Peter O'Sullevan
| Sir Peter O'Sullevan CBE |
|
|---|---|
| Born |
3 March 1918 Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 29 July 2015 (aged 97) London, England |
| Cause of death | Cancer |
| Education |
Hawtreys Charterhouse |
| Alma mater | Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil |
| Occupation | Sports commentator |
| Employer | BBC |
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Duckworth (1947 – 1 January 2010; her death) |
Sir Peter O'Sullevan, CBE (3 March 1918 – 29 July 2015) was a British horse racing commentator for the BBC, and a correspondent for the Press Association, Daily Express and Today. He was the BBC's leading horse racing commentator from 1947 to 1997, during which time he described some of the greatest moments in the history of Britain's most popular race, the Grand National.
The son of Colonel John Joseph O'Sullevan DSO, resident magistrate at Killarney, and Vera (née Henry), Peter O'Sullevan was born in Newcastle, County Down before returning as an infant to his parents' home at Kenmare, County Kerry but brought up in Surrey, England. He was educated at Hawtreys, Charterhouse, and later at Collège Alpin International Beau Soleil in Switzerland.
O'Sullevan was involved in some of the earliest television commentaries on any sport in the late 1940s and made many radio commentaries in his earlier years (including the Grand National before it was televised for the first time in 1960). On television, he was the voice who guided viewers through many of the biggest events of the racing year, from the Cheltenham Festival until 1994, the Epsom Derby until 1979, to the Grand National, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood until he retired in 1997. During his career, he called around 30 renewals of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris and racing from the United States and Ireland as well as trotting from Rome during the 1960s.
...
Wikipedia