David Attenborough

In the mid-sixties became the Controller of BBC2. Later, he became the BBCs Director of Programmes. The British Academy awarded David Attenborough the Desmond Davis Award in 1970, and a Fellowship in 1979.

He is the brother of actor/director Lord Richard Attenborough and John Attenborough. Also, during World War Two, his parents adopted two German Jewish girls, who had been brought to Britain as part of the Kindertransport.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1983.

He is the brother-in-law of Sheila Sim.

He is the uncle of director Michael Attenborough and actress Charlotte Attenborough.

While filming "The Living Planet", he saw his balloon crash land in southern Scotland. When he finally found a farmhouse, the farmer recognized him from the TV, and said he could he use the phone if he wished his wee daughter a happy birthday. When he returned with his young girl he said to her: "This is David. Hes come by balloon to wish you a happy birthday." Attenborough said "Happy birthday." The dour farmer replied: "The telephones over there.".

50 years of natural history programme making series has made him the most travelled person in human history, except for astronauts.

As head of BBC-2 he introduced British audiences to colour TV, and gave the go-ahead to Monty Pythons Flying Circus.

He was awarded the Order of Merit (OM) by Queen Elizabeth II in June 2005.

He has a daughter, a son, and several grandchildren.

He was awarded the CBE in the 1974 Queens Birthday Honours List, made a Knight Bachelor in the 1985 Queens Birthday Honours List, a CVO (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in the 1991 Queens Birthday Honours List and a CH (Companion of Honour) in the 1996 Queens New Year Honours List.

He is a fan of Emmylou Harris.

On 16 December 2006, he won the title of Greatest Living British Icon, voted for by viewers of BBC Twos The Culture Show, beating singers Sir Paul McCartney and Morrissey (Morrissey ).

He presented Pentangle with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2007.

He merited a place in Time magazines Special Issue "Heroes of the Environment" (Leaders & Visionaries section) with a tribute penned by Jeremy Paxman (Issue October 29, 2007).

He is a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, a group seeking to cut the growth in human population.

For his birthday, one of his sisters gave him a fossilized animal trapped in amber, which later grew into an entire collection of animals in amber. In Jurassic Park , his brother Richard Attenborough grows dinosaurs from mosquitoes trapped in amber.

In 2011, his home became the key to solving a murder from 132 years earlier. In 1879, a widow was killed by her housekeeper and decapitated. She chopped up the body and fed pieces of it to nearby children. The housekeeper was arrested when a severed foot was found, and ultimately convicted and executed for the murders, but her victims head was never found, until it was discovered buried under the ground of Attenboroughs house. Workmen found its remains while excavating for an extension on his home. It turns out his home was located near where Attenboroughs house near stands, and the house itself used to be a pub frequented by the murderer.

Although he commissioned the famous music series "The Old Grey Whistle Test" during his period as a BBC executive, he has admitted that he never actually watched it, as he doesnt like rock music.

He is the great-uncle of Tom Attenborough.

After the massive positive reception his documentaries received, he got involved with a Masters course (MA Wildlife Documentary Production).

While director of programmes at the BBC, he stopped the broadcast of "Doomwatch" {Sex and Violence (#3.12)} on the grounds that it was potentially libelous.

I had a huge advantage when I started 50 years ago - my job was secure.

Public service broadcasting, watched by a healthy number of viewers,with programmes financed in proportion to their intrinsic needs and not,the size of the audience, can only effectively operate as a network. A,network whose aim is to cater for the broadest possible range of,interests, popular as well as less popular, a network that measures,success not only by its audience size but by the range of its schedule.

[in 2008] There are times when BBC1 and BBC2, intoxicated by the sudden,popularity of a programme genre, have allowed that genre to proliferate,and run rampant through the schedules, with the result that other kinds,of programmes are not placed - simply because of lack of space. Do we,really require so many gardening programmes, makeover programmes, or,celebrity chefs? Is it not a scandal, in this day and age, that that,there seems to be no place for continuing series of programmes about,science or serious music or thoughtful in-depth interviews with people,other than politicians?,Public service broadcasting is one of the things that distinguishes this,country and makes me want to live here. I have spent all my life in it.

I would be very distressed if public service broadcasting was weakened.

I have been at the BBC since 1952 and know the BBC is constantly being,battered. It is today.

If you could demonstrate that the BBC was grossly extravagant there,might be a case for saying OK take it away. But in fact the BBC per,minute in almost every category is as cheap as you can find anywhere in,the world and produces the best quality. If you take the money away,which part of the BBC will you remove? The BBC has gone through,swingeing staff cuts. It has been cut to the bone, if you divert,licence fee money elsewhere, you cut quality and services. There is,always that threat from politicians who will say your licence fee is up,for grabs. We will take it. There is a lot of people who want to see,the BBC weakened. They talk of this terrible tax of the licence fee.

Yet it is the best bargain that is going. Four radio channels and god,knows how many TV channels. It is piffling.

[responding to religious viewers who criticise him for not crediting God,in his nature programmes] They always mean beautiful things like,hummingbirds. I always reply by saying that I think of a little child,in East Africa with a worm burrowing through his eyeball. The worm,cannot live in any other way, except by burrowing through eyeballs. I,find that hard to reconcile with the notion of a divine and benevolent,creator.

There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance,with a gorilla than any other animal I know.

People believe what they wish to believe. There are some people who,think the written word is more likely to be an avenue to the truth than,the material world that we can examine. I might not share that belief.

I am a BBC man.

Now, over half of us live in an urban environment. My home, too, is here in the city of London. Looking down on this great metropolis, the ingenuity with which we continue to reshape the surface of our planet is very striking. It’s also very sobering, and reminds me of just how easy it is for us to lose our connection with the natural world. Yet it’s on this connection that the future of both humanity and the natural world will depend. And surely, it is our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth.

The truth is: the natural world is changing. And we are totally dependent on that world. It provides our food, water and air. It is the most precious thing we have and we need to defend it.

I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored.

The climate, the economic situation, rising birth rates; none of these things give me a lot of hope or reason to be optimistic.

The process of making natural history films is to try to prevent the animal knowing you are there, so you get glimpses of a non-human world, and that is a transporting thing.

Cameramen are among the most extraordinarily able and competent people I know. They have to have an insight into natural history that gives them a sixth sense of what the creature is going to do, so they can be ready to follow.

Natural history is not about producing fables.

People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure.

Before the BBC, I joined the Navy in order to travel.

I like animals. I like natural history. The travel bit is not the important bit. The travel bit is what you have to do in order to go and look at animals.

I think a major element of jetlag is psychological. Nobody ever tells me what time it is at home.

It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement the greatest source of visual beauty the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.

Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics.

There is no question that climate change is happening the only arguable point is what part humans are playing in it.

All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people and harder - and ultimately impossible to solve - with ever more people.

All we can hope for is that the thing is going to slowly and imperceptibly shift. All I can say is that 50 years ago there were no such thing as environmental policies. .