Derek Jameson | |
|---|---|
 Jameson signing an autograph | |
| Born | (1929-11-29)29 November 1929 Hackney, England |
| Died | 12 September 2012(2012-09-12) (aged 82)[1] Worthing, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupations | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
Derek Jameson (29 November 1929 – 12 September 2012)[1] was an English tabloidjournalist and broadcaster. He began his career in the media in 1944 as a messenger atReuters and worked his way up to become the editor of several British tabloid newspapers in the 1970s and 1980s.
Later, he was a regular broadcaster onBBC Radio 2 for nearly a decade and a half, including an on-air partnership with his third wife Ellen. When his profile was at its highest, he was described byAuberon Waugh as "the second most famous man in Britain after Prince Charles."[2]
Born inHackney,London, the son oflaundry worker Elsie Elaine Ruth Jameson (whom, until the age of 8, he believed to be his elder sister) and an unidentified father,[3] Jameson was illegitimate and grew up in a privatechildren's home alongside his mother, where conditions were poor and five children shared the same bug-ridden bed. Although Jameson never learned his father's identity, visits — at the behest of his mother — to akosher butcher shop where the "tall blond butcher would invariably shell out a few shillings" led Jameson to assume this man to be his father.[4]
ThePalgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011) states that Jameson had "one Jewish parent"; whether this refers to his mother or the man he assumed was his father is unspecified.[5] The journalistHenry Porter, inLies, Damned Lies and Some Exclusives (1984), states of Jameson: "Derek Jameson was born within the smell of Hackney marshes to an Irish mother and a Jewish father who disappeared shortly after he was conceived."[6]
As a child, Jameson was evacuated fromLondon toBishop's Stortford,Hertfordshire, during theSecond World War.[7] His formal education included a period at aborstal; his youthful activities had includedshoplifting.[citation needed]
His career began inFleet Street, as a messenger boy atReuters, and he became a trainee reporter in 1946. That year he became a member of theCommunist Party, and acquired the nickname of the "red menace" as a result.[8] This political involvement almost ended this employment at Reuters, but his call-up for national service intervened.[9] By the time his period in the Army ended in 1951, during which he was stationed in Vienna, he had left the Party. Jameson returned to Reuters, where he remained until 1960, eventually becoming chief sub-editor.[10] After a brief period as the editor of theLondon American, a London weekly withArthur Christiansen as the publication's consultant,[4] he joined theDaily Express for the first time in 1961.[11]
After working in the features department there for two years, he then became a picture editor for theSunday Mirror.[10] From 1965 he was assistant editor of theDaily Mirror, and from 1972 the northern editor based in Manchester. Later, in 1976 he became managing editor of theDaily Mirror and introduced the paper's own photographs oftopless models. He was appointed editor of theDaily Express the following year by its new proprietor,Victor Matthews, with whom he initially had a good rapport; the two men had a similar start in life.[11] By the time Jameson left Express Newspapers in 1980, the title had increased daily sales by 500,000, a 25% increase.[8]
In 1978, in addition he became editor-in-chief of the group's new more downmarket tabloid, theDaily Star (with Peter Grimsditch as editor). Jameson was involved in the publicity at the time of the launch, and it was aimed at the lowest end of the market, even belowThe Sun.[11] He was quoted in one newspaper as commenting that the new paper would be "tits, bums,QPR and roll your own fags", but while under oath several years later during his libel case, he insisted that this had been invented by the reporter.[12] TheDaily Star had achieved sales of a million copies each day a year after it had begun publication. By now Jameson had gained a reputation of being able to increase the circulations of tabloid newspapers,[9] after ending his employment by Matthews over differences which had emerged. Matthews refused to return him full-time to theDaily Express, and Jameson was himself then (briefly) editing theDaily Star in Manchester.[4]
He became editor of theNews of the World in 1981.Rupert Murdoch, though, fired him in January 1984[12] after the publication of a story implying thatHarold Holt, the Australian Prime Minister who disappeared from a beach in 1967, had been a communist spy. The Murdoch and Holt families had, in fact, known each other well.[11]
Jameson's cockney accent and abrasive persona causedPrivate Eye to coin the sobriquet Sid Yobbo in his honour, although Jameson himself protested at such caricatures. Despite his success and affluence, he remained sensitive about his origins.
In 1980 theBBC broadcast a sketch in theRadio 4 programmeWeek Ending which described him as an "East End boy made bad" and that Jameson was "so ignorant he thought erudite was atype of glue".[13][14] Jameson sued the BBC for libel, but lost the action when it came to court in February 1984.[15] While the jury found the broadcast defamatory, they also considered it fair comment and Jameson had to pay costs of £75,000.
This award against him affected his finances, and following the end of his time at theNews of the World in the previous month,[12] he was forced to take up an offer from the BBC itself.[14]
In 1984 he presentedDo They Mean Us? a television series forBBC2 which, according to hisScotsman obituary, was "a decidedly patriotic examination of foreign television networks' British coverage".[8] On the show, Jameson had the catchphrase; "Do they mean us? They surely do!"[4]
He joinedBBC Radio 2 in late 1985, sitting in forJimmy Young, before taking over thebreakfast show fromKen Bruce on 7 April 1986,[16] presenting it until 20 December 1991 and greeting listeners with the refrain "morning, morning, Jameson here".[17]
He then hosted the Monday to Thursday late-night show between 22:30 and midnight along with his wife Ellen, which was calledThe Jamesons from January 1992 until April 1997.In 1988, he began presenting theBBC1 television showPeople. He was replaced in the second series byChris Serle,Jeni Barnett andFrank Bruno.[18]
In 1989 and 1990, he presented the nightly chat showJameson Tonight onSky One from theWindmill Theatre in London.
In 2010 he took part in BBC'sThe Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.[19]
Following the end of his regular broadcasting career, Jameson wrote a weekly column in theBrighton Argus until October 2000,[2] and was latterly an after-dinner speaker.
In 1947, Jameson married Jackie, whom he had met during his Communist Party membership; she divorced him in the 1960s.[14] He married Pauline in 1971. In 1978 he left her for Ellen Petrie, to whom he remained married until his death aged 82 of a heart attack on 12 September 2012.[1] He had three sons and a daughter from his first two marriages.[14]
| Media offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Editor ofThe Daily Express March 1977–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Peter Grimsditch | Editor of theDaily Star 1978–1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Editor of theNews of the World 1981–1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show Presenter 1986–1991 | Succeeded by |
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