Marjorie Wallace

Marjorie Shiona Wallace CBE (born January 1943) is a British investigative journalist, author, and broadcaster. She is the founder and chief executive of mental health charity SANE.

Early life and education Wallace was born in Nairobi, British Kenya, where her father was a civil engineer mapping the railways. Her mother was a classical pianist.

After studying music, Wallace graduated with a degree in Psychology and Philosophy from University College London.

Career

Journalism

Early career After graduating, Wallace worked as a trainee producer for The Frost Programme with David Frost. She then became a religious programmes producer and a current affairs reporter for London Weekend Television.

She later joined the BBC as a reporter and film director for news and current affairs programme Nationwide, including covering stories about homeless people and making the first film inside an IRA training camp. One of the cases was Terry Wiles, a child born with severe physical disabilities who had been adopted by Hazel and Len Wiles. The article is credited with helping to persuade Distillers, the company that distributed and marketed the drugs, to offer compensation to victims of the scandal. The drama won an International Emmy Award in 1980 and was also nominated for a BAFTA. The Sunday Times expose of thalidomide led to victims being awarded over £28 million compensation.

In 1986, Wallace wrote a series of campaigning articles in The Times on schizophrenia and other severe mental illness. The articles were published under the title The Forgotten Illness. They focused on misconceptions about mental illness, the anguish and neglect of sufferers and families, and the failures of the community care policy. The response to the articles was the largest The Times had ever received on a home news subject.

Following the launch of the charity, Wallace recruited support for SANE from key figures in medicine, science, business, industry and the media, including Prince Charles as its first patron.

The Silent Twins In 1982, Wallace met June and Jennifer Gibbons, identical twins who had made a pact of silence to speak only with each other and no one else. The twins were admitted to Broadmoor Hospital following a string of offences, including vandalism and arson. They remained at Broadmoor for 11 years, where Wallace earned their trust and publicised their cause.

In 1986, Wallace published The Silent Twins. The book brought the twins to international attention, with Oliver Sacks writing that it was “a remarkable and tragic study in its depth, penetration and detail.” Wallace wrote the screenplay for the BBC film directed by Jon Amiel.

The story was also turned into numerous plays, documentaries, and two operas.

Personal life In 1974, Wallace married psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Andrzej Skarbek, with whom she had three children: Sacha, Stefan and Justin. The couple later separated, but did not divorce.

Wallace was later the partner of Tom Margerison, founder of the New Scientist magazine and co-founder of London Weekend Television. Wallace and Margerison had one daughter together: Sophia. Margerison died in 2014.

For over 40 years, Wallace was a close friend and confidante of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon. The couple campaigned together, writing articles for The Sunday Times about disadvantaged and disabled people, and were later romantically involved.

Recognition

1982. Campaigning Journalist of the Year. 1988. The Snowdon Special Award. 1989. Appointed Guardian Fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. 1997. Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. 2004. Appointed Fellow of University College London. 2008. Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). 2019. Appointed an Honorary Member of The World Psychiatric Association.

Selected filmography

1990. Whose Mind Is It Anyway? BBC One. 1995. Circles of Madness. BBC. 1997. In the Psychiatrist’s Chair. BBC Radio 4. 2014. Inheritance Tracks. BBC Radio 4. 2015. Desert Island Discs. BBC Radio 4. 1979. The Superpoison. Macmillan. 1986. The Silent Twins. Penguin.