Donald Alan Whicker (2 August 1921 – 12 July 2013) was a British journalist and television presenter and broadcaster. His career spanned almost 60 years, during which time he presented the documentary television programme Whicker's World for over 30 years. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for services to broadcasting.

Early life

thumb|left|Whicker (right, with back to the camera) with [[John Amery shortly after the latter's arrest by Italian partisans in Milan.|alt=Dark-haired unshaven man]]

Whicker was born to British parents in Cairo, Egypt, in 1921. When he was two years old his father Charles, a British Army officer, became seriously ill with a heart problem and died. The family, now consisting of his mother Nancy, Alan and his elder sister Mary, moved to Richmond in Surrey. His sister soon died, too. He attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School, an all-boys independent boarding school, where he excelled at cross-country running. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment on 8 August 1942. He then joined the British Army's Army Film and Photographic Unit in Italy in 1943, He transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on 1 April 1945 with the war substantive rank of lieutenant.

In the documentary Whicker's War he revealed that he was one of the first in the Allied forces to enter Milan and that he took into custody an SS general and staff who were guarding the SS's paymaster's payroll money used to pay the SS troops, along with large amounts of cash in various foreign currencies, all contained within a large trunk. Whicker later handed over the SS men and the trunk of cash to the commander of an advancing US armoured column. While in Milan Whicker shot footage of the body of Benito Mussolini he also won the Richard Dimbleby Award at the 1978 BAFTA ceremony. on Haiti and its dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier who made himself available to Whicker and his team.

Whicker appeared in various adverts for American Express and Barclaycard, and was also the man behind the advertising slogan "Hello World", for travelocity. He narrated the 2007 and 2008 BBC documentary series Comedy Map of Britain.

In the 2005 New Year Honours Whicker was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to broadcasting.

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1983 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Berkeley Hotel in Kensington, London.

Personal life

Whicker had a relationship with Olga Deterding from 1966 to 1969. Broadcaster Michael Parkinson stated that Whicker was "a fine journalist and great storyteller", adding: "I can think of no other television reporter before or since who created such a wonderful catalogue of unforgettable programmes."

In June 2015 it was announced that Whicker's estate would fund, through The Whickers, three annual awards totalling over £100,000 to be awarded to documentary makers, including funding and recognition prizes for audio documentaries.

While presenting Whicker's World, Whicker was known for his subtle brand of satire and social commentary. Whicker's World was parodied in a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch featuring a tropical island, "Whicker Island", where all the inhabitants dress and act like Whicker.

He was parodied again in 1981 by the Evasions, a British funk group whose song, "Wikka Wrap", featured songwriter Graham de Wilde impersonating Whicker; the song was later sampled in American rapper Coolio's 1996 song "1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)". De Wilde also composed the theme tune for the 1980s BBC episodes of Whicker's World.

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

  • Alan Whicker