Mavis Nicholson
Encyclopedia
Mavis Nicholson is a British writer and TV broadcaster.
She was born Mavis Mainwaring and spent her childhood in Briton Ferry. She became a student at Swansea University
. There in 1949 she met the writer and journalist, Geoffrey Nicholson, whom she married in 1952, and with whom she had three sons.
In 1951, at the end of her undergraduate career at Swansea University
, Nicholson won a scholarship to train as an advertising copywriter and with this moved to London.
There she and her husband were at the centre of a lively social circle, including the journalist and broadcaster John Morgan and the novelist Kingsley Amis
. According to Peter Corrigan's obituary of her husband http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-geoffrey-nicholson-1110565.html, Mavis and Geoff Nicholson "...became a much-loved double-act. Amis did not always approve of their views and claimed to have invented the word "lefties" during one little set-to with them. While it was true that the Nicholsons didn't have dinner parties as such - they invited people for an argument and threw some food in - they were by no means belligerent but had in abundance the Welsh love of debate."
Nicholson stopped her work as an advertising copywriter when she had her children, but her second career as a broadcaster began when, because of her probing and engaging conversational style at the dinner table, she was asked to host a programme on newly-launched daytime television (British television had previously only started to broadcast in the late afternoon).
Her first presenting job was on the 1972 show 'Good Afternoon', after which her TV career spanned the next 25 years.
She then presented British television programmes such as Afternoon, Afternoon Plus and Mavis On Four from the 1970s to 1990s, on which she interviewed celebrities of the stature of Elizabeth Taylor
, David Bowie
, Peter Cook
and Dudley Moore
.
Her last work for television was Oldie TV in 1997, a television version of The Oldie
Magazine.
She still writes for The Oldie
Magazine and is currently its resident agony aunt.
She has also presented several radio shows, including a history of the department store and a look back at her childhood in Tiger Bay
She is the author of the 1992 book Martha Jane & Me : A Girlhood In Wales.
She was born Mavis Mainwaring and spent her childhood in Briton Ferry. She became a student at Swansea University
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
. There in 1949 she met the writer and journalist, Geoffrey Nicholson, whom she married in 1952, and with whom she had three sons.
In 1951, at the end of her undergraduate career at Swansea University
Swansea University
Swansea University is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea following structural changes...
, Nicholson won a scholarship to train as an advertising copywriter and with this moved to London.
There she and her husband were at the centre of a lively social circle, including the journalist and broadcaster John Morgan and the novelist Kingsley Amis
Kingsley Amis
Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, various short stories, radio and television scripts, along with works of social and literary criticism...
. According to Peter Corrigan's obituary of her husband http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-geoffrey-nicholson-1110565.html, Mavis and Geoff Nicholson "...became a much-loved double-act. Amis did not always approve of their views and claimed to have invented the word "lefties" during one little set-to with them. While it was true that the Nicholsons didn't have dinner parties as such - they invited people for an argument and threw some food in - they were by no means belligerent but had in abundance the Welsh love of debate."
Nicholson stopped her work as an advertising copywriter when she had her children, but her second career as a broadcaster began when, because of her probing and engaging conversational style at the dinner table, she was asked to host a programme on newly-launched daytime television (British television had previously only started to broadcast in the late afternoon).
Her first presenting job was on the 1972 show 'Good Afternoon', after which her TV career spanned the next 25 years.
She then presented British television programmes such as Afternoon, Afternoon Plus and Mavis On Four from the 1970s to 1990s, on which she interviewed celebrities of the stature of Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
and Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
.
Her last work for television was Oldie TV in 1997, a television version of The Oldie
The Oldie
The Oldie is a monthly magazine launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who for 23 years was the editor of Private Eye. It carries general interest articles, humour and cartoons, and has an eclectic list of contributors, including James Le Fanu, John Sweeney, Thomas Stuttaford, Virginia Ironside,...
Magazine.
She still writes for The Oldie
The Oldie
The Oldie is a monthly magazine launched in 1992 by Richard Ingrams, who for 23 years was the editor of Private Eye. It carries general interest articles, humour and cartoons, and has an eclectic list of contributors, including James Le Fanu, John Sweeney, Thomas Stuttaford, Virginia Ironside,...
Magazine and is currently its resident agony aunt.
She has also presented several radio shows, including a history of the department store and a look back at her childhood in Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. It was re-branded as Cardiff Bay following the building of the Cardiff Barrage which dams the tidal rivers Ely and Taff to create a body of water.-History:...
She is the author of the 1992 book Martha Jane & Me : A Girlhood In Wales.
External links
- The Oldie Magazine
- Mavis Nicholson interviewing Kenneth Williams Interview of Kenneth WilliamsKenneth WilliamsKenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
in 1974