Keith Fordyce

Keith Fordyce Marriott (15 October 1928 – 15 March 2011) was an English disc jockey and presenter on British radio and television. He was both the first presenter of the ITV television pop music programme Thank Your Lucky Stars in 1961 and of the youth-orientated magazine show Ready Steady Go! on Associated-Rediffusion from 1963 to 1965. Fordyce was a stalwart of both BBC Radio and Radio Luxembourg for many years, being co-host of the BBC Light Programme's Sunday morning show Easy Beat until 1967 and was the first presenter of BBC Radio 2's Sounds of the 60s series from 1983 to 1986.

Early life Fordyce was born on 15 October 1928 in the St. Giles district of Lincoln, the son of HM Customs and Excise officer Frank Joseph Marriott and his wife, Catherine Mary . He attended Lincoln School (today the Lincoln Christ's Hospital School) from 1937 to 1947, Fordyce only competed in the competition once before he was ruled ineligible when he turned 18. he joined the Air Training Corps when he was 15 and did his national service with the Volunteer Reserves with the Royal Air Force in Germany for two years. and he conducted sports commentary, continuity announcing, disc jockeying, producing and presenting.

After completing his national service, he read law at Emmanuel College, Cambridge from 1949 to 1952, graduating with a master's degree.

Career From 1952 to 1955, Fordyce worked as a freelancer, In November 1952, he made his first television broadcast commentating on a football match between Leyton Orient F.C. and Hereford F.C. for BBC Television. Fordyce became the youngest compere of the BBC Light Programme morning flagship programme Housewives' Choice for a week in August 1955. The same year saw him successfully contest a municipal election and he served as a Conservative Party councillor on Wimbledon Borough Council. He was the compere of the short-lived ITV programme Wham! in 1960, Fordyce joined the BBC Light Programme in the early 1960s and was the presenter of the lunchtime programme Pop Inn. In 1964, Fordyce presented Search for a Star, a ITV series that sought to discover a new female television personality. He was co-presenter of the ITV quiz show Groucho with Groucho Marx in 1965, and acted as Marx's interpreter of British customs and sayings.

He joined fellow disc jockey Annie Nightingale as the host of the request programme That's for Me. Fordyce was also the presenter of the BBC Sunday morning radio programme Easy Beat until it was axed when BBC Radio 1 was launched in 1967. Other work for Fordyce included presenting the inter-regional dancing contest Come Dancing, Open House, He was the host of Late Night Extra on BBC Radio 2 between 1969 and 1974, For nine years beginning in 1979, he hosted the Saturday morning BBC Radio 2 quiz programme Beat the Record in which listeners had to identify pieces of light music.

Personal life Fordyce married the microbiologist Anne Mercer at the St Mary the Virgin Church in Merton, Surrey on 6 February 1954. They had four children. Fordyce founded the self-supporting Torbay Aircraft Museum near Paignton in Devon in 1971 and was its curator until its closure in 1988. He supported the Liberal Party and spoke in support of David Penhaligon at a 1970s election meeting in Truro. He died of pneumonia at the Belle Vue House Nursing Home in Paignton, Devon on 15 March 2011.