London, Wednesday 27 January: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced that Sir Trevor McDonald OBE, will discuss his career at a special ‘BAFTA A Life in Television’ event at BAFTA headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, on Tuesday 8 March. Sir Trevor will be in conversation with broadcaster Kirsty Young. The event is supported by Rathbone Investment Management.
‘BAFTA A Life in Television’ is a strand of live onstage events that celebrate leading figures from the world of television, shining a light on their talent and their contribution to British television and culture. The strand has previously hosted actor and presenter Michael Palin CBE and actress Julie Walters CBE.
Sir Trevor McDonald is a double BAFTA recipient, having been awarded the Richard Dimbleby Award in 1999 for the year’s most important personal contribution on the screen in factual television, and the BAFTA Fellowship, the highest accolade bestowed by the Academy on an individual in recognition of their outstanding and exceptional contribution to television, in 2011.
Tonight With Trevor McDonald, ITV’s bi-weekly flagship current affairs programme which ran 1999-2007, was itself twice nominated for a BAFTA Television Award: in 2000 for Tonight with Trevor McDonald: Interview with the Lawrence Suspects, and in 2005 for Tonight with Trevor McDonald: Our Daughter Holly.
Sir Trevor McDonald’s media career spans more than five decades, beginning in Trinidad before he moved to the UK in 1969. Since then he has worked prominently for ITN, as well as the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, and became the first sole presenter of News At Ten in 1992.
Sir Trevor has conducted interviews with some of the most influential and controversial figures in the world. He was the first British television correspondent to interview Nelson Mandela following his release from prison, and the only British journalist to interview former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Other interviewees include Libyan President Colonel Gaddafi, former PLO Leader Yasser Arafat, US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice and Hilary Clinton. More recently Sir Trevor has presented a number of documentaries for ITV including Las Vegas with Trevor McDonald in November 2015.
In addition to his BAFTA recognition, Sir Trevor McDonald’s other awards include the Royal Television Society Gold Medal in 1997, the National Television Award Special Recognition Award in 2003 and the Royal Television Society’s Judges’ Award in 2004. He was awarded the OBE in 1992 and was honoured with a Knighthood in 1999.
Public tickets for ‘BAFTA A Life in Television: Trevor McDonald’ will go on sale at 13.00 on Friday 29 January. To book, go to www.bafta.org/whats-on/
Recordings of previous events in the series are available on BAFTA Guru, BAFTA’s online learning channel (www.bafta.org/guru).
Event details:
‘BAFTA A Life in Television: Trevor McDonald’
Tuesday 8 March 2016 at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London
19.30 Champagne Taittinger Reception
20.00 Event commences
For further information, please contact:
Dan Maynard at freuds
T: +44 (0) 20 3003 6649
E: [email protected]
Hephzibah Kwakye-Saka at freuds
T: +44 (0) 20 3003 6482
E: [email protected]
For event photography, logos, accreditation, transcripts and more, visit www.bafta.org/press.
