24098ad0-eaf8-11e2-bfdb-00144feabdc0.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 July 2013 |work=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref>

In June 2015 it was announced that Whicker's estate would fund, through The Whickers,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.whickerawards.com/|title=The Whickers|website=The Whickers}}</ref> three annual awards totalling over £100,000 to be awarded to documentary makers, including funding and recognition prizes for audio documentaries.<ref>{{cite web |date=7 June 2015 |title=Alan Whicker awards to fund documentaries |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33038200 |publisher=BBC News |quote=Three prizes totalling £100,000 will be awarded to new film-makers, including one to encourage people aged over 50 to film their first documentary.}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==

While presenting ''Whicker's World'', Whicker was known for his subtle brand of [[satire]] and social commentary.  ''Whicker's World'' was [[Parody|parodied]] in a ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' sketch featuring a tropical island, "Whicker Island", where all the inhabitants dress and act like Whicker.<ref name=bbc/> [[Benny Hill]], towards the end of his BBC series in 1968, impersonated Whicker in a parody called "Knicker's World".<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/12/alan-whicker-dead-tv-journalist_n_3585291.html|title = Alan Whicker Dead: Globe-Trotting TV Legend Dies Aged 87|work = [[The Huffington Post]] |access-date = 12 July 2013|date = 12 July 2013}}</ref> 

He was parodied again in 1981 by the Evasions, a British funk group whose song, "Wikka Wrap", featured songwriter Graham de Wilde impersonating Whicker; the song was later [[sampling (music)|sampled]] in American rapper [[Coolio]]'s 1996 song "[[1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New) by Coolio |url=https://www.whosampled.com/Coolio/1,-2,-3,-4-(Sumpin%27-New)/ |access-date=2018-09-07 |website=[[WhoSampled]]}}</ref> De Wilde also composed the theme tune for the 1980s BBC episodes of ''Whicker's World''.<ref>[http://www.grahamdewilde.com/ Graham de Wilde] Retrieved 13 July 2013.</ref>

== References ==
'''Explanatory notes'''
{{reflist|group=note}}

'''Citations'''
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|0924130|Alan Whicker}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080728212830/http://www.alanwhicker.co.uk/ Alan Whicker]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whicker, Alan}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Trinity, Jersey]]
[[Category:People educated at Haberdashers' Boys' School]]
[[Category:Devonshire Regiment officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:English reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:BAFTA winners (people)]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:British expatriates in Egypt]]